Since this has to do with University cheating, have you guys heard about the UCF business course cheating scandal? 200 kids caught cheating on their final. http://articles.orlandosentinel.com...gma-20101110_1_midterm-exam-cheating-students The scary thing is that although this particular instance of cheating made the news, there are occurrences just like this every day in classes around the country. I couldn't believe they were making such a big deal out of 200 kids cheating because in my experience I see people cheating on this scale all the time at every school I've been to. It is truly disgusting. I would estimate at least 60% of kids in intro bio, chem, calculus etc. classes would be willing to cheat if an opportunity that seemed safe arose. The worst part about it is that the kids that will go the greatest lengths to get a good grade are often the pre-meds! It really scares to me to think of all the doctors out there that undoubtedly are unethical enough to cheat to gain an edge. Some of you probably don't believe me about the amount of students that would be willing to cheat, but I have seen it firsthand for years and I am hard pressed to find anyone that would refuse a quick glance at their neighbor's scantron in the back of a 500 person class if they thought it was safe. It is one of the most pitiful and ****ed up issues in our world today imho
I am not surprised by this, especially not on those college admission essays. They are really so easy for someone else to write. I have always felt like I was an above average writer and I have never had trouble getting grades in school so I never even thought about doing this for school work, but if I felt like writing was my downfall I probably would have considered this for my college essays if I had a school that I really wanted to go to.
Exactly. I'm taking a history class right now and every single test is an in-class essay with a strict policy about using only the sheets provided for you. I appreciate the steps UH has taken to try and become a more credible university.
This is pretty much how I would sum up both of my undergraduate degrees. It's more about surviving than learning. Sad, but true.
I did this. I wrote a few papers in high school and a few more in college. $50 a pop, usually, for a 5-10 page paper. It gave me spending money for beer and weed, so I was happy.
A lot of this problem - directly, and indirectly - arises from the fact that universities are run like corporations now. Even public universities operate on a for-profit model. The whole ideal of 'scholarly pursuits' has been decimated by the 'greed is good' administrative school of the Reagan years.
Dang. That was great. I can't believe I read the whole thing. Thanks for posting. I'd like to believe the old adage "cheaters never win," but sometimes I'm not so sure.
And the state sets the budget for a given program, and then can't and won't hire another professor when she leaves because her husband got transferred, yet tuition keeps going up and up and up....and apparently there is no money in the budget to hire a replacement when there was obviously money to pay for the original professor....where the hell does all the friggin' money go....especially when people like me had to pay out of state tuition and all the students are trying to do is keep their heads above water....grumble grumble....I damn near graduated top of my class, but it was easily one of the most frustrating, near rage-inducing things I've ever experienced. We talk about the importance of education all the time and yet I almost want to say that I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy.
How is this the university's fault? What are schools supposed to do differently to prevent cheating? It is the student's fault.
This is mind blowing, but not surprising at all. The amount of morons I see in college is ridiculous. I don't think half of them deserve to be here. For example, I have a microeconomics test tomorrow. I got a 94 and a 100 on the previous tests. In addition, I got a 100 on the paper that we did. Now tomorrow, after I spend a crazy amount of time studying my head off, I will probably do well on the test. Yet, there is going to be a group of 10 students who all meet up and take the test together. It will be likely that these people will get roughly near the same score as me. To me, that is completely messed up and pisses me off to no end. I actually deserve my grade. These morons who can hardly draw a simple supply and demand curve correctly don't deserve it at all...
I didn't lay blame on any one entity in particular, though I'm sure blame could be spread pretty equally on all involved parties. My point was that I found college (both times) to have an awful lot of bulls**t that went along with the learning part. Too much, I believe.
Almost nothing in my life pisses me off more than this. I completely agree, but I (and I'm sure you too) never resorted to cheating. I believe it can be a good thing to learn to handle this kind of stress, but the cheaters don't get stressed about learning the material, they get stressed about finding ways to cheat and not getting caught. Wrong lesson
I don't think we've seen anything yet. Online programs are gaining in popularity. High school, undergrad, graduate. They're being marketed as flexible you can still work and do school when it's convenient. I believe they are so popular because it's so easy to cheat. All of your papers, tests, quizzes all online. Not sure of an answer go and look it up or invite over someone to help or call them or whatever. The underlying problem here is we look at school as just get me through to get a job not as an enriching learning experience. Liberal arts like English, History, Philosophy are shunned because it's not easy to get a job with them. Instead we take on degrees like say accounting or engineering where we are more likely to find a career. We're not passionate about it so we just try and get through. IMO this is also why we are lacking innovation in this country. Instead of following our passions we are just going through the motions to keep a roof over our heads.
Great article. This guy is doing God's work. I thought he would have been paid more per year since he mentioned he gets about $1000 per assignment of that length.
This doesn't surprise me at all, I know tons of people who pay people to write their essays. They pay a couple hundred dollars and get an easy A or B+ on an assignment they know nothing about. At U of H I have seen more cheaters then actual students who study. I had friends in Bauer the business school who never studied for any upper divisional classes because they had copies of the exams for every final and midterm. You could basically get a free degree in finance or accounting without doing a damn thing, exams for accounting 1 and 2, disc 1 and 2, inter business, business law the list goes on and on. I am a biology graduate from U of H and it is nuts how many people cheat in the natural sciences college. Its always groups of people cheating and its blatant; passing scantrons around, passing around calculators, texting answers...its crazy. People wonder why U of H isn't tier one status and I bet cheating is one of the reasons. Sure cheating exists at other schools but U of H cheating is crazy; **** IMO they should offer a degree in academic dishonesty. Im currently a postbacc student at U of H and nothing really has changed, except for more teachers are using essay based exams due to the cheating. Cheating will always exist at U of H, just take a look at A plus review you can get old tests for almost any class and students can sell their test to that place for some quick cash. IMO just do your own stuff and if you fail you deserve it and you learn to study harder the next time around!!
You know the old adage about criminals disproportionately themselves being victims of crimes? Well, if you cheat, then you will be cheated.
