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61.9% of Undergraduates Cybercheat
RichDiesal writes "A recent study of 1222 undergraduates found that 61.9% of them 'cybercheat,' which involves using the Internet illicitly to get higher grades. Some of the quotes from students are a bit troubling. As one 19-year-old engineering student put it, 'As more and more people are using the Internet illegally (i.e. limewire etc.), I feel that the chances of being caught or the consequences of my actions are almost insignificant. So I feel no pressure in doing what ever everybody else is doing/using the Internet for.'"
And about 97% of drivers "velocitycheat", or drive faster than the posted speed limit. See, I can make up new words too!
I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
61.9% have cybersex with someone other than their girl/boyfriends?
You're only cheating yourself.
Nobody cares that you have a degree if you can't even answer simple questions about your subject in an interview.
What makes the article particularly irritating is that their own definition for 'cybercheat' doesn't match the context in which they're using it:
Cybercheating can be defined as cheating enabled by the internet – so cybercheating can occur in any course.
61.9% (757 students) admitted to engaging in online plagiarism. 59% copied a few sentences, 30% copied a few paragraphs, 12% copies a few pages, 4% copied entire documents, and 3% purchased essays. 22.3% admitted to engaging in such behaviors regularly.
It's plain old plagiarism, hardly 'enabled' by the internet and certainly not worthy of it's own new word.
The actual figures, while not brilliant, are far less worrying than they seem to be trying to lead us to believe, and the word 'cybercheating' is just another one of those ploys to gain extra coverage by still implying that the internet is something new and scary, rather than a day-to-day avenue by which old behaviours, from simple conversation to bullying to cheating are carried out.
Somebody forgot to take their cyberlithium this morning....
(Disclosure: I'm a teacher and I am pretty sure my principal isn't reading slashdot.)
Cheating...
Nearly everything that a "teacher" calls cheating is an accepted practice in the business world. Schools, in the US anyway, are mainly geared toward getting a student involved in some type of business.
Cheating - Looking off someone's work.
Business - Gaining direction.
Cheating - copying.
Business - Using available resources.
Cheating - use of internet.
Business - again, using available resources so you can build on another's success.
Cheating - adjusting grades
Business - Creative accounting.
Cheating - asking a friend for an answer
Business - Collaboration. This person is a team player.
Our educational system is 19th century organization using 19th century ideals. What should we teach today? How about some analysis: Teach not "what is the right answer?" but "Why is this answer right?"
Teach not "what is X?" but "How does X change when Y is introduced?"
Get people to think! You get the idea.
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"First things first -- but not necessarily in that order"
-- The Doctor, "Doctor
I'm replying to the parent because all of the children who replied to this have said basically the same thing and it needs to be addressed.
It appears that the slashdot crowd has no need for a liberal arts (in the classical sense) education. They only want job training instead. This is the problem with our current concept of college. Instead of going to get a well-rounded education that makes us better thinkers, more able to understand and inquire about the world around us, and generally improve our ability to be inquisitive successfully, college in America (and some other countries) is viewed as a way of gaining specialized job skills.
The school I attended had a very broad curriculum. I majored in Computer Science, minored in Math, but also took a year of Chemistry, Physics, History, English Lit, EE, Foreign Language, Biology and a semester of Aero, Astro, Civil Engineering, and Psychology (not an exhaustive list, just the ones I remember off the top of my head). I haven't used the majority of those subjects in my current job. In fact, I haven't even committed any Computer Science for most of my career. Does that mean my entire education was a waste? I certainly don't think so. I've been in situations where my Civil Engineering class actually proved useful to me. My wife loves to talk with me about history, and I draw heavily from my world history classes in those discussions. When studying genetic algorithms, my biology class came in rather handy, and I was grateful for that foreign language class when vacationing in Germany.
In short, my college education has enriched my life, made me a better person, and provided a broad foundation from which to launch new inquiries when I'm feeling curious. I humbly suggest that those who view college as only vocational training take a look at their local community college. There are many degrees offered there that don't require a liberal arts education, don't put you in a position that you feel you have to sacrifice your honor just to get a grade in a class you do not care about, and cost dramatically less than a college where you basically paid for the privilege of cheating your way through the classes you didn't find "useful" to your career choice.
Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master.