Academic Integrity: Wrestling with Cheating
The first chapter of Levitt and Dubner’s Freakonomics poses the question “What Do Schoolteachers and Sumo Wrestlers Have in Common?” The answer has nothing to do with dietary habits or a fondness for red pens; according to the authors, both sumo wrestlers and schoolteachers cheat. Turning our common assumptions about who cheats inside out, Levitt and Dubner lead us towards a more frank and complex discussion of the issue, focusing on the role of incentives.
Defining an incentive as “… a means of urging people to do more of a good thing and less of a bad thing” (21), they go on to classify incentives according to three types: economic, moral, and social incentives. Using the example of the anti-smoking campaign, the authors provide examples of all three types:
The addition of a $3-per-pack “sin tax” is a strong economic incentive against buying cigarettes. The banning of cigarettes in restaurants and bars is a powerful social incentive. And when the U.S. government asserts that terrorists raise money by selling black-market cigarettes, that acts as a rather jarring moral incentive. (21)
Invariably, though, all kinds of people find ways to take advantage of an incentive system. In short, they cheat. Leavitt and Dubner proceed to look at the incentives offered to schoolteachers and sumo wrestlers — and the reasons and ways that they manipulate the system to take a short cut to success.
Let’s focus on incentives and cheating in the university setting. Consider the following discussion questions:
- According to the reading, why and how did the teachers Leavitt and Dubner referred to cheat?
- If, after reading this chapter from Freakonomics, we recognize that people do have reasons for cheating (even if bad ones), what are some of the most common reasons that students cheat — especially in cases when students turn in others’ work as their own?
- What incentives could schools give students to encourage them not to cheat? Try to think of economic, social, and moral incentives.
- Why is using someone’s words, ideas, or creation as your own, without gettting permission or giving credit, a problem? What are common examples outside of the school environment?
The teachers in the first chapter, entitled “What Do Schoolteachers and Sumo Wrestlers Have in Common?”, were very much cheating. Although they had an incentive that prompted them too, they still did the act. They were told by the state of California that they would receive a bonus of $25,000 for any teacher who produced the greatest number of high scoring tests. Motivated by normal human nature, they derived ways to cheat without getting caught, which most do not. Who would not go to this extent to gain an extra bit of money? Some were smarter about cheating than others, if that is possible. The cheating started at simply extending the test time by a few minutes to actually changing and manipulating a students answers after the test was handed in. As long as it was benefiting them, the teachers did not pay mind to the out come this cheating could possibly have on the student in the future. So the drive for money over came the moral values and trust of the teachers are expected to have.
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I am suprised to find out how much teachers cheat. I remember the tests and how strict the teachers were when it came to instructions for taking the test; now I know why.
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question 2
The most common reason for cheating among students could be that the student is not confident enough in their own work, so they copy someone else’s. Another factor could be that the student has to many classes and uses someone elses work, so that they can catch up on their work.
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question 1: The teachers that were cheating were caught helping students on their test scores for example. They either corrected their answers or possibly made some correct answers incorrect.
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question 4: plagarism is a big problem. It is not fair to those who produce such works, to have someone else not do the work they did and use the same idea as their own Some people outside school may take credit for singing a song as their own or possibly even downloading music, which is not the downloaders actual work.
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N.D. Arden Reply:
October 1st, 2009 at 8:34 pm
I agree plagarism is a problem. People everywhere pass ideas, quotes, jokes, maybe even random words off as their own. So everyone walks around thinking oh yea my friend was the one that said ” an apple a day keeps the doctor away.” yea your friend may have said it but he did not create it!
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Kelley McKeehan Reply:
October 12th, 2009 at 9:46 pm
I agree with your post. Plagarism is a problem which most people do not take seriously. The only time most people are upset over stealing someone else’s work is when their work is taken. Your thoughts are powerful and to be credited for your own works is important.
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RM Curtis Reply:
October 3rd, 2009 at 11:40 am
I agree palgarism is becoming a huge problem. Weather it’s in the classroom or in the world. In are world today before the movie leaves the theater and hits the shelfs of walmart you can have it.
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2. When students cheat, most of the time it’s because they are to lazy to do the work themselves. However, sometimes it’s not that…they seem to think that since right off hand they do not know how to do the problem, they should just check out their neighbor’s paper. Students seem to think that cheating is not a problem. What do they think the teacher is going to say to them when they ace the homework then all of a sudden flunk the test? Students don’t realize things like that. Apparently they don’t think the teachers will “notice”.
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2. students have all kinds of reasons to cheat. they want to look good for there parents for there teachers and who ever else cares. they mostly choose the smarter students to cheat off of but if they cant find a smarter student close enough any one will do. in most of my classes in high school i got cheated off of. it did not bother me any to cheat if i needed to. what ever works.
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Question 2, Students cheat for many reasons. The reason I would cheat during high school was simply because I was to lazy to study for a test or to do homework and it was much easier to just use someone elses work. I agree with slbayless about students sometimes just wanting to reassure themselves by looking off their neighbors paper but in my experience with that, more times than not, my answers would be different than my neighbors which left me really unsure even less confident in my original answer. On the issue of plaguirism most students, ecspecially in high school, do not know what plaguirism is and even the ones that are informed of plaguirism don’t know how to give credit properly for someone elses work.
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Question 3, Students who have continually rising test scores year after year and who don’t have a very dramatic record of being a cheater could receive a scholarship when they graduate for maybe five thousand dollars. The school system could inform the students of this scholarship when they begin high school and then keep close tabs on cheating habits. This would provide every incentive, socially, when the scholarship is explained and given to the students it will show others that they are honest and hardworking. Morally, good is rewarded and while bad isn’t necessarily punished they are going without an extra five thousand dollars. Economically, I personally would do alot of things for five grand, I think alot of people would feel the same way.
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jason.ezell Reply:
September 21st, 2009 at 11:33 am
Interesting points!
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Question 4, Using someone elses ideas as your own is the same thing as stealing, it is wrong for every reason that pyshically stealing someone elses property is wrong. A good example of this while outside the classroom would be me waiting on my roommate to leave for class and while he is gone taking all his money and never saying a word about it.
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Question 1, The teachers in this chapter would change answers on their students papers, give the students more time than they were supposed too, and hang hints up around the classroom for the students to cheat off of themselves. The teachers probably would not have normally done something like this; however, once the state of California offered $25,000 pay raises to teachers whose classrooms scored well on the State tests, I can understand why somebody would do a little cheating for that.
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sjmcknight Reply:
September 30th, 2009 at 3:45 pm
As far as cheating for incentives goes, if the incentive is high enough, almost anybody will cheat. The state of California should have recognized that and planned for it when they offered the pay raise.
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Question 3. There are many different incentives that could be put in place to encourage students not to cheat. These incentives can be broken down into the three types of incentives that are described in Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt, and Stephen J. Dubner. The first type of incentive is economic. Some economic incentives that would encourage students not to cheat are if you cheat you will receive a zero on the assignment, if you cheat you will have 20 points deducted off of every following test, or if you cheat your grade will drop a letter grade. Since money cannot be used as an incentive economically grades can be considered as money for this situation. The second type of incentive is social. Some examples of social incentives that pertain to cheating are if you cheat you will have to wear a big “C” on your shirt while at school (sort of like a scarlet letter) or you could have a cheaters corner in the classroom (with seats facing the wall) and make the cheaters set there. The social incentive is that they would not want to be viewed by their peers as a cheater. The last type of incentive is a moral incentive. In order to create a moral incentive a school-wide policy would have to be created that voiced cheating as being really bad. Not only would the policy have to say that cheating was bad it would also have to explain why cheating is bad. If this policy was in act then students would understand the morality of cheating and they would know that by cheating they are breaking the rules of what is moral.
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When it comes to human nature, this “life” thing, it is riddled with so much spectacular beauty and the finest of things to appeal to each of our unique human senses. Usually, no matter how much you are given, you are left hungering for more. It is a sort of nature for us humans to do what can sometimes be wrong. Like cheating for instances. Everyone has the options for tutoring, studying differently, and more. But instead they see cheating as an easier way out. Everybody wants an easier way out. But it is a voluntary act. Teachers as well could find other methods of teaching. But it is just how people are.
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The teacher’s would cheat by changing the students’ answers on their test papers to correct them so that they might get a raise or they would even teach the students the test material from previous tests so they were prepared.
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Question 2: Students cheat for many different reasons. Some students are simply too lazy to do their own work so they just turn in someone else’s work. Or they might turn in someone else’s work as their own because they procrastinate and don’t do their own work in time so they cheat. Likewise, if students don’t study for a test, they are more likely to cheat so they don’t fail.
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To JWHensley: I agree with you about students wanting to look good for their parents. I know I did all throughout school. However, I think it’s time that students realize that cheating to look good for parents, teachers, grandparents, etc. isn’t worth it mostly because of you learn nothing when you cheat.
slbayless
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To LMFlatt: I agree with you about plaigarism. It is not a good thing, and it’s illegal. Everyone needs to learn to give credit when they are supposed to. Just like you said, it would be like someone singing a song and not crediting the actual singer.
slbayless
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2. Cheating has always been a part of human life. This problem has never been approached nearly as aggressively as it has in recent years. Cheating has become a serious crime and new ways to cheat are being developed each day. There are a variety of reasons to cheat from not wanting to pay for a cd so a person simply downloads songs to a normal teacher not wanting to damage their reputation. I honestly believe that students have the more reasons to cheat than any other people. Students have several things relying on their grades such as scholarships, athletics, and their future jobs. They are required to make certain grades and obtain certain GPA’s to be able to enter certain programs and places of higher education. The need for students to do these things puts a great pressure on them and sometimes cheating make look like a way for them to get a break. There are also those students who may not be too concerned with those problems who are truly just lazy individuals who do not want to put an effort forth and find there to be no problem with cheating. These reasons guarantee that cheating will always be apart of human life.
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To JWHensley: I agree one hundred percent with you about students having several reasons to cheat and trying to impress those around them being a large factor that encouraged the cheating. I also remember seeing people sit near the smarter kids in school the days of tests or quizes in hopes of being able to see their paper. However, while I was in high school, I had several situations in which another student would try to cheat off me and it made me upset each time. Plagiarism was talked of very badly in my high school and anytime someone would try to cheat off me or I looked at another person’s paper, I knew I was doing something wrong and that bothered me.
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To DOOverton: I like your ideas for developing incentives for students but I do not understand exactly how the program would function successfully. How exactly would you define a cheating student from a non-cheating student and what if a student was falsely accused of cheating? A student may have cheated off another student’s paper, which would probably mean they both had the same answers, how do you know which one did the cheating?
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Question 2: Students cheat for a number of different reasons. Your big time athletes cheat because they want to keep up their grades so they can keep playing sports. Teachers will also cheat for big time athletes. The biggest reason why i cheated was because i was just too lazy to look over or study the material for a test. Then a lot of students procrastinate all through the week then they do not have enough time to study when it is time for a test or quiz. To slbayless: I agree with you that most students look off their neighbor’s paper just to reassure themselves, and most of the time that makes things worse. They usually have a different answer then you are really unsure what to do. To jwhensley: I agree with you that a lot of students cheat so they can impress their parents or whoever else that cares for them. I knew I had to get good grades for my parents, or they would take away sports or any other activities that i was a part of away from me.
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Alot of times when a student cheats is when he/she is either to lazy, poor time management, of just strictly dont want to do the assingnment. In return the student is actually hurting themselves. They are getting the grade but not actually learning the subject. Many students just dont care if they learn anything or not they just do the least they can to get by, but you also just cant blame those who cheat or turn in another students work you also have to blame those who let them do it. It is a shame that those students will just let someone else get the credit for their work.
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strent Reply:
September 21st, 2009 at 10:41 pm
I completely agree. I know that it kills me to think that somebody is cheating from my hard work that I’ve taken the time to perfect.
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To slbayless: you are right about students cheatin, and if you aint careful we all find ourselves cheating one time or another. Alot of times the test is actually what counts.
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To dooverton: Yeah i mean if i was told i was gonna get a $25,000 raise it would be tempting to hang hints up. We also have to think though that teachers are supposed to be setting examples for the kids. Teachers dont want their students cheating but yet they want them to when money is on the line. The teachers themselves should work harder to teach the students more and make sure they know more about the subject, rather than just teaching enought to get their check.
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Question 2.There is a two way street when it comes to the subject of cheating .The first path is the one where social pressure forces an individual to form a complex about themselves relating their importance and self worth attached to the grades and scores they make in school. This sometimes leads to desperate measures on the behalf of the person and they stoop to the point where they feel they will do anything for the perfect grade/ score. Then there is the other side of the spectrum the path of the person who really doesn’t care and just wants to get by. They are the type of person who is just passing their time until something better comes along in their life. They will twist and turn things until life goes their way and they don’t care who or what they have to do to get there, just as long as they get to put forth as little effort as possible. While there are gray areas with cheating a sort of mix of the two worlds these two paths are the main offenders in the situation.
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LEHIllhouse Reply:
October 24th, 2009 at 4:22 pm
I agree, there certainly is a two way street when it comes to cheating. Every student can say no if they choose to.
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nacatarino :I also believe it is an innate human trait to lie, cheat, and steal. Therefore the authors were feeding off the factor of treading in familiar territory and discussing something that everyone has in common. That’s not to say that all people possess these qualities on a customary basis it’s just to say that everyone at some point has partook in at least a little white lie. It is only natural that teachers would do what is native to who they are. Its like all these walls were put in the way of their path and the outcome was a product of circumstance created by underlining factors.
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question 3: universities should be stronger with their cheating policies. if students had to worry about a strong punishment then maybe it would encourage them to cheat less. some universities could even go as far to fine the students if they wanted to.
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strent Reply:
September 21st, 2009 at 10:42 pm
I can see students cheating in high school and grade school, but in college you are paying big bucks for an EDUCATION!
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to jatussing. i agree. if students are tomlazy to do there own work then they shouldnt be able to go to a university. how could someone live with knowinhg they used someone elses work??
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Question2: Cheating happens everyday, it’s part of life. Wheather you personaliy do it or not, if given the opportunity most people will cheat. Especially students because students have so many reasons to cheat. Some students will cheat, even though he or she knows that it is wrong, because they do not have confidence in the work he or she has done. Others cheat because of the pressure that they feel is put on them to suceed. If a student falls behind he or she might cheat to get caught back up. Also students cheat because they don’t care about learning, they just want to get by and get out.
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to hdaige: yes students do cheat for many reasons but the biggest reason is that they are to sorry to do their own work. and the people who let them cheat arent much better.
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nacatarino: I knew students cheated but had no idea teachers did it also. I can see the incentive there for them to cheat but I never thought teachers actually did it. However, there will always be some type of incentive for people to do something, like cheat, and you do not have to act on it.
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I totally agree that plagarism is a big problem. Not only with students but with teachers as well.
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to lmflatt: i totally agree that plagarism is a big problem, not only with students but with teachers as well.
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Question 1, The teachers cheated by answering questions for the students, more time on the test or even hints, or in some instances they would change answers on the tests after they have been turned in. Also in this chapter it explains why a teacher would do this and the reasons for doing this are, they would be given a bonus of 25,000 $ or just not being fired.
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Students cheat for many reasons whether it be to be the perfect student that there parents or themselves imagine. They can also feel that they are not good enough or may loose a scholarship, they could also just feel that no matter how hard they study they wouldn’t pass anyway so they cheat.
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Question 3: They could continue what they are doing as is, which is giving the student probation or even expulsion for cheating or plagiarism. You can also publicly humiliate cheaters by creating a board of shame or announcing their names over the intercom.
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LEHillhouse Reply:
October 24th, 2009 at 3:56 pm
I agree with this. If you call people out on what they have donde then it is more likely that they will never do it again.
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Question 2: Students cheat for many reasons whether it be to be the perfect student that there parents or themselves imagine. They can also feel that they are not good enough or may loose a scholarship, they could also just feel that no matter how hard they study they wouldn’t pass anyway so they cheat.
P.S. this one has what question im doing
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To IMCarter Question 2: I agree with you and the reasons why you think students cheat. The reasons could be easily fixed so that cheating could be avoided. Students could be taught to be confident in theirselve and their work. They could be taught to study so that cheating wouldn’t be needed. Also students could be tutored on what kind of course load they are capable of handling.
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To slbayless, I agree with you on your comment about the fact that students should just automatically uplift the pressure from there shoulders coming from there family members and not cheat. But in certain circumstances it is a lot more easier said then done. There could be scholarships, family relationships, or anything riding on one sigle grade. I am not excusing cheating from being a bad thing. Because it is. But the main point is everyone can be lazy. It’s easy. WHY NOT?! But still noone should.
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To IMCarter. I am also so very surprised about how students cheat. I really honestly did not expect that and have never heard of it before. Teachers are suppose to be ideal role models for students. It seems a bit of everyone is stooping to a lower level these days.
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Question 1. Plagarism is wrong any way you look at it. It is not right to copy someone else’s work and then take credit for their work. It’s like stealing, and stealing is also against the law. You are not only hurting yourself, but as well as the person your stealing from. A good example would be breaking and entering without getting caught. I’m going to get caught eventually ,and in the process I have hurt those I have stolen from.
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To Jwhensly cheating in ways is ok. however, your just hurting yourself, because you didn’t learn the material. There is really no good reason to cheat under any circumstances.
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to nacartarino It’s crazy to think that teachers cheat; however, not entirely impossible. I can see why they do though.
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to amber presnell: I agree that cheating is a two-way street. I have noticed in my past different times i have cheated and the incentives, good or bad, to do so. They never did really ever make life go my ways but quite the opposite. I always got caught.
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Question 2
Generally, students cheat because they’re too lazy to study the material. At least, that was the case with me. I would always make cheat sheets or try to look off my neighbor’s paper because I didn’t feel like taking the time to study prior to the test. I never plagiarized, but one might do so in order to obtain a higher grade or at least make themselves seem smarter.
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i agree with jwhensley: Students reason for cheating are usually for themselves or to make them look better. Its pretty ridiculous, everyone is cabable if they just apply themselves.
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To Primdeore: I agree, people are always looking for the easy way to do things and cheating instead of studying is always the easy way out in the short run.
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Question2
.There are numerous reasons on why students cheat. The pressures of passing a class that has material that a student is not grasping could be one reason for a student to cheat. Another reason for cheating could be poor preparation for the class by not taking effective notes or studying hard enough. A student could think that their answers are wrong and cheat off of a classmates whom they think is smarter. Laziness could be another reason to cheat. It would be much easier to turn in someone else’s paper than to take the time to complete a paper on your own.
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2. Students cheat for alot of diferant reasons. Some because they are too lazy and others who are just makin sure that they are correct. Sometimes a student might be so behind in their work that they don’t see any other option. There are alot of reasons.
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To slbayless: Looking off my neighbor’s paper never reassured me. My answers were usually different than theirs, and my teachers almost always handed out different versions of the test.
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To tnengland
I agree that GPAs play a big part in the reasons why students cheat. A large group of students need grants and scholarships to help with the financing of a higher education. Maintaining a good GPA determines most of the financial aide that students need and therefore becomes an incentive for some students to cheat.
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To nacatarino,
I never considered the possibility of a teacher cheating. The incentives for them to cheat are overwhelming at times. They preach to their students about how it is wrong to cheat. Some teachers need to practice what they preach, because they are not helping the students when they cheat for them.
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question 3 students cheat because of the repercussions of failing. i think that our whole outlook on testing from the parents to the teachiers is off balance. can you really fail. the only reason a peson does not try or cheats is the fear of failure. this is brainwashed on the students from the time they are born. praise for what is accomplished to the adults standard and discouragement for what is not. if praise was given for trying not accomplishment and discourgment for the actual cheating itself we would have a lot smaller problem.
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I agree that cheating is wrong. I think that I work hard to learn what is needed for tests and homework and I don’t think that it is fair when students cheat and they do not have to go through the process of studying and putting time and effort into their education.
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question 1: the teachers in this section cheated by alternating test questions to produce a higher success rate in their classroom, giving the students more time to finish the test, making tests with ridiculous questions and answers so that the students only had to have common sense to pass, and using past tests to make sure the students know the material that may be used on the test again. some reasons that teachers would cheat are so that they can improve their image in the insitute in which they teach, to earn money offered to teachers improving tests scores among high-risk students. teachers may also believe that they are helping their students in some ways for example: if one student is a poor test taker, if he gets a good grade (due to teacher cheating), it may give him more cofidence and as a result, better his future test taking skills. there are many reasons people cheat, sometimes we just don’t see it because we expect people like teachers to always be honest.
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to hdaige: I agree with your opinion completely. some students are just lazy and don’t want to do their own work; however, there are many other reasons why students cheat. The transission from high school to college is a major change. some students never even had to crack a book in high school and they believe that college will be the same. However, they soon realize that is false. so they are taking an exam that they did not study for and panick and cheat off their neighbors paper. the pressure of grades and maitaining scholarships becomes too much for a new student that has not yet adapted to the college work habits. Also another reason students may cheat
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Question 3 What incentives could schools give students to encourage them not to cheat?
We have to look from overall problems that are deeper than just surfaces issues. Ok we can say the students are cheating, but how and why are they cheating. When I was in school some students cheated, because of staying up all night because of a ball game and not getting anything done. Others would stay up playing videos games and be too distracted to do homework (L.O.D.D) Which is “Lack of Discipline DIsorder.” When I say discipline I don’t mean a grounding or anything of that nature. I’m saying they have no control on time management what so ever. They have no responsibility as students and they think they can just get a job at wal-mart and say ” Oh I’m going to be a manager.” When they get out of school they realize that there parents aren’t going to support them either. I know all of this was completely off topic, but it was worth stating to realize and visualize all that is going on. There’s more, but I won’t ellaborate. With every incentive there is a negative incentive. Just like in physics there is an equal reaction to an action. It works in the economic world as well. Teachers should consider life at home and push to offer more help for that student and being positive about the type of help there is. I knew students who where homeless at my school and they didn’t know where they were going to sleep that night. An incentive doesn’t have to be a reward it can be help for people who don’t know what they can do to get out of those situations. Cheating is what most students are exposed to especially from television from an early age when it is the most crucial for there learning. The reason they continue to cheat is based off of there lack of a foundation. It’s not the student who has failed it’s the teachers just wanting a paycheck and not really caring for the students well-being. A student who has health-problems is going to have other problems as well. Don’t you wish all students could be normal? It would make things easier, but that’s not the way the globe spins.
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Response to blbayless question 2:
I have to agree with her on the lack of understanding kids have. It’s because of there foundational needs. It all starts in the early years of life such as 3-4 years old. I say this because it’s not what kindergarden is teaching it’s the values and morals that parents need to teach to there children before entering them into a school. Teaching a kid to share may be nice, but what about sharing homework? If the kid was never taught to not share his homework then he doesn’t know any better. Therefore, that child is telling other children it’s ok to cheat and they all lose sight of learning. while only one of them is doing the work all the others a losing there foundation one day after another.
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Response to lmflatt:
Cheating is all a big competitive game that started in early years of school. kid “A” may say to Kid “B” “I got an A nananarbooboo” Or something of that nature. While kid “B” looks at him like he doesn’t care and it really changes his outlook on schoolwork. Then the kid “B” decides that he’s going to find him another schoolmate that makes A’s and copies his paper to make that A that he wanted, but didn’t let the kid “A” Who earned the A know it bothered him so much. Instead of Kid “B” asking for advice and seeking help he cheated, but that’s why tests are there that isolate you from other students. Another issue with test is Technology. We depend on technology so much and lose our own thoughts to a computer and we no longer calculate in our heads. It’s all about the fundamentals that we’ve learned from an early age and how we have applied them now.
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i can believe that teachers cheat so much and this is because of the “No child left behind” act. They feel like they have to cheat for their students so that they can receive promotions and pay raises. If they don’t cheat, they could even lose their jobs if the children fail their tests. The sumo wrestler cheating comes as even less of a surprise to me. Their are tons of professional athletes all over the world that cheat in many different events. Even though sumo wrestling is a very prideful and honorable sport, I would still think that there would be some type of cheating involved. Most sports today are centered around money and fame, not the actual sport, and sumo wrestling is no different.
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question 4: Trying to pass off someone elses work as your own is a problem for a variety of reasons. First, we have been taught throughout our academic careers that taking someones words or ideas and claiming them for ones own is plagerism, and that it is wrong. Also, it is morally wrong to take someones work; wether its a car or a good idea, stealing is stealing. Outside of a school environment, the stealing of thoughts or words can come in numerous ways as well. Virtually anything that can be taken often is, such as: parts of books, songs, movie ideas, even clothing designs may be “plagerized.”
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to dooverton: i thought all the different ways the teachers would cheat to raise their students scores was interesting, like how you mentioned they would hang up hints for the students. I can see why they would go to such great legnths to improve students’ scores; the incentives would be very distracting to some teachers.
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to BTRussell: I agree that the current punishments should be continued and i like your idea for new cheating punishmets. It sounds similar to some of the punishments shoplifters might have where they have to stand outside the store they stole from and wear signs stating their offenses.
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question 1
The chapter “what do sumo wrestlers and teachers have in common” explains how many teachers in the United States cheat for their students in standardized testing. They did this in a variety they would basically teach them the answers on the test, they would change the test answers, and in some cases they would fill in blank answers. Nobody could have imagined that there was so much cheating among teachers but many of the teachers felt it was neccessary so that there students could pass the necessary standardized test. They needed their students to pass it because pay raises and even their employment statuses rested on these tests
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to jatussing
I completely agree most students do not care if they learn the subject or not they just want to pass the class and get the grade. Gpa’s have become a competitive thing and students feel they must have similar grades to their peers in order to compete in the world
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R Jones Reply:
October 11th, 2009 at 2:51 pm
I agree with you and I don’t think it is going to get better.
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I think that if a teahcer is willing to cheat and change a student’s answers then they’re not in the teaching business for the right reasons. A teacher should go into work with the mind set of educating students and not making their waallets bigger. And I agree when it said that if a teacher was a good teacher in the first place then they wouldn’t be worried about their students grades because they know that they prepared their students well enough to pass the test.
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To BTRussell:
I agree that they could continue what they are doing to TRY to prevent cheating, but cheating is still going to happen. For college, a board of shame or announcing their names over intercom probably would not be very effective, but they could have a 0 tolerance policy, in which you will fail your class if you cheat. Also for athletes, because most athletes care about their team and game, the coaches could punish them for cheating by making them sit out of games or even taking them off of the team. A lot of things can be done, as soon as schools will put their foot down.
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Response to dooverton:
I agree completely, and the teachers that are helping the students to cheat are basically encouraging students to cheat with no punishment. So who’s really in the wrong here? Teachers cheat for money, and with the help of the teachers, students cheat on the tests when, in reality, they don’t even know they are cheating because they just know what the teachers have taught them.
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this goes out to everyone who says cheaters are to sorry to learn. some of them are but what about the ones that just likes the rush. through my life i have done alot of stuff just to see if i could. it wasnt always right but sometimes it was fun.
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to tnengland, why did it bother you to hook some one up that needed it. you never know what they were going through and did not get a chance to study. i say if some one needs my help, cheating or not, i will hook them up.
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Question 4:
Using someone else’s words not only makes you look bad, but it also shows that you can’t think for yourself. If you have to take the word or work of another person to complete your own task, it just seems like you would rather fail than try to pass. If someone actually took the time to put their thoughts into words, then they shouldn’t have to see it passed off as your project. It also has a lot to do with respect. Stealing another person’s work is just plain disrespectful.
Outside of the “school” environment, people cheat everyday. Take credit card fraud for instance, some people are so lazy they can’t go out and apply for their own credit, they have to steal the identity of another person to pay for things they probably never needed in the first place.
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to amber presnell: I agree that cheating is a two way street. You have the cheater and the cheatee. The cheater benifits from stealing from the cheatee, and the cheatee gets the bad grade or humilitation of being stolen from.
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I didn’t know that so many people cheat at whatever they do. Everyone cheats, so we just pick it up because people are followers. I didnt know teachers cheated like that, but it is a risk of their jobs, so anyone would especially do all they can do to keep their jobs.
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question 3: You do not want to cheat because when you do that you arn’t learning what you need to learn. When you get a job and you have cheated to succeed in it, you can get a lawsuit because you could have killed someone if your a doctor, or hurt anyone when you dont know what your doing because you never learned the duties.
response to lmcarter: I agree with you because people arnt very confident because they have “smart” people that think they are the best and talk down to you because you arnt as good as they are.
response to dooverton: Yeah I agree, stealing other ideas is not good. Your example does show that when you do copy other peoples work it is like stealing someones money, and that is not very nice when your the person that got the money stolen from.
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Question 2. I believe that there are many different reasons why students cheat. We put so much emphasis on academic excellence that we forget that attending highschool or college isn’t just about earning the grade, it is also about learning the course material. Students are expected to focus on maintaing high GPAs in order to get into accepted into college or grad school. In addition to perfect grades, students are also encouraged to be involved in various extracurricular activities in order to become a well-rounded individual. With so much pressure forced upon students, its not surprising that some of them cheat in order to maintain an acceptable grade. Those who are involved in sports, band, or some other after school activity are expected to be able to manage their time wisely in order to complete assignments and maintain GPAs. These individuals are often crunched for time because of their busy schedules and might look at plagiarizing a paper as an easy way out.
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To slbayless: I completely agree that sometimes students are just too lazy to actually take the time and learn the material. And, like you said, thats not always the reason. Sometimes students panic on a major test and resort to looking off someone elses paper in order to get a better grade. I think that students would do better if they just relaxed and focused on learning the material instead of worrying about what grade they are going to make. Chances are, if they learn the material, they are more than likely going to make a good grade on a test.
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To ancarver: I agree with your opinion that students resort to cheating because of a lack of confidence. Students making the transition from highschool to college are often overwhelmed and are usually lacking self confidence academically. To these individuals, simply looking off another persons test is very tempting. Plus, the added pressure to succeed is another reason students resort to cheating.
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question 4- cheating outside the classroom
i’m sort of a cookie maven. i have a variety of TOP SECRET homeade cookie recipes. if someone were to find out my cookie secrets and claim them as their own, i’d be livid.
think of researchers, historians, musicians, etc who may devote their entire lives to a certain project or discovery or rhapsody- then some dick comes along and steals it or claims it or whatever. that’s an entire life, someone’s passion, gone in an instant.
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oh yeah and “no child left behind” was bull to begin with.
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to jwhensley-
sometimes, by “hooking someone up”, you’re actually doing them a great disservice.
and would you really jeapordize your own reputation, education, so on, just to be a pal?
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To: SBillie Question 1. I totally agree with you. Plagairism very wrong and is illegal. It is no different that any other kind of stealing. Stealing someone’s work they have put a lot of effort and time in to is just like stealing someone’s wallet when they aren’t looking. Both instances are stealling and both instances are illegal.
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question 2 some reason i think students cheat is because they are doing bad in class and are about to fail or they forget to do there homework so there for they go and copy off of some one else that way they wont get a zero. if its a paper that they are doing and they dont site sources then they might have just went online at the last min because they forgot to work on it over the weekend or something there is many reasons why students cheat.
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The teachers in chapter one cheated for money. It was a stupid idea to give teachers with better students more money. A lot of people would do anything for an extra $25000. It is exremely hard to trust people when it comes to money.
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To rearl, I totally agree.If teachers today were really interested in what they are teaching, the students would definitely benefit more. I would rather have a teacher who knew what they were talking about and not someone who is just after a paycheck.
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To: Tnengland
Cheating has become a big problem. We are all pressured to cheat. More academic pressure makes cheating more appealing.
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To: lmcarter
I was not surprised to see that teachers cheat. I have actually seen a teacher erase answers on test and change them.
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jason.ezell Reply:
January 13th, 2010 at 10:27 am
Test
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Question 1: Teachers seemed to cheat because if there students seemed to achieve greater results in their classroom, these teachers recieved raises on their paycheck. The teachers would change the answers or give the answers to students on a certain section of each test. I believe that students do recieve ehep from teachers in certain situations but I never thought that it would be this prevelant throughout the country.
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R Jones Reply:
October 11th, 2009 at 3:00 pm
Some teachers don’t need to teach because they are just there for a paycheck anyway. Students pay the price for this by not learning anything. This is just cheating the childs education.
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Question 2: I think the one resaom why students cheat is because homework isn’t a top priority. I know when i was high school I cheated because homework was the last thing on my mind. The only thing on my mind was sports. Everyday I had practice in something, if it wasn’t basketball it was soccer or running cross country. I would come home every day tired from practice and wouldn’t want to do my work. So the next day I would just copy someone else’s work.
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ltcooper Reply:
September 21st, 2009 at 10:51 am
To: rearl
I totally agree with your comment, in highschool homework wasnt my first priority. I had practice everyday and the regattas every saturday, homework was the last thing on my mind. i would just “check” my with my friends, to make sure I had all the answers.
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To hnwiles response to slbayless: I agree with you about looking off a neighbors paper. I hated to look and see that they got a different than me because I didn’t know if I was wrong or if they were. So now I don’t trust anyone’s aswers but my own because cheating off someone isn’t a for sure good grade. The way I think about it is that if you copy someone’s answer you have a 50 50 chance that you are either right or wrong. Why not do it yourself and be sure that your a 100% right instead of taking that chance.
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I think cheating is the easy way of doing something. I think people are lazy mainly, and/or are too involved in other things. I think people who are not interested in the particular subject will cheat just to fill an obligation, and are busy with other things they actually want to learn. I think there is too much forced learning on students today, and cheating could be minimized if there was more freedom to choose what you could learn. Obviously, teachers are human beings, and all humans make mistakes. I believe their is too much pressure in today’s society for perfection and thus people feel embarrassed to feel average. Cheating is a part of life however, and ultimately there is no real way to get rid of cheating, just more moral awareness of why a person should avoid cheating and come up with alternate measures to accomplish what they are required too.
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Responding to question #2. I think students cheat because it is the easy way out, they think they can get by better by cheating, they do not want to put forth any effort, and students are just plain tired of school work. Especially if they do not take a break from high school straight into college. Students are also to lazy to do their own work now days. I think of cheating as a horrible way to get by in life much less school, it is just plain wrong, but I have cheated in school just like any other student struggling with any subject would do. I believe that the greatest rewards in life come from honest hard work.
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I agree with rearl about what they said about cheating. You can not trust anybody’s answers besides your own because you only have a 50/50 chance of getting the answer correct using someone else’s answer choices. Who knows you may look off somebody else’s paper and wonder am I right or wrong and change your correct answer to the wrong one. So I say cheating is very bad, wrong, and a big chance I wouldn’t be willing to take.
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Question4 Usingsomone else’s work or ideas is wrong because when you do that and do not give credit, it is just like stealing.When someone uses your ideas without giving you credit, you have just been robbed. One example would be if you worked for a company and a colleague shows your ideas to the boss without telling him it’s your work. Then they get a promotion and you get nothing.
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toSSmith I agree that plagarism is totally stealing. It is the same as any other kind of theft and I think it should be treated as such. Plagarism is illegal for a reason, and it should be punished severely
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to Imcarter I agree with what your saying 100%. I think that if the teachers were more interested and more involved in the classroom the students would be also. Then students would actually want to learn and everyone would be better off.
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Question2. Students cheat for many reasons. They cheat because they are lazy or maybe they feel they don’t know the material well enough. Then they try to look off their neighbors paper just this one time. Then in my oppion once they did it that one time, then why not again, and so on.if there goin to get away with it why not. Like the teachers and the summo wrestlers they all wanted to get ahead in there career. for example did you read the part where if one summo won 2 out of three and the other summo won 1 out of 3 then the summo with the highest would let the other summo with the lowest score go ahead and beat him. just to let the other one get ahead in his career but it wouldn’t affect the summo with the highest score. Thats what students do they want to be ahead in life. Maybe there scared of failure. I don’t know.
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justinevans answer to question2-
I believe that many students cheat because they are either too lazy to do their own work, forget about the assignment and copy someone else’s paper, or they don’t feel like they can do the work themselves. Many people take other peoples works as their own because it is taking the “easy way out.” It is much easier to copy and paste something than it is to take the time for people to do their own work. Those are some of the reasons why students cheat.
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respond to lmcarter: I’m not very surprised to find out how much teachers cheat. Its either they cheat and get a salary raise or not cheat and possibly loose their jobs.
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To rearl: I definitely agree with you. There should be no way that a teacher should even be worrying about cheating if they do their job correctly and actually educate their students. They should be more worried about their students than their pockets.
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To ccollingsworth Question 4: I never really thought of cheating in that way before. It’s horrible to think that when someone cheats that they might be stealing someone’s life work.
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Question 1. Teachers cheat to make their students do better on standardized tests. They do this because it leads to getting raises for being a good teacher and it prevents them from getting a budget cut or even fired for bad teaching. The teachers cheat by memorizing short patterns of answers and putting them on the test sheets of students who will likely do poorly on the test.
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to srwoods: that is an awesome answer and I agree completely. There is so much pressure to suceed academically that I never have time to actually learn in class.
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to SSmith: Those are some excellent ideas to prevent cheating. I know I would not want to wear a big C on my shirt for cheating.
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Question 1. The teachers in the reading were cheating by changing students’ answers on standardized tests. They did this because of the incentives that were made such as receiving a raise in pay if their students scored high and possibly being fired if their students scored too low. This was very shocking but shows that people will do anything if the stakes are high enough.
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To primdeore, I agree everyone wants to do things the easy way and that is why they cheat. No one wants to take the time and do things the right way, if someone is always going to do it for them.
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To ccollingsworth, I think you are totally right. People cheat all the time outside the classroom in the real world and they probably don’t ever think of how it is going to effect the person’s life that they are stealing from and how serious it really is.
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Q4: Using someone else’s word is a major problem because it is not helping out the people who cheat nor the person who’s work it actually is. Cheating never gets anyone anywhere. It may help for the short term, but in the long term it only creates chaos. For example, if someone is continuously copying someone’s homework, they are never actually learning it and have to explain to their parents why they do horribly on tests/quizzes. Using someone else’s work continues not only in the classroom but out in the corporate world. One major example is that of downloading music. Everyone has downloaded at least one song for free (off limewire for example). Most don’t realize that they aren’t helping out the artists and the people who spent all their time and energy into that song(s).
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To bjbrown: I have to agree with you on the lack of discipline for those kids who cheat. Although everyone has cheated at least once (no matter if it is in school or not), people need the discipline to realize that cheating is not the answer. In response to your comment regarding “teachers who just want a paycheck”, I believe it has to do with a combination of people: the student who decides to cheat, the teachers who let it slide, and the parents who are oblivious to what is going on.
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To tnengland: I have to agree with you regarding students having more reasons to cheat than others. Although cheating is never the answer, students try to find an easy way to finish stuff without having to waste too much time. For example, a student who has 2 college applications to fill out and a math assignment might decide to wait until the next day to do math (or copy someone’s who is finished) and finish the college applications that night.
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Question 2, Many students, if they do not study or complete and assignment on time, will feel like they have the incentive to cheat. The reason for not studying or completing work may vary, thus to some students it could be justifiable to them. For example if a person is in sports or does volunteer work for extracurricular activities they might feel like they are too exhausted mentally or physically to do their own work. Other reasons students may cheat is because they procrastinate or manage their time unwisely, so they feel like the only way for them to do well is to copy anthers work.
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To haley boles Question 1: I agree with you that some teachers may change the answers or give a student whom they believe will do well, but are having a difficult time, a better grade than they deserve. The reason I think this is in my senior year in high school I went through some emotional experiences and was doing poor in all of my classes. However, a few of my teachers new that I wanted to do well and was trying my hardest so they gave me grades I feel I did not deserve. When I saw my grades halfway into the last semester it gave me the confidence that I was not failing completely and to pull through. This may have been wrong, but it helped me get past high school without having to repeat it.
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srturner Question 3: I agree with the statement you made however, some universities do have strict punishments such as expelling a student for such an offense.
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In response to tnengland,
You are right in saying that some kids would cheat year after year just to get the scholarship; however, I said that we keep up with their test scores and cheating habits. If a kids test score is continually rising year after year then there is a good chance that they are learning the material instead of cheating. While it is still very possible to cheat on a test, good teachers usually make it a lot harder to do so on actual tests and they could also raise the punishments for caught cheaters. The passage we read said that they caught most of the teachers that were cheating because the kids who done really well on the state test that year usually had a lower score the following year. So if we could somehow monitor the test scores from say 5th grade on and see the kids whose scores have steadily increased year after year then they could receive the scholarship. I know this would have flaws, some kids that didnt cheat would probably get left out and some who did would probably be able to cheat the system and get the scholarship. Every system is flawed, we can never achieve perfection we can only strive. Better a hard working honest student and a cheater get a scholarship than the hard working student not getting anything.
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Q: 1
1.According to the reading, why and how did the teachers Leavitt and Dubner referred to cheat?
In the book freakanomics the teachers were cheating by altering the kids test scores for the better, for thier own benefits. However they were prevoked to by the state of california offering a 25,000 bonus to the teacher that produced the higher test scores. The teachers were very much cheating by erasing some of the childrens answers and simply writing in the correct ones. Some would even give the kids extra time to finish up or hang posters. The so called teachers were paying no mind to the fact that they acturally may be hurting the children in the long run by doing such and making them think they done well on the test when in fact they did not. So in conclusion the value of money for the teachers overcame the moral of doing whats right, and cheating is wrong!
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Question 1: In Levitt and Dubner’s Freakonomics, teachers have the incentive to cheat so that they may ensure that their students reflect postively on the teachers themselves. To do this, they either knew what would be on the test and prepared their students, helped their students while they were taking the test by giving them answers, or by changing the students’ answers after they turned the tests in. Although many of the teachers thought that this act would help the students, it ultimately hurt them. Many of the students continued to the next grade level and were behind because they didn’t learn what they needed to in the previous grade. As they years went on, they would continue to fall behind. Not only would the teachers cheat to look good, but also to earn a bonus. While reading this, I was surprised to hear how these teachers were cheating. When I was in elementary school, the teachers did not talk to anyone after the tests were passed out and if you approached their desk the teacher would shoo you away. I guess it depends on the person and how far people will go for social, moral, and economic incentives.
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To srwoods: I completely agree with you. There’s really nothing I could add. GPA has become the main focus point that not many students actually care about learning it or not. They may know the material but when it comes to tests, they forget and cheat. It is also hard trying to be a well-rounded student and maintaining their grades.
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To bjbrown: I am just touching on something that you said. But i think that apart from the students that are too lazy to take the time to understand, the teachers are also responsible. If the student that has studied and still feels the need to cheat, it is partly due to the teacher. They are obvioulsy not doing their job if the student is not able to learn it.
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Q.2 People cheat for all different reasons. Some students feel the need to cheat because of the lack of preparation they put in and poor time management. However athletes have a rigorous schedule and sometimes cannot find time to put in the time to study. Also some students are just lazy and do not feel the need to study since they can cheat and recieve just as good a grade as they would have gotten.
To rearl: I agree; however, we as athletes are student athletes, student coming first. To srwoods: I understand where you are coming from, but I also know that in the end grades are ultimately the only thing that matters. For this reason I can see where below average students turn to cheating.
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CDMills Reply:
September 22nd, 2009 at 10:55 am
I think student athletes are held to higher standards depending on the coach.
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To DCraig: I know that athletes have a rigorous schedule but that does mean cheat. There is no reason for it…If you play sports and can not keep up your grades without cheating..then stop playing sports. Sorry.
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these are all another resposnse to:
to jatussing-Yes I agree with you. I can’t lie and say that I have never cheated because I know for a fact that I have. I have always been the type that panics when I get my test and see that I have no idea how to answer a question or maybe even questions. Therefore, I have resorted to either cheating or stressing so bad that my grade suffers.
to hnwiles- I have to say that most of my teachers back in high school weren’t smart enough to have different versions, and honestly, half the time they didn’t care that you were cheating. That right there is a big reason for my cheating habits in high school. I was always the type that panicked and either resorted to totally messing up the test or stressing so much that my grade suffered.
to hmpridemore- Yes, I have to agree with you about famiy members and others pressuring you. Like I said before, my family was who pushed me to do good throughout my school career so far.
to srwoods- I agree that if students would just stop and focus, and actually if they would just pay attention and learn the material they wouldn’t have to resort to cheating. Therefore, their grades wouldn’t suffer.
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I think pressure is a large factor in a student’s decision to cheat. There is a certain educational level that students must achieve in order to be “successful” at the academic level. This doesn’t focus on individuals strengths and forces certain students to cheat in order to meet the society’s norm for education. There is grade level to enter programs at university or college. Students want the grades to enter post secondary education and to be seen as successful young adults to the outside world. A large reason students cheat is because of the importance of grades.
To ancarver: I agree with the fact that cheating occurs every day. Also there are different degrees of cheating. Cheating academically is just the beginning, it than carries on to the office and job. There is that mentality in students to do anything to get by, but everyone has eventually realizes they can’t cheat through their life.
To jatussing: Yes there are a large portion of students who cheat because of procrastination and poor time management, but I believe some students cheat for other reasons. I think some students get frustrated with constantly receiving the same grades and turn to cheating to meet a higher grade. Some students just want to receive the best grades and will do anything to receive them.
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1.) the teachers would correct the students answers to make themselves look better. They would earse the answers they knew the students got wrong and would correct them so the student would get a higher score.
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Question #2
After reading the Freakonomics book you realize some of the people you wouldnt ever think would cheat do, like teachers. Some of the most common reasons that I can think of that students would cheat would be for the simple reason they don’t know how to do something and they want to bypass the simple answer of studying, or they don’t feel comfortable enough turning in their own. Another reason associated with kids turning in others work as their own would be maybe not having enough time to complete the assignment or not knowing enough about the topic to complete it by theirselfs. There are many reasons for cheating and when put enough pressure on, students feel the need to cheat to be able to feel satisfied with their work.
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Question #3
The 3 types of incentives discussed in the freakonomics book would be social, moral, and economic. An example of an economic incentive would be giving the student a zero for their grade or maybe putting it on ther permanent record. This would make the student aware that if they cheat on something they will get a zero, and it will be on their record and make it that much more unlikely they will get a good job or achieve their goals. An example of social incentives would be maybe putting the fact that they cheated out there where just anybody can see at any given moment. This would more than likely embarrass the student and if they know you were going to do that before the assignment is due than im sure that would be more of an incentive not to cheat. The last incentive discussed in the freakanomics book would be the moral incentive. This incentive I would think would be the most effective because everybody in the community would know of your wrong doing, and that you done something that is looked down on.
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Question #4
Using someone else’s words, ideas, or creation as your own is a big problem because your passing someone elses work off as your own. Its not fair that someone works hard and really gives thought to something and someone else comes along, doing nothing but using copy and paste and gets the same grade.
Outside the school enviroment the problem still exist. May I start of by saying first of all its illegal. I believe its illegal for the same concept as theft is illegal. Theft or stealing someones elses words and ideas in my opinion is just as bad as stealing their personal property. You wouldn’t go to someones house and steal something so don’t steal their work and pass it off as your own.
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To lmcarter:
I totally agree with your response because I believe one of the primary reasons kids cheat is because their not confident in their own work. I acturally said something like this in my own response. Their not comfortable with stepping out on a ledge because their afraid of being wrong or that people will not agree with them. This is not the way to be, everyone makes mistakes and everyone is wrong on accasion and not perfect. I would rather be wrong on something and learn from it, than to just copy and learn nothing.
To slbayless:
This is in aggreance to your response to jwhensley. Students who copy of another for whatever reason learns nothing from the process. You may pass the test or get a good grade but what happens after that? Nothing, because when it comes to taking the final or taking qualifying test to maybe get into your career you still have no knowledge on the subject and you’ve gained absolutely nothing. Your really better off in the long run to flunk a quiz in college or maybe loose a few points than to pass it and not know the correct way to do something that your going to college to learn in the first place. Their not teaching you something for the hell of it, its because you need to know!
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#2
What students don’t realize is that when they turn in work that is not their own, they are just huting themselves. The common reason for this for of cheating is to obtain a good grade to pass the class. A smart student would realize that by actually doing the work, they are making progress for their future job and life outside of college. The main point is do your work in a timely fashion, so whrn deadline comes you don’t feel pressured to cheat.
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2 students do a lot of cheat because they donot want to study. when they have test, they cheat because they want to get good greaderesult with study
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Question 3: What incentives could schools give students to encourage them not to cheat? Try to think of economic, social, and moral incentives.
A learning facility such as a university could give the students who do not cheat money (lots and lots of it) — economic. They could also reward them with free tickets to Sixflags — social. If a student did cheat, however, they would not receive money, and they would not get a free pass to six flags — moral. This would make them feel obligated to not cheat, they may fail, but they would be less likely to cheat.
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CDMills Reply:
September 22nd, 2009 at 10:51 am
I agree with you, money does alot to help discourage people from doing anything wrong like cheating. but it can also make people do wrong!
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to itdeangillis. i agree with you
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to im carter. all this didn’t start untill “no child left behind” came into play
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I agree with you Paul. I feel that students will cheat when involved with other activities or that they do not care to put forth the effort for the specific learning needed to achieve in the classroom.
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ltcooper Reply:
September 21st, 2009 at 10:58 am
To:grcopeland
I agree with that too. Balancing an activity and homework can be pretty rought sometimes. Sometimes you just have to work it out and find the time for homework and studying.
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I also agree that students will cheat for reasons involving pressure from family to do well in school. This pressure causes students to do anything possible for good grades including cheating.
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I feel that students these days cheat because its the easy way out and people honestly do not feel like putting the effort into there work. America is becoming more and more lazy every single day and they keep finding ways to cheat even though they know that it is wrong. Yet many students seem to have busy schedules and resort to cheating instead of making time for there work when they know that it is wrong. And in knowing this they still cheat because they know they will receive a grade just as good as the one that they got for not cheating.
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The one above is for question 2. Sorry
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I totally agree with you Dustin. Students these days seem to not have good time management skills and do not know how to manage a sport and their school work all in one.
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Meghan, I have to agree with you. Your examples are very up to date because to be honest I have definitely downloaded many songs from limewire and so have many other Americans. I could be considered a cheater, but to a certain extent every can be considered a cheater.
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Question 4 Using someone else work is a problem because it is not you own idea. Everyone needs to come up with their own ideas or we would just have the same ideas everywhere. Some examples outside of school could be someone take something off of a website to put on another website, or maybe even taking someones house plans and making them your own.
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4.Why is using someone’s words, ideas, or creation as your own, without gettting permission or giving credit, a problem? What are common examples outside of the school environment?
Taking adavantage of other peoples works and idea is just lazy. Those people put alot of time and effort in to their studies and for some lazy person to just come up and steal that form them is worng. It might not seem like such a big deal when you are just copying anf pasting some random passage into your paper with out citing it. Again, citiing it wouldnt be that hard, but people are lazy and dont want to take the time to do that. An example out of the scoll enviroment could be when someone steal a theory or finding and try to pass id off as their own.
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question 4: Using someone else’s works as your own without giving them credit is a problem for two main reasons. First it is against the law and the penalty that you recieve for committing this crme is in my opinion not worth commiting the crime. Second it is morally incorrect to steal someone else’s things and you would want credit for your works and they would to. An example of this is for instance a major company having a product with a brand name and someone coming up with their own product using that same name.
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MichelleJones Reply:
October 15th, 2009 at 2:44 pm
It would make me mad if someone took my idea and passed it off as there own Yes agree 100 % It just wrong every since of the way.
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I think its so funnyt how alike sumo wrestlers and teachers are. The fact that they are so respected and looked up to for being honest makes it even more hilarious that a lot of them are just BIG, FAT FAKES!
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Question 1: The teachers that Leavitt and Dubner refered to in the “Freakonomics” paper cheated by either giving or changing their students answers. Teachers today have to meet certain standards either for the state or for the country, with all that pressure teachers feel forced to cheat. Or they are teaching for the test instead of teaching a broad topic of a subject, they will teach what they know is going to be on the test. I think this is actually limiting a students learning.
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Question 1: The teacher Leavitt and Dubner were trying to subtly cheat without being caught, and failed. They changed student’s answers or gave the students the answers to a portion of the test. They both cheated because an incentive was being offered to encourage the teachers to do a better job, or take their job more seriously. Teachers are required to meet a standard and many are unable to. This form of cheating especially is bad for the teacher and students.
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Why do people cheat? Simply to advance themselves. It is selfish in nature. To advance without hard work. Why students cheat? Sseveral reasons come to mind, too long at a party and not having time to do the work, procrastinated until it is too late, 30 minutes before class calling anyone who would share their work so a bad grade is not recorded, after all anything is better than a “0″ right? Another reason could be the student does not understand the assignment, so cheating comes into place. I don’t know that schools could give high enough incentives to discourage cheating. I think there has been and there always will be someone who cheats. The best thing in my opinion schools can do is make sure tutors are available for those who do not understand or “get” their assignments. For those “procrastinators” there is no incentive, as long as people do not have their priorities in order, there will be cheating. Examples could be stealing someone’s idea, going to your boss and claiming the idea, end result is stolen credit for their idea. In my opinion this is very low. Amother example is taxes. Another could be getting the wrong change at a store, (in your favor) noticing, and not saying a word. This has happened to be, I was to get back $42 and gor back $72. I returned the $50 for the $20 that was mine. Notice that if wrong change was given cheating the consumer, they go in “all fired up” demanding their money back. But the opposite happens and it is, “Their fault not mine, my lucky day!”
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Question# 2. One reason that a student may cheat involves poor time management. Television, spending time with freinds or just laying around can take presedence over working on a homeword assignment. Waiting untill the last minute, then finding out you have run out of time, can tempt a student to plagarize a paper. Time should be set aside for extracricular activities. Managing your time and making sure your priorities are accomplished before other activities will deter a student when they are tempted to cheat. Cheating on a paper is unfair to yourself, your school, and other students. Make time to do your work and you can be proud of the grade you have earned.
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MichelleJones Reply:
October 15th, 2009 at 2:38 pm
I agree, they don’t reallize the problems they will have in the furture when the don’t know what their doing because they just copied
their way throw life.They are totally cheating everyone and everyone who ever teached them any thing in school or any where else.
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Repy to Amber Presnell: I do not think it is a human trait(s) to lie, cheat, or steal. I do still believe that there is people out there that refuse to lie, cheat, or steal. What was never told to us is this, “how many teachers had the opportunity but didn’t cheat? There is always going to be some that will fall into temptation. I still do believe that the odds are still in the honest mans favor.
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To srturner and strent,
I agree with the fine. I think it would be possibly a really good punishment to encourage students not to cheat, and I belive that if you pay for the education, then why would you not be willing to study and actually learn something?
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#2
Most students cheat, in my opinion, because the class itself is really complex. They might even copy off of their neighbor simply because they are too lazy to do their own work. Some students might even cheat because they forgot about a certain assignment that was due: rather than getting a zero they would most likely grab a classmates paper and copy it off.
Oddly enough they might cheat because the assignment was more than they could understand. What i mean is the assignment that was given might not be something that they are familiar doing so once again rather than getting a zero they would copy. All these reasons still dont trump the biggest and most common. Students 99% of the time because they are lazy!
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JTWalker Reply:
October 2nd, 2009 at 3:14 pm
I agree with you completely that the most common reason for cheating is laziness. There may be a few rare cases where people have different excuses for cheating, but I think it all comes down to being lazy and not wanting to do their own work.
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behunt Reply:
October 6th, 2009 at 6:49 pm
I agree with you. People have many different reasons for cheating. I think that cheating is wrong if you are just being lazy and not doing it, but I think in if you did not know about an assignment, or something happened where you could not do it then it is fine. If you start “forgetting” every day that is wrong. I don’t think it is a huge problem to cheat but it should have some consequences after a while.
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#2 I think there are a couple of reasons students cheat. The top reason, I think, is the student is too lazy or too busy to do the work. A lot of times the student just doesn’t feel like doing their own assignments or studying, and he or she thinks it is easier to copy someone or turn in someone else’s work. Another reason would be that the student is too busy to get the work done. Teachers sometimes give so much work it is nearly impossible to get it done, but cheating isn’t the fix for this. I think one of the most uncommon reasons is that the student doesn’t know how to do the assignment. He or she may use this as the excuse, but there are so many resources to use that this is most likely untrue.
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#2
I think students cheat for several different reasons. Some student are to busy to do the work so they copy. Others are less confident with themselves so they tend to copy others they feel are more inteligent. Are either they had the time and just rather be lazy by coping others hard work.
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#2.
I think that when students cheat they are extremely lazy or extremely busy. I know that when I was in high school they made sure you didn’t cheat by using turnitin.com, but I had friends that knew how to still cheat and not get caught to me that is pure laziness. Other kids have jobs and other classes at the same time and have no time to do it so there are times where it is not supposed to be a bad thing
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RK Hairell Reply:
October 6th, 2009 at 1:16 am
I absolutely agree with you, but one thing I must say is that completely agree with your statement on being lazy, but when it comes to those kids that do have a job or a full load to me that should not be a good reason to cheat, and I am not saying that being lazy is but we all know people that do it just because they are lazy. My thing is that if they have a job then they should be able to keep up with their school work and their job or they should not have their job.
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ndlambert Reply:
October 7th, 2009 at 10:08 am
Littlejohn i do agree with you about being either EXTREMELY busy or lazy. and i also agree with Ryan that that gives no excuse to cheat. but when Ryan says if you can’t keep up with the classes and their job that they should quit their job, i totally disagree with you. most people who have jobs HAVE to have a job for the fact that they have bills to pay and have kids. they simply just can’t quit their job because they can’t keep up with school. i think that they should take it the responsibility themselves to figure out a schedule that allows them to do their school work and to continue to have a job. i think just quitting your job is pure laziness.
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Question #3.
As many people have previously stated one of the reasons that people cheat is maybe that they don’t feel that they can do well enough on whatever it is that they are cheating on. I think that teachers could make it so that there can be some kind of curve on tests so that the students can feel better about how they are doing on their test and not be tempted to cheat. Also, the teacher may be able to give some form of an incentive to the students for not cheating along with the curve. This will give the students a sense of security so they are not tempted to cheat. While these may be some options to fix cheating I believe that no matter what you do cheating will always exist!
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#4
I think that quoting someone with giving them credit is completely fine, but if you fail to tell give credit to the person (on accident or on purpose) then that is pretty much insulting the person who said it. When you do that its like getting credit for something someone else did. When people find out they might think that you are lazy, selfish, or just stupid for forgetting to tell who originally said it. This mistake could occur in giving an important speech for your job or something important, or it could also happen if you are an author and you decide to use a quote in your book. In both of these cases a lot of people will realize what happened. It could be really embarrassing, worse it could get you in some serious trouble or even fired so its best to give people the credit they deserve.
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ceroberts Reply:
October 7th, 2009 at 8:38 am
I totally agree. I think sources always need to be cited. I think that as long as you give credit to the person who said it is should be fine. I think the whole MLA and APA have kinda been blown out of porportion. I think it is necessary to always give credit where credit it due. Don’t claim it if it isn’t yours
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jlthompson Reply:
October 7th, 2009 at 12:52 pm
I agree with you. Anytime and one quotes someone else, they should say or add who originally said it or else it is stealing from them which i think is insulting too. I also agree that if we do not give the credit like we are supposed to, its because of laziness or selfishness. And yes, it could also be embarrassing.
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I think the pressure it felt by students to cheat because if they don’t make the proper grade they won’t suceed. I think it needs to be reinforced that students should try their hardest and be honest. The point of academics is to learn something, and if you cheat you’re not learning. Maybe the system should be rewired that gives student more time to complete skills so they don’t feel pressured to cheat to make the grade. I am not making excused for cheating. It is lazy and dishonest. However something needs to be done so students don’t feel pressured to make the A. A C is proficient too.
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I think that stress has a lot to do with students cheating. you constantly have your parents and teachers looking over you shoulder. you knowing that your future depends on how you do in school puts the desperate need for succeeding. So every day students are finding new ways to cheat. (i don’t mean that EVERY student cheats) As for turning in others work as your own, it could possibly be many of reasons. If the student UN-knowing turned in others work it could be maybe the students were never taught in previous courses that it was not allowed,(maybe the teacher was “cheating” in teaching how to credit the author). Maybe the student doesn’t full understand the reading/assignment and when you don’t fully understand the assignment it makes it easier to plagiarize the material without fully knowing. It could also be the student forgot to credit the source. If the student unintentional turns in others work i think that the student just doesn’t know any better and the teacher could possibly offer after class tutoring to teach the student where/what/how it is plagiarism and how to fix it. Now if the student knows that he or she is turning in others work without proper credit then i think that it is simply laziness! or the student is just hoping that teacher doesn’t recognize that is plagiarism.
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#2
I agree with most other people’s comments about the reasons students cheat, like being lazy or too busy. Some students are just too busy with work or their family and just can not find the time, or simply because they are lazy and do not feel like doing it, they would rather go out and play or do something then sit at home and have to work more. Also, sometimes teachers overwhelm students with way to much to do, especially when the teachers forget that students have more than just that class with a ton of work to do in the other classes as well, so they just simply get overwhelmed and give up. Another reason that I believe students cheat is because they want to do good, and they do not trust or believe in themselves, so they go to other people’s work and use it as their own.
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#2
They are lazy and spend more time trying to cheat then doing there own work. But they don’t stop to realize that they didn’t learn one thing from cheating. One day down the road they will wish they wouldn’t have cheated.
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Question#2
Cheating wrong no matter what the reason maybe. For example, someone who goes to work and playing around not getting their work done at work. His buddy picks his lack up by doing his job and his buddy job too. The manager gives them both a raise for a good job they both been doing. The one does nothing but play around. The other one does twice the work and does not get all the credit for it.That still cheating matter how you look at it.
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Question 2
I think one of the most common reasons that students cheat is pure procrastination. Sometimes in our minds there are more important things to do than the work assigned us. Like that new TV show is coming on, there is a movie I just have to see, or I already made plans with my friends. So, we just cheat off someone else or even turn in their work as our own because we were too busy to take the time to do the assignment. Another reason might be feeling unconfident in the work we do so we cheat off of someone we feel is much better than us no matter the consequences. Even if the person is really smart low self-esteem is enough to make people do crazy things, so why not add cheating to the mix? And sometimes there may even be someone who just gets a kick out of seeing if they can get away with cheating, and for how long. For whatever reason, cheating is not a way to learn.
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2. The most common reason for students to cheat is mainly stress. If they get to stressed about a subject be it writing an essay or doing a test they might cheat to alieviate some of that stress. When cheating on a test they might be cheating becuase they feel like they didn’t study enough, they really didn’t study enough, got to stressed during the exam and can’t remeber anything, or feel like they may not even pass to begin with. When a student plagiarizes thye might have done it because they came across a time error or they are not comfortable with their writing ability, thinking that the paper would only end up as a failure if they wrote it themselves. The mood that a student is in is a great factor as well if they feel that everything will go well then they bring that positive behavior to the table and their work will reflect the mood that their in.
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