Cheating(Creating a Fair

Learning Environment)

Peter Legner

Math Resource Center Specialist

College of Southern Nevada, Las Vegas, Nevada

Case Study 1:

Cheating and My Grandmother

Case Study 2:

The Good Samaritan

Three Variables:

1 Motivation for Ministry (Personal Fulfillment or Helping Others)

2 Topic of the Message (Good Samaritan vs General Topic)

3

Goals of Presentation

Present Basic Material on Cheating

Why Students Cheat, What percent of students cheat,

What are the Conditions that Create an atmosphere where

cheating flourishes?

However, I would like to use this to remind us of the purpose of education

(Not Administrative)

CSN Academic Integrity Policy

http://www.csn.edu/studentacademicintegrity/

Create Questions/Issues to Address

Have Fun

Case Studies

Case Study 3

Statistics Class

Case Study 4

Chinese Gao Kao System

How Many Students Cheat???Is Cheating Prevalent in 2 Year College Math Classes???Why Do Students Cheat???

2 Views

-Cheating is Rampant, 75% of Students Cheat!

-It Happens, but Rarely

Cheating is Rampant

David Callahan, “The Cheating Culture” vs William Bennett, “The Book of Virtues”

James Lang, “Cheating Lessons: Learning from Academic Dishonesty”

-Cheating has been fairly constant for decades

-75% of students cheat in some fashion

-”No matter how one looks at the data, the rates are higher than what we would like them to be”

Case Studies:

New England Patriots, Stanford, Atlanta Public School System

Conditions That Create a Cheating Climate (Callahan and Lang)

High Competition

High Gap Between Achievers and Non-Achievers

No or Little Penalty for Those Who are Caught

Emphasis on Performance in Limited Event(s)

High Stakes to the Event(s)

Extrinsic Motivation (monetary reward, firing as punishment)

Low Self Efficacy (‘I can’t succeed,’ ‘the system is unfair’)

Students treated poorly

Appearance of “Everyone is Doing It”

Dan Ariely-Cheating is not Rampant

The (Honest) Truth About Dishonesty

Predictably Irrational

Studies on Cheating

Cheating is Contagious

Taxi Drivers and the Blind

Stealing Coke from Refrigerators

Do Honor Codes Help???

Summary/Issues

It is not likely that cheating is rampant in math classes at 2 year institutions

Cheating is Contagious, where it does exist, it needs to be confronted

Need for ‘Objectivity’ With Restraints

A realistic view of students is important

We need to be appropriate ‘insiders’ with our students

Education is important, ‘sacred’

How do we model this? How do we speak to students about this?

References/Sources

Ariely, Dan, “Predictably Irrational,” Harper Collins, 2009.

Ariely, Dan, “The Honest Truth About Dishonesty,” Harper Perennial, 2013.

Callahan, David, “The Cheating Culture,” Mariner Books, 2004.

Lang, James, “Cheating Lessons: Learning from Academic Dishonest,” Harvard University Press, 2013.

Bennett, William, “The Book of Virtues,” Simon and Schuster, 1996.

Gau Kau system, see “A Unique Experiment,” http://www.sacu.org/examinations.html

Cheating on the Gau Kau, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/10132391/Riot-after-Chinese-teachers-try-to-stop-pupils-cheating.html

More References

Cheating in the Atlanta School System, see http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/02/us/verdict-reached-in-atlanta-school-testing-trial.html?_r=0 and http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/07/21/wrong-answer

Cheating at Stanford, see http://news.yahoo.com/unusual-amount-cheating-suspected-stanford-university-165354810.html;_ylt=A0SO8yb1nxdVryAA.OlXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTEzdjc0cTYwBGNvbG8DZ3ExBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDVklQNTgyXzEEc2VjA3Nj

The New England Patriots…. Every NFL Football Team, see http://yourteamcheats.com/

Are Students Cheating in the Math Classroom?

Why Should You Care?

It is not likely that cheating is rampant in math classes at 2 year educational institutions. But it does happen. A very few students are saints and will never cheat. A very few students are morally corrupt and will cheat at every opportunity. Most students are neither saints nor corrupt. They see themselves as ‘good.’ They will cheat within reason, but only enough that they can still view themselves as no worse than the average person. If a few safeguards are put in place, most students will be limited in even their attempts at cheating.

Educators should take care that cheating does not take place in the classroom because cheating is a ‘contagious’ behavior. If students recognize that others in a classroom are cheating, they will justify it as an acceptable behavior and it will spread. Safeguards need to be in place so that cheating does not take place.

As can be seen in the case study of the Atlanta public school system, a culture of cheating can destroy an education environment. Administrators and faculty are chiefly responsible for creating the type of culture that promotes learning and growth. The issue is fairness. If the educational culture promotes unfairness or cheating, those most likely to be taken advantage of are the most vulnerable members of the educational community, those who are not able to speak out about what is taking place within the culture. The most vulnerable members of the community will also face the consequences of the ‘unfairness’ in the system.

What we are trying to create is not just an education system that is free from cheating, but one that truly promotes fairness, learning, and growth. One of the purposes of education is to reward hard work. Our goal is to identify and reward students who put effort into understanding material. This judgement should not be based upon race, religion, socio-economic status or any other external factor. The issue is not ‘catching cheaters’ in the classroom, but creating a climate of education where we discuss and reward hard work, processes that truly help students learn, and teach students efficient ways of understanding and processing new material.

While it is important that we treat students fairly and objectively, creating a learning environment that is fair and promotes learning also must be ‘human.’ Students will be less likely to take shortcuts and will more likely put effort into learning when they feel that they are cared about as individuals. Creating a positive learning environment means that we do not favor any particular gender, race, religion, etc, but educators who want to promote learning must truly understand the students that are in the classroom and understand their particular needs and backgrounds.