Students will show academic integrity — if colleges support it

[ellisonz]

By Colin S. Diver
September 05, 2012
Colin S. Diver, the former president of Reed College, is the former dean of the University of Pennsylvania Law School and taught for many years at Boston University.

Recent allegations of widespread cheating in a course at Harvard have provoked much hand-wringing among Harvard professors and administrators. Their diagnoses and prescriptions predictably fall into two groups, depending on whether one is optimistic or pessimistic about the ethical capacity of today’s college students.

Optimists believe in the efficacy of moral education and responsibility. They would fix the problem by giving students clearer exam instructions or by providing incoming freshmen instruction on academic integrity. Pessimists recommend eliminating all open-book exams, implementing tighter exam security, and increasing punishments for cheating.

Count me among the optimists — but with a healthy dose of realism. Having served for the past decade as president of Reed College in Portland, Ore., I have seen that ambitious, competitive college students can exhibit academic integrity if the institution supports and honors it.

But instilling such a culture requires far more than superficial palliatives: it requires a whole set of interlocking institutional commitments that promote honorable behavior. The foundation for that culture at Reed College is called the “Honor Principle.” At Reed, all members of the community — students, faculty, staff, and administrators — are directly accountable to their peers for the consequences of their behavior. In that spirit, examinations are not proctored; students are honor-bound to comply strictly with the instructor’s rules regarding consultation of sources.

More: http://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2012/09/04/diver/INCRNEUZ7CbOIH8sloWfYJ/story.html

As a Reed College graduate, I really do believe that cheating in our nation is a cultural problem that can be treated with a strong dose of antibiotics.

[enlightenment]

1. Fascinating idea about not giving the grades to the students

Unfortunately, I'm not sure how well this would translate in a larger school. Reed can do it because they are small - their website says 1400 students - and it's easier to introduce the idea (which I love and approve of, wholeheartedly).
Great point for discussion, though - I hope to see many thoughtful posts on this!

K&R

[ellisonz]

2. You can request to see them...

...I found out when I had to get my transcript for a car insurance discount. But did I obsess over them no, and I had no expectation of being graded anything but fairly. Grade inflation is so rampant that it's almost laughable these students had to cheat. One theory I've read that might have some validity to it is that at Harvard it is common for students to create "study guides" running several pages to cover course material and that students then memorize this material. In short, we need to jump start our educational culture to encourage critical reasoning rather than entitlement.

[enlightenment]

3. I don't disagree at all about a change to the system

and it needs to start in first grade. A complete re-boot - soup to nuts - <add euphemism> . . .

For the first time this semester I had my students sign an academic integrity agreement - essentially just agreeing that they understand the college's policies and they understand the meaning of academic integrity . . . and if they don't understand those things, they will let me know immediately so I can clarify their understanding.

It felt bad, doing it - but I'm tired of the constant excuses.

A friend of mine teaches 9-12 English comp and literature at a very exclusive and expensive K-12 school. She's looking for a new job after the term ends because the school just got through reaming her for having the audacity to report and fail students who blatantly plagiarize. The parents of these snowflakes then come in with a full head of steam and demand a grade change. Since they're paying upward of thirty grand to put the kid through school each year, I suppose they figure they've bought them an A, along with the legacy place at an Ivy League and an apartment to live in while they're cheating their way through college. And it works - she tried refusing to change a failing mark for a student who stood in front of her and admitted to plagiarizing, with a "what are you going to do about it" follow-up. The dean changed the grade.

These are supposed to be the best and the brightest - this school has a top-flight reputation for rigor. You have to laugh, or you'll just break down and cry.