I would like to open a debate on cheating in schools worldwide.
I would like to share a short story with you.
My elder colleague Stas was once a postgraduate/doctoral student in the USA in the seventies. He stayed at the University in Arizona (Tucson) and then in Texas.
After some time he was sent to have exercises with the regular university students. After a series of meetings he prepared a test for students.
Having a Polish educational background, he acted like he used to in Warsaw University of Technology. He asked students to change there places so that distance between them increased considerably. They were surprised but they obeyed. The same situation happened second time. When he started his usual procedure third time, one of the students could not help asking a polite question: "Excuse me, why are you doing so?"
Stas was smart enough to smell something strange and he replied: "It is just to make you feel more at ease" but later on, he asked the student mentioned above: Why did you find it so surprising?
The student was astonished: "It is me who is surprised". Stas said: "I was afraid you would cheat by exchanging information which should not be shared". The student was more than astonished. "Excuse me Sir, why would I need to do so? Any of my colleagues is my future competitor. Why am I supposed to unnecessarily strengthen their position? No need to do such things".
Stas remembered his lesson very well.
What do you think about this situation? It is still a problem in Poland and maybe in Ukraine, too. In Poland, this issue is often neglected or even mocked as not fit enough for serious debate.
In fact, I have already started this discussion in History board but the actual board fits better I think.
http://www.ukraine.com/forums/showth...0&pagenumber=3
In Poland, 'odpisyvanye' and many, many other forms of cheating are surely rooted in our history. Deplorably, the up-to-date technologies are employed in these morally doubtful deeds. Students in Poland are generally not punished enough or even forgiven when caught red-handed on cheating.
I would appreciate any replies of young people, students and their parents to my story. Let us make our world a better place to live as a community of moral principle.
I would like to share a short story with you.
My elder colleague Stas was once a postgraduate/doctoral student in the USA in the seventies. He stayed at the University in Arizona (Tucson) and then in Texas.
After some time he was sent to have exercises with the regular university students. After a series of meetings he prepared a test for students.
Having a Polish educational background, he acted like he used to in Warsaw University of Technology. He asked students to change there places so that distance between them increased considerably. They were surprised but they obeyed. The same situation happened second time. When he started his usual procedure third time, one of the students could not help asking a polite question: "Excuse me, why are you doing so?"
Stas was smart enough to smell something strange and he replied: "It is just to make you feel more at ease" but later on, he asked the student mentioned above: Why did you find it so surprising?
The student was astonished: "It is me who is surprised". Stas said: "I was afraid you would cheat by exchanging information which should not be shared". The student was more than astonished. "Excuse me Sir, why would I need to do so? Any of my colleagues is my future competitor. Why am I supposed to unnecessarily strengthen their position? No need to do such things".
Stas remembered his lesson very well.
What do you think about this situation? It is still a problem in Poland and maybe in Ukraine, too. In Poland, this issue is often neglected or even mocked as not fit enough for serious debate.
In fact, I have already started this discussion in History board but the actual board fits better I think.
http://www.ukraine.com/forums/showth...0&pagenumber=3
In Poland, 'odpisyvanye' and many, many other forms of cheating are surely rooted in our history. Deplorably, the up-to-date technologies are employed in these morally doubtful deeds. Students in Poland are generally not punished enough or even forgiven when caught red-handed on cheating.
I would appreciate any replies of young people, students and their parents to my story. Let us make our world a better place to live as a community of moral principle.
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