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.
Comments
Dr. Diver,
I support everything you are saying and, if you are not an optimist, you are in the wrong line of business.
However, you are dealing with a problem in your realm with your tools, while the origins are much earlier in life and "your" problem is only part of a larger issue. Call it what ever you like. Define it in any numer of ways. Our society is suffering from a general lack of personal responsibility and little or know appreciation for all the elements that make up "character". We do not value being a good person, and/or do not know what being a good person means.
I will not go on a rant because it does not help. It is, I think, as simple as that. The origins are the parents and what they have taught their kids or what they have not taught them. My general view is that parents are cowardly. They do not stand up when they need to. They are afraid of what the neighbors might think. They get mad instead of thinking. They rationalize and demonize any opposition. They do not truly love their children. They choose fitting in instead of helping their kids.
By the way, do you know who Marc Hauser is? Google him if you do not.