As reported in Newsweek, a huge study (of more than 60,000 students) out of Duke University shows that cheating is totally, like, getting more common, and stuff.
Apparently, on most college campuses, some 70% of students admit to cheating. Cheating on tests and written assignments has become so commonplace that some professors are not assigning papers any longer because plagiarism is so out of control. Standardized tests like the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) and Graduate Record Examination (GRE) have been compromized by sophisticated cheating methods including cell phone cameras, web site bulletin boards, and other ridiculously easy techniques.
Personally, after grading several hundred papers over the past two years, I've caught about 5 students in blatent plagiarism. My favorites are the students who, without blinking, copy book reviews directly from Amazon.com and pass them off as their own work. Amazon is the most obvious place to look. Give me a break.
Here's the thing, though. I think the whole system of citations is fast becoming outdated and might already by obselete. Why do we need a works cited page in an era when you can just search Google and find nearly any piece of written material? Do we really need to put the author's name first, with a period after the year of publication and all that other shit? Furthermore, how can you possibly be expected to cite everything when it's clear that someone, somewhere has written just about everything you can think of?
I think our students can only partially be blamed for thinking the current system of academic citations is quaint, at best. We need to realize that we're in the 21st century and adjust.
Apparently, on most college campuses, some 70% of students admit to cheating. Cheating on tests and written assignments has become so commonplace that some professors are not assigning papers any longer because plagiarism is so out of control. Standardized tests like the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) and Graduate Record Examination (GRE) have been compromized by sophisticated cheating methods including cell phone cameras, web site bulletin boards, and other ridiculously easy techniques.
Personally, after grading several hundred papers over the past two years, I've caught about 5 students in blatent plagiarism. My favorites are the students who, without blinking, copy book reviews directly from Amazon.com and pass them off as their own work. Amazon is the most obvious place to look. Give me a break.
Here's the thing, though. I think the whole system of citations is fast becoming outdated and might already by obselete. Why do we need a works cited page in an era when you can just search Google and find nearly any piece of written material? Do we really need to put the author's name first, with a period after the year of publication and all that other shit? Furthermore, how can you possibly be expected to cite everything when it's clear that someone, somewhere has written just about everything you can think of?
I think our students can only partially be blamed for thinking the current system of academic citations is quaint, at best. We need to realize that we're in the 21st century and adjust.
Well, they have to cite something. Otherwise, each student will be writing papers based solely on personal experiences and sentiments. I'll concede that this provides the initial impetus for most positions and content in the first place, but they have to demonstrate in some fashion that they performed research on the topic. Well, I believe "cheaters never prosper" was coined to reference the fact that cheaters never realize their full potential because they take shortcuts, thereby never truly fulfilling their promise and having to live with the knowledge that they cheated. That doesn't mean there are NO benefits to cheating whatsoever, but it's supposed to hurt you where it's supposed to count... in your soul. Of course, we've devalued the soul and the importance (and the very idea) of personal achievement so much that it's not surprising that people care so little about whether or not their accomplishments are legit.
By the way, if they're cheating on the GRE, then they're not cheating very effectively. The averages still suck.
http://info.gradschools.com/review/gre/faq.html