Does Society Encourage Cheating?
There came a point
in my first semester at the University of Michigan when I asked myself a
similar question to that Louis Menand received by a student while teaching at a
community college. That question was, “What Have I Learned Here?” After that
query, I revisited the article, brushed up on my theories of education, and
came to the realization that the idea of a meritocracy is an ineffective method
to distinguish students from one another and is tearing the educational system
apart.
Now,
I have had what I would think is a “normal” education coming out of a public high
school. However, looking back, I can’t really say that I’d learned much from
the experience. This would seem startling to the University of Michigan, who other
than about a page of writing in my common application, all they know about me,
to this day, was the 4.44 GPA that I had maintained throughout high school and
the 32 that I had received on my ACT. Such a prestigious school wouldn’t like
the idea that I had gained little knowledge from my academic courses in high
school. But is it a direct result of the
system that they themselves have bought into: meritocracy.
Meritocracy
is a system where people move up in the world based on earned merit. In high school, the only real merits that one
can earn are grades and standardized test scores. And of course, all these
numbers accurately represent how much a student has learned in school. Ha! As a
high school student just last year, I can assure you that this system is beyond
flawed.
The
issue with the current way the educational system is running is that rather
than students going to learn, it has become a game. A game called “Who can get
the highest GPA?!” And like every game, there are winners and there are losers.
And society pressures these high school students so much, leading them to
believe that they will be failures in life if they do not have a high GPA. So
what happens? You guessed it. Cheating. I
have see forms of cheating that are so far fetched you would be shocked,
ranging from simply copying a simple homework assignment, to actually bribing a
teacher to give them an “A” in a class. I have seen students expelled for hacking
computers and changing grades, and have even witnessed students sabotaging others
with wrong answers in order to gain a competitive advantage. Yes, it’s true and
awfully prevalent. And yes, in the end, they do end up receiving a high GPA,
but at what cost?
The
educational system has gotten to the point where it isn’t even about learning
anymore, but rather about who can manage to get the highest GPA and
standardized test scores, by any means necessary. Students who do not comply
into this system are left behind, while students who are skilled at the game go
off to the most prestigious universities. Therefore, these identifiers do not
give an accurate representation of a student’s intelligence. In order to escape
this trend, learning can no longer be regarded as a competition, and we cannot
rely on GPA and standardized test scores to measure intelligence as they are
often inaccurate. If we put less emphasis on getting the highest letter grade
or receiving the highest score, students will be more inclined to work harder
to become educated, rather than strive to win a competition over their peers.
Parallel with the
second theory of Education stated by Menand, students should use “grades as
positive or negative reinforcement, but the only thing that matters is what
students actually learn.” As students, we should be encouraged to learn rather
than encouraged to cheat. If society reduces the amount of pressure it puts on
students to have the highest GPA and test scores, and rather uses these
measures as a method of reinforcement, students will be encouraged to learn
throughout school, which will benefit us far greater in the future.
This is a very interesting post, Danny. I also saw all types of cheating during my high school days, and some of those practices have carried over into college. When students cheat, I don't think that they realize the negative effect it has on their educational experience as a whole. It is easy to be lazy, copy your friends, and plagiarize off of the internet, but students don't learn anything in the process. But paradoxically, participating in those activities will often times get a student a higher grade than if they did their work honestly and without outside help. This is a huge problem in education, but there don't seem to be many solutions that are on the table. I agree that standardized tests and GPA's are a lousy way of measuring a person's intelligence. However, what are our other options? If we didn't have those test scores or GPA measurements, how could colleges admit students without getting to personally know all of the applicants? The problem of education seems to become more complex as time passes, and it doesn't look like there are easy solutions.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree that our system of education, which is becoming more and more based on merit, is completely flawed in striving to education our generation. Event at my private boarding school where there was an emphasis on smaller classes and learning for the sake of learning, I still saw cheat and competition based on grades time and time again. I think in order to fix the problem we should revamp the entire system starting with how we learn and moving towards the reasons for college acceptance. I think there is something wrong with the whole system of exams. Throughout high school I would cram tons of information in for one class just to purge it out on one test and then forget it all within a month. I think in order to really learn we should move away from exams and more towards dynamic forms testing knowledge such as papers, which usually require a deeper understanding and analysis for the material. That way students are more likely to retain information. Additionally, I think that universities should look more closely at teacher recommendations and essays rather than SAT scores or GPAs to determine if a student is fit for that university. This is all very idealistic, I know, but I am still hopeful that schools and colleges will start to realize these flaws!
ReplyDeleteDanny, some of the points you bring up in this post are spot on and I completely agree with so much of it. Cheating can occur in so many different forms, and are often passed by without much notice. Something I've thought about is that our education system is particularly flawed because of this negative stigma around "cheating." I do agree that cheating on a test, or plagiarizing on a paper is wrong, but I feel that in school, we should be taught to effectively collaborate, rather than work demonstrate our individual knowledge. From the little experience I have through internships and from what I've seen of the real world, it seems to me that when we utilize all of our resources to the best capacity, we get the most out of our work. We should be reared to work hard, and work with our peers, rather than against them. A meritocracy is flawed in itself because although it is good that our individual talents are celebrated, we get the feeling that we must work for our own personal success, rather than the success of whatever organization or institution we are working for, or for the progression of society itself. Competition to a certain extent is necessary towards the "game," in that we have incentives to further our knowledge base, but its drawbacks certainly lie in the fact that we become selfish and greedy, and begin to look to different methods of getting ahead, which sometimes results in cheating. If grades and individual academic achievement was important, but the emphasis was put on the accomplishments of the graduating class, rather than each individual, I feel that people would begin to want to do the work just to feel like a helpful member of society, instead of thinking they have to do it because it's the way the system is.
ReplyDeleteDanny, as also stated in the above comments, I think you mention some great points that I completely agree with. You're definitely not alone in thinking that you didn't absorb much in high school, despite receiving great grades. That also applies to me--more so in middle school though--and I think part of the problem is that I wasn't interested in a lot of the classes that I was required to take. Additionally, I think you can attribute part of the problem to intellectual maturity. When I was younger, I definitely would cram for tests and not retain any of the information. In response to Dante's comment about putting more weight on papers and essays, I don't think this would solve the problem at its roots. Just as people cheat on tests to get good grades, I think people would cheat on papers. This could come in various forms and students constantly find more creative ways to cheat, which is really sad. I think plagiarism would become even more commonplace and people could even pay others to write the papers for them. I'm not sure if there really is a system that's cheat-proof--people will also find a way. Maybe this is just the way the world is? I'm a firm believer in the idea that it will eventually catch up to him. Even if someone is able to cheat his or her way through life, is it just their life choice? As you can probably see, I don't have a definitive answer or solution to this problem. It definitely is a prominent problem in today's education system, so maybe the best way to go about tackling it is to provide more courses or talks about academic integrity to teach students that it's ethically and morally wrong.
ReplyDeleteNice post Danny.
ReplyDeleteI'd like to emphasize the point that you made about the University of Michigan not being happy about you "gaining little knowledge from your academic courses in high school." Isn't that the whole point of meritocracy? To assign people with numerical values (GPA, SAT scores) just so that you can discern the less intelligent from the more intelligent? While I agree that this leads to the flaws of cheating, I would like to point out that the goal of meritocracy is to push students to work harder. Because their hard work is merited with high grades, the system is meant to get the best out of everybody. Some may argue that cheating is just a means to an end. But I have to agree with your idea. Although meritocracy is meant to push people to do better in school, it definitely encourages cheating - which I think is wrong. I also agree that's its awful that the kids who choose to be honorable and not cheat end up receiving lower GPAs than those who cheat or copy homework. However, like any system, meritocracy has both pros and cons.
So I think that the whole idea of meritocracy perpetuating cheating rests on one question: what is the purpose of school? If the purpose of school is like Menand's first theory, than meritocracy is absolutely fine, as it separates in general the more able/ willing and the less able/ willing. I say able/ willing instead of intelligence, because many of the people who are considered more able/ willing could have cheated off of others, thus not being intelligent themselves, but simply able and willing to effectively cheat. However, if the purpose of school is like Menand's second theory, than meritocracy is a definite problem and needs to be abolished or reformed, as it creates students who have gained little to no knowledge in high school (except how to cheat lol). Whatever the case is, I agree with you that meritocracy definitely does allow for cheating to take place.
Hey Danny,
ReplyDeleteNicely said! I know brilliant people who didn't get into UM because of poor ACT scores. People who are so mathematically-minded and who could move mountains in UM's engineering program--now they have no idea what they're doing. I think that GPA is a good method of sorting students; even if it may not accurately reflect how intelligent we are, it certainly shows motivation. People with low GPAs in my high school clearly didn't care about school. People with high GPAs worked their asses off for them, though content in classes wasn't nearly as hard as college level. There's a certain value in high school GPA. ACTs are a whole other story. I despise the system. I got a 28 my first time around, and was so upset because I thought UM would see it and think it wasn't good enough (even though 28 is damn good, comparatively). I took it a second time, and got a 32. All of a sudden, I felt confident in my chances at getting in. It was awful! Four points on a standardized test (not a true meter of intelligence) could've separated me from acceptance or not (I know people who got denied with 28s). It's a flawed system. Extracurriculars, essays, and GPA, I think, are the most accurate determiners of ability. Also, teacher recommendations. It's so sad that people lose hope if they get a low ACT.
Regarding the cheating point, my high school's rival school apparently changes their students' grades so that they aren't ineligible for sporting events. Not really the same as cheating, but it's still quite a bother.
In closing, I really like your (and Menand's) point about how education should be about learning, not getting a grade. That's my approach at UM. I know I'm not going to get straight As, but it's important that I understand the vocational things to get me to the next level. That's what it's all about.
Danny,
ReplyDeleteI agree with the fact that the pressure from the meritocratic system breeds unethical means of getting good grades. I would say that the system is somewhat flawed, not beyond flawed because it really depends on how you approach it. I have heard cases of students cheating on SATs, like getting someone else to sit the test for them. In China, it is commonplace that high schools inflate students' final grades to make it look good, also there are "middleman" that students and parents would approach to get their common apps nicely done. Hence the meritocractic system is leading to an erosion of integrity which i think is bothering me because i feel that this makes college admissions unfair. Also, the meritocracy is not inherently bad, in fact the primary motive is to encourage people to climb up the social ladder through hard work that would accumulate credits for themselves. I feel that it is the attitude adopted by people that is ruining the credibility of the system and this calls for radical change.
However, I dont feel that the situation is all so bleak. It hasnt gone to the extend that grades become the sole determinant of a person's calibre and that everyone's in a wild paper chase. For instance, UofM values a student's portfolio as much as grades. They really want to know what a student is capable of achieveing outside classroom and those who are actively involved with the community that those who are highly valued by our school. I think this tells the fact that there are still chances to rectify the situation for the better because there exists believers of a holistic education.
I would agree that the education system has become so flawed that cheating can sometimes be considered as enforced and I certainly think that it is a large part of the "GPA game". And while stealing tests, bribery, and copying are all obvious examples of cheating, I think that there is a less straight forward type. In my opinion students in school are not all equal. Some students have different family and economic situations. Some students are in a position where they have to have jobs or take care of siblings because of their circumstances while others are without any responsibilities outside of their education and have the benefit of a stable home life and many resources. It is heinous to compare people based on something as fragile as a GPA. A rough week could mean a bad test score, despite ones smarts. So many real life situations affect our cognitive abilities and therefore our grades, which can be the difference between acceptance and denial to a school. While I understand that it is definitely hard to find an equal means to compare students, i think the system that we have now is far too flawed to have such an important position in our lives.
ReplyDelete