Students "Experts in Plagiarism and Alcohol Abuse" Should Coursework should be scrapped and tests made harder?

Answer 1

Your question goes to the heart of so many things that it is hard to respond adequately. Why do students drink, and why is college a continuous party for some? Is it that they are bored and find no relevance in their education, or have they found an easy way out for everything and think that what they learn has no bearing on their future, or is it a case of massive peer pressure? I've heard arguments for all three.

Is there meaningless Coursework? I think that depends on your attitude about a "liberal education", a subject fought in academia for at least two generations and I suspect a whole lot longer. Are classes too easy? That obviously depends on the class. I never met anyone who thought Organic Chemistry was easy, or that class in that subject was "optional". Plagiarism is definitely easier in the Internet age, but it's always been there and is more a problem with assignments and structure.

Harder tests instead of Coursework? It absolutely should be an option, but ignorance is not a crime, and as I pointed out above some things are hard to learn without help and hands-on experience.

The question I ponder is "What is a relevant education in the Internet age, and how do you deliver it effectively?" The problems you state above are symptoms that I don't think just substituting tests is going to cure. The present university environment is increasingly out of touch with the educational need of students and the needs of society, but I do not think there are simple answers. I don't claim to know the path forward, but I think that a complete overhaul of the educational system should be a national priority.

Answer 2

Your comment demonstrates how cheating has become an acceptable way of getting qualifications these days. Plagiarism is theft - submitting someone else's work and claiming it to be one's own. But students are not such experts that we cannot detect it plagiarism. Suddenly, the use of language improves and that's the first clue. Or, we who have read just about everything on a topic find that a student offers us something new from the leading edge of research. That's another clue.
Experts in alcohol abuse? Not so sure. It depends on the level of maturity in a student's peer group. Sometimes, booze concentrates the mind but usually it just wrecks the boozer.

Coursework should not be scrapped. It was intended to free students from the drudgery of rote learning. Scrapping it will simply go back to favouring those with photographic memories or those who, like me in olden days, learned Tony Buzan's memory techniques and could pass a university exam with only two days' study.
Coursework done properly makes people really useful at work. It teaches a wide range of skills and develops self-discipline and self-confidence. Let's keep it and buy the anti-plagiarism software to weed out the cheats.

Answer 3

Well - in my dept, plagiarism gets you kicked out. First time. No second chances or harder tests.

;-)

It happened to quite a few students this year, actually. Little did they know that their TA was married to an IT guy who had a list of all plagiarising websites.

Sad thing, though, a whole bunch of them were so stupid, they wrot the same thing. And when a sentance of their essay was entered into google, their entire passage just popped right up.

Answer 4

There is nothing like a good 10 page research paper to check a students grasp of a given subject. These days tests can be cheated just as easy as coursework.

Answer 5

Maybe, but it won't help. The problem is attention span. I think they should allow the parents the option of signing off on corporal punishment.... then the grades would probably increase steadily, and you could make tests and work harder. Either that, or parents should stop using video games and the TV to raise their kids. Just suggestions.

Answer 6

Totally agree, I heard recenty of someone whose teacher said that everyones latest course work was so bad, that they would have to do it all again, or else they would not get good marks - WHAT!!!!!
In my day, it was good on the day or else tough. Are they now allowed to do the work over and over till they get it right? Might as well just give them an A up front.

Answer 7

Yes

Answer 8

No way! are you crazy? students today are expected to know a lot more than our drug induced predecessors from the 60's, 70's, and 80's. most of those people were high on weed, shrooms and LSD through a lot of there learning experience; you dig?


Higher education should be a right for every one; college should be available to all who want it. It should be free to the student and paid for by the government. other countries provide college it's time the U.S. made it a priority.