想阻止学生作弊吗?那么请先停止默许作弊吧

三位学者表示,许多学生认为,如果老师想阻止作弊,那么就不会让学生这么容易作弊

九月 17, 2020
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即使是学者,有时也宁愿享受无知的幸福,而不愿面对幻想的破灭。比如学生作弊这件事。

学生在大学考试中作弊的程度并不是许多学者或机构愿意认真调查的问题,以免暴露出一些令人不安的事实。但是,忽视诚信就是忽视学习。我们必须做得更好。

那么,大学作弊有多普遍呢?此前的研究表明,大多数学生都曾有意识地违反过校规,其中自报作弊比例在50%至70%之间。近40%的学生表示曾利用互联网为作弊提供便利。

这种明显的普遍现象引出了这样的问题:学生现在是否认为某种类型的作弊是可以接受的,甚至是必要的?在最近一项为期5年的研究中,我们对多所大学进行了相关调查,现在我们有了这个问题的答案。

正如我们最近发表在《全国大学考试协会会刊》(Journal of the National College Testing Association)上的论文所述,我们采访的学生中有超过半数(61%)承认在考试中作弊。他们不经常这样做,而且普遍认为这是不可接受的,但超过3/4的人(76%)并不认为所有类型的作弊都是完全不可接受的。

换句话说,许多学生认为学术诚信是有条件的。他们会从同伴那里寻找作弊的线索,也会关注他们的教授和其他学术领袖传达的潜台词。

我们的研究表明,学生们听到的关于作弊的信息,在一定程度上与在阻止作弊上下了多大功夫有关。因此,教授或机构说了什么并不重要,重要的是他们做了什么来吸引学生。

例如,如果考试没有监考官,学生们更有可能认为作弊是可以接受的,甚至是可以期待的。监考官为每个人提供公平的竞争环境。在那些认为绝对不能接受在监考中作弊的学生中,近30%的人表示,至少在某种程度上,在没有监考的情况下作弊是可以接受的。在那些自称从未在有监考的环境中作弊的学生中,有1/4的人表示,他们至少偶尔在没有监考的考试中作弊。

我们的研究得出了一个令人信服的结论:学生们告诉自己,“如果老师不想让我们作弊,他们就不会让我们这么容易作弊。”按照这种思路,学生们认为教授知道他们会作弊,如果他们真的、真的不想让学生作弊,就会采取措施阻止作弊。他们把缺乏有效威慑和执法视为允许作弊的条件。

还有其他的合理化说法。学生还告诉我们,作弊是允许的,因为分数才是最重要的,而不是学习,还有学生说不作弊会让他们在其他学生作弊时处于不公平的劣势。学生们为作弊辩护的理由还包括,“在现实世界中”你会用尽一切可能的资源来解决问题,所以在考试中不这样做似乎不合逻辑。

许多高等教育机构明白并坚持认为,它们不能仅仅授予学位,而至少在一定程度上,它们的存在是为了培养高效的全球公民。我们的研究表明,学校不仅应该在言语上,而且应该在他们对学生的日常期望上,在他们执行的标准和保护上,展示这种机构的承诺。毫无疑问,这需要采取一个更加积极和警惕的方式保障考试的诚信度。

我们认识到,要纠正总是把学习和考试联系在一起的错误认识,让学生不把成绩视为全部,会是一个更大的挑战。但是,教师在发展有效的、满足教学评估要求的学习方式时,将不得不面对这个挑战。监考只能解决表面问题,有一定的效果,但远远不够。

尽管大多数学院和大学都认为学术诚信是维持公平诚实的学术环境的核心,但他们也必须正视学生仍然经常作弊的事实。学校对此的选择将直接影响到一些学生是否继续认为学术不端行为是可以接受的——甚至是可以期待的。

贾瑞特·戴尔(Jarret Dyer)系位于美国伊利诺伊的杜佩奇学院(College of DuPage)专门负责测试的协调员以及学术诚信委员会的联席主席。海迪·佩蒂约翰(Heidi Pettyjohn)系辛辛那提大学(University of Cincinnati)无障碍获取执行主管。斯蒂夫·萨拉丁(Steve Saladin)系爱达荷大学(University of Idaho)的教授及测试与评估主任。

本文由陈露为泰晤士高等教育翻译。

后记

Print headline: Want to stop student cheating? Don’t give tacit permission

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Reader's comments (3)

During my 10 years as a University Lecturer in Australia I tried to stop the students from cheating, but my Head of School, Deputy Vice-Chancellor, and Vice-Chancellor all turned a "blind eye" as they were pocketing hundreds of thousands of dollars per year - one of these was caught with $500,000 in a secret Singapore bank account. When I spoke out against this practice of an "A for a Lay" or cash in hand, it was me who was "investigated" and bullied, harassed, and discriminated against resulting in a "Kangaroo Court" deciding to cancel my tenure because I "did not belong to the majority group that took bribes etc". The end result is that today's graduates may have their degree, but it is without knowledge.
'it was permissible to cheat because grades – not learning – are all that matters' I fear this is the place HE in the UK has reached. Just go to any formal university meeting and evaluate how much time and energy is spent on discussing grades when contrasted with with time spent discussing learning. As HE has become a commodity the students are only playing by the rules of the game.
The title of the article is somewhat misleading compared to its content. Do not blame others for what is your lack of virtue. Students or anyone else chose to cheat out of a lack of integrity and moral courage, regardless of whether the situation encourages it or not. Blaming the environment for one's moral transgressions is akin to saying 'You CAN'T blame me for robbing a bank, look how poor their security system is...?'. The problem is not the university, nor HE, nor the system, nor the govt etc etc etc... the problem is YOUR lack of moral integrity and courage to do the right thing EVEN in the most tempting and challenging of circumstances. When Prof Nigel Biggar, a Professor of Moral & Pastoral Theology, University of Oxford, was asked what was the one thing we are not talking about, his answer was virtue: https://youtu.be/ZRUD4uqFUvw?t=3611 Among the various things he said, which I agree, we keep talking about our rights but less about our virtues. Rights inform us what we can do, virtue informs us what we OUGHT to do and how we OUGHT to go about achieving those rights. In this context, does cheating just to achieve a good degree a virtuous way to go about it? You can get away with it doesn't mean you SHOULD do it. No system can prevent cheating because humans are incredibly creative to find loopholes and alternatives to cheat. It is also not the solution to the lack of virtue among students who choose to cheat. Call it for what it is.