Paula:
I hear you loud and clear. Some of us have ethical standards; others don't. Students cheat for different reasons. As an Assistant Instructor in graduate school, I have had students cheat in both the mid-term and the final examination for both courses. In undergraduate studies, at least three professors mentioned that students used term papers of other students, one of them in different offerings of his class, another from another university in the same city.
I think cheasting is here to stay. As an instructor, I will take all the necessary measures to prevent cheating; however, i will not over exert my energies to pursue and penalize students or groups of students who are more clever than I am in cheating strategies.
Satrohan
Since I responded to this in another forum I think you could get the idea that I have very strong feelings about cheating and specifically the ethics of cheating. I currently teach only in the on-ground environment and am just starting to get some of our classes on-line. My major concern is the possibility of cheating. I just completed my Bachelors Degree online and felt that in the classes that I took students have an open opportunity to cheat. Even though my concerns are real, I thing that if a student wants to cheat that the online environment is no different than the on-ground environment. If a student thinks that the only way to succeed is through cheating then they will. I think we need to provide the proper instruction and skills learning in both environment so that the student is prepared and not motivated to cheat to pass but rather be motivated to learn to pass.
