Cheating

An article in today's (August 19, 2011) Chronicle
of Higher Learning reports an experiment done at
Duke University. Two students in a class of 500
sent email to everyone in the course. It purported
to have a link to a question from a previous exam
that would help in the current exam. They then
counted how many people opened the link. More than
half had clicked on the link. There is no
way to determine if clicking was done out
of curiosity or to actually cheat.

The apparent willingness to cheat raises the issue
of whether this reflects a lack of ethical values
that can be factored in to the reasons for criminal
acts. Crime rates have actually been reported as
lower recently which on the surface appears to be
an anomaly. The expectation in a poor economy with
unemployment rates high is that there would be more
crime.

One explanation is that potential victims have little
or nothing worth taking. Another might be that high
unemployment means more people are about and would see
the criminal which would lead to faster apprehension.

Obviously when dealing with why a person does or does
not do something, we can only speculate or rely upon
what we are told.

Do you have an explanation? Could it be tested?

Totally unrelated to the criminal question, is
another that came to my mind when I read the article.

I was bothered by a class with so many students and
the limited opportunities for class discussions. Yes,
professors can still ask questions and students will
answer either verbally or with clickers, but only a
few students will actually speak up.

When you personally are in lecture hall classes, do
you believe that you are gaining as much from the
course as when you are in a small seminar-type setting?
Do you find yourself physically present but mentally
far away or even half asleep?

Would an online course have equally or more benefit
than a 500 person lecture hall course? Why or why not?