Game Played Unfair
It hurts when people wins and it will make you stronger. But it hurts more when people wins by cheating since it will make you weaker.
Being a student in my university is challenging. Not academically, but ethically. You are in a race, where people play dirty, and usually the referees turns a blind eye to them. I might not be the most hardworking student in my class, but i do hope that when i do strive to get something, i’m recognised for it.
I do not blame the lecturers for not attending to the issue. I believe they are already tired of fighting a losing war. I can still see the broken heart in my lecturers’ face, but i also see despair in them. However, I still hope that they will work something out, and really work on it to address this epidemic issue. I can say that more than 3/4 of my class are dishonest in their tests (thankfully, they don’t do so in final exams).
This problem not only breaks lecturers’ heart, but breaks those who are honest too. They put those who are true to the rule of fair game on edge, wether to jump and dive for the excellence by unspeakable way, or stay strong to their principle and become average compared to their competition. I managed to stay strong, but it still hurts me deep inside. I cannot blame those who failed staying strong, we’re living in a world where marks on paper is more important than honesty your heart.
At first, i don’t mind them cheating, since i thought it simply hurts only me. The issue has been persistent way back in my second semester. Somehow, lately, when i look into my lecturers’ face, i realize they are angry, but they are also speechless, due to the number of those who are dishonest. I myself become angry with it.
Suddenly, one of my lecturers stands against the issue rather relentlessly, and i’m thankful for it. I’m now on her side, and will advocate this issue to all my lecturers. I’m going to rally them to fight this issue openly and aggressively. Yes, people will think that this is for my own sake. I cannot exclude that possibility. But nevertheless, i believe my aim is for justice and honesty.
The game has been long played unfair. It’s time to shift the paradigm and bring justice to the surface.
Edited:
This is something I obtained from wikipedia, and it somehow explains why Malaysian graduate mostly are not marketable. One can see how cheating impacts not exclusively to the academic circle only, but also to the industry.
Effects
Cheating in academia has a host of effects on students, on teachers, on individual schools, and on the educational system itself.
For instance, students who engage in neutralization to justify cheating, even once, are more likely to engage in cheating in the future, potentially putting them on a road to a life of dishonesty.[51] Indeed, one study found that students who are dishonest in class are more likely to engage in fraud and theft on the job when they enter the workplace.[52] Students are also negatively affected by academic dishonesty after graduation. A university diploma is an important document in the labor market. Potential employers use a degree as a representation of a graduate’s knowledge and ability. However, due to academic dishonesty, not all graduates with the same grades actually did the same work or have the same skills. Thus, when faced with the fact that they do not know which graduates are skilled and which are the “lemons” (see The Market for Lemons), employers must pay all graduates based on the quality of the average graduate. Therefore, the more students who cheat, getting by without achieving the required skills or learning, the lower the quality of the average graduate of a school, and thus the less employers are willing to pay a new hire from that school. Because of this reason, all students, even those that do not cheat themselves, are negatively affected by academic misconduct.
Academic dishonesty also creates problems for teachers. In economic terms, cheating causes an underproduction of knowledge, where the professor’s job is to produce knowledge.[53] Moreover, a case of cheating often will cause emotional distress to faculty members, many considering it to be a personal slight against them or a violation of their trust. Dealing with academic misconduct is often one of the worst parts of a career in education, one survey claiming that 77% of academics agreed with the statement “dealing with a cheating student is one of the most onerous aspects of the job.”[54]
Academic misconduct can also have an effect on a college’s reputation, one of the most important assets of any school. An institution plagued by cheating scandals may become less attractive to potential donors and students and especially prospective employers. Alternately, schools with low levels of academic dishonesty can use their reputation to attract students and employers.
Ultimately, academic dishonesty undermines the academic world. It interferes with the basic mission of education, the transfer of knowledge, by allowing students to get by without having to master the knowledge.[55] Furthermore, academic dishonesty creates an atmosphere that is not conducive to the learning process, which affects honest students as well.[56] When honest students see cheaters escape detection, it can discourage student morale, as they see the rewards for their work cheapened. Cheating also undermines academia when students steal ideas. Ideas are a professional author’s “capital and identity”, and if a person’s ideas are stolen it retards the pursuit of knowledge.[57]
51. ^ Smith, Davy, and Easterling, 66.
52. ^ Sarath Nonis and Cathy Owens Swift, “An Examination of the Relationship between Academic Dishonesty and Workplace Dishonesty”, Journal of Business Education 77, no. 2, (November-December 2001), 69-77.
53. ^ Bunn, Caudill, and Gropper, 199.
54. ^ a b Whitley and Keith-Spiegel, 11.
55. ^ Whitley and Keith-Spiegel, 5.
56. ^ Bowers, 2.
57. ^ Thomas Mallon, Stolen Words (San Diego: Harcourt, 2001), 4.
I got to know about your blog from Puan Nadira. Surprisingly, finally you expressed your feeling towards the issue but I was not surprise that it was you. To me it is an attitude problem. People do not care how to get a thing, they just want to get it. My professor once told us in a lecture, this attitude problem will make buildings collapse one day. Do you want to be held responsible for it? Of course not. I am glad that you have a right attitude from the start.
Just continue to be sincere in any of your works. Good God will will reward you accordingly in His time.
Regards,
Mr Joe
Joe D Nyuin said this on October 14, 2008 at 11:19 pm
CONGRATULATION you are pass the BIG EXAM in university…where ‘HONESTY AND SINCERITY’ are in YOU!
GOOD DEEDS will pays off later in time wheN you are needed later where ALLAH TIDAK AKAN MUNGKIR JANJI-NYA PADA HAMBA-NYA
to all students ‘TEPUK DADA TANYA IMAN’
regards,
Mdm Shafienaz
shafienaz ismail said this on October 15, 2008 at 7:12 pm
Thank you for the encouragement.
Still, i hope that this issue will be handled. When i talked to my lecturer, She said that this problem of course is not being overlooked by any lecturer. But rather, as what i have opined in my first post regarding this, they are already tired of fighting this issue. I think we are not fighting this issue effectively. We are seeing this thing as only a small, small thing. However, it is something that causing a big impact on my life, or anyone’s life who is honest for that matter.
Yes, I acknowledge that God will reward those who stay true to his teaching. Yes, God will never forget his promise. But still, one have to be realistic too. The afterlife is one thing, now is another. This problem is impacting one’s life now and here. This problem has to be handled now and here.
I’m going to dedicate this blog to discuss and find solutions to an already-stage-3-cancer problem. Lecturers of any faculty, any university, anywhere can contribute to this blog. Send your comments, feedback and suggestions here. I’m going to post another title regarding which will dedicate on finding the problems in fighting this issue.
sent from seventh deep said this on October 17, 2008 at 3:55 am
Aslmkm,
Nice, I know you will stand up for sumthin like this. Im proud of you….very
ibnuhisyamibrahim said this on October 25, 2008 at 5:23 pm
Assalamualaikum,
Deedat my friend, let em be the first to acknowledge that I cheat to….and not proud of it. Let me put this in a simple way. People do anything to survive, even I do. I used to despise it, but somehow it’s not fair, I work my ass out every semester but the cheaters get all the DEAN LIST !! I can name them but I’m not going to snitch. Let it just be between us. The Malam Kecemerlangan thinggy that we attended, they should have an award for best cheaters too because our batch is the best when it comes to ‘hidden notes’ and ’sharing information’, not just academically. The guys who score DEAN LIST every semester, they are just as crooked as everyone else on the block. So maybe some how you’ll realize that not all the people that look Saint-like on the outside, is Saint-like on the inside.
The most important thing is staying true to your belief. You belief that cheating is unacceptable to your principle and should be dealt with. I belief fighting it is a lost crusade!! So I have lost my will to fight along time ago. That is totally my fault however. But the extent of the cheating is outrageous. If only you knew how low this people get, even I am not that low. Even in the finals they are cheating. I’m not justifying why I cheat, nor am I justifying why other people cheat. To me, you have every right to hate me for cheating, so are the lecturers, they have every right to fail a cheater.
They point is, if nothing concrete is taken, cheating would become more serious than it currently is. You still remember when Mdm Wani scolded one of our batch for cheating in a test?? My heart leaped with joy that night, but the cheaters, they’ve learned and they are back now, better equipped, properly trained and ready for another round of cheating. So the cycle never ends, as long as man has evil thoughts, they’d do anything to make it happen.
On me, well maybe I will stop cheating, not for your sake, but for the lectures. You really have a point when you say that it hurts the lectures as much as it hurts you. X berkat belajar kalo yang mengajar x redha. That is something that maybe I have failed to notice. Again my mistake. But that what we humans do, we make mistakes and learn from them. Just pray that the others would have their heart enlightened too. So maybe there is still hope for me??? Because I really don’t wanna earn a Degree in Civil Engineering (W/O HONS).
Your truthfully,
The one who cheats
un-speaker-ble said this on November 3, 2008 at 2:58 pm
Good to see that people are responding to the issues. I pray for you that you will have the strength to overcome the cheating habit. I understand why people failed to stay strong, just like what i said earlier.
I suddenly feel that I’m blessed with schizoid that the dean list or the CGPA thingy doesn’t make strive in any way i can to get those.
For those who hold their religion close to your heart, namely muslim (i’m not exactly a good muslim, but still…), remember, what you earn today is the mean to get to your jobs. If your job is obtained through prohibited ways, remember, so does your nafkah hidup. And with that, you will feed your children, wife and possibly your parents. Think about it.
This war against cheaters really seemed to be a lost cause, but one have to remember: the fight against anything prohibited itself will have you be blessed. Let’s not lose faith right now. Whether we’ll see the outcome of our fight or not, be known that your effort is not unpaid. God Bless.
To any lecturer who still reads this blog, please, fight on. We students who don’t cheat needs you. The harm done might not be reversible, but the crime can be stopped. There is more at stakes than simple CGPA.
demonicparadigm said this on November 5, 2008 at 1:32 pm