Cheating the Students - Part 2 of 3

As a student, I would be surprised if the difficulty kids face when they get to college is news to anybody. It's a cultural problem. I've been lucky-in middle school, not that long ago, I watched as my friends cheated their way through homework, quizzes and tests and was nearly tempted to do so myself. Middle schoolers are like that. But, being a "smart kid", for whatever reason, I also gained access to a culture of kids that thought it was cool to know stuff, not that many of them also didn't cheat. There were not cliques in the schools I grew up in-not the kind you think of anyway-and the smart kids also cheated their way through school. It was a small percentage of people I knew in my classes (we're talking 10 people?) who were dismayed at cheating.

People do not cheat only because they do not know something, although that is also a problem. They cheat because they dislike, even hate, the system. Who hasn't been amused as a kid when you manage to trick an adult? It's something else altogether, however, to pay or just convince someone (or a girlfriend/boyfriend/less popular 'friend') to write your essay. At issue is not just beating the system, but also power over your peers. That is a separate discussion altogether. As a student, you're expected to finish several hours of homework a night. You get the sense that the teachers all think their class is the most important and requires more homework than the others. So, you have 2 choices-stay up till 2 in the morning doing nothing but work, or cheat to finish.

I was one to stay up all night to finish. Usually, I didn't feel like the homework helped. Class consisted of going over reading, homework and in class assignments that felt entirely disconnected from what I felt was important to learn. So, you give up what you find important, and cram for a test. Also, I had this sense of guilt all through school because I felt like I could still be doing more. How much more could I have done? I didn't work on homework constantly from getting home till crashing asleep. I goofed off-I was a teenager. I know in my head that I should have had the time to do those things, but it was always labeled 'procrastination'. It was procrastination, but it wasn't wrong. Your brain needs time to soak up information-that's why cramming for a test doesn't teach you anything, or very little.

Here's where the culture of cheating and the culture of success measured by testing come together. I personally feel as though testing caused cheating, but I could be wrong. Who could say? I've been tested so often, I feel like some sort of experiment. 'Let's see if our education is being implanted,' someone observing somewhere could be saying. It makes one feel observed, watched (paranoid?). I get a sense of guilt, somewhat lessened at this point, if I'm not working my hardest towards learning everything I need to on a subject.

The kind of testing I feel like I've been subjected to has not usually been educational or helpful. It's been a check-teachers who don't trust their students to learn, or suspect cheating who want to catch you at your game. Yes, students are cheating-testing won't help. It's like throwing wood on the fire. 'Haha! I know you're cheating-take this multiple choice exam to reinforce the notion that my subject means nothing! Muahahaha...'

Now, I did have wonderful teachers that did not make testing feel this way, but testing itself causes these sorts of feelings. That's why there are loads of books, websites, articles and free advice from teachers, psychologists and other educators on something as specific as 'test anxiety'. If you are used to a system that simply tries to beat things into you ('maybe some of it will stick'), a good test doesn't look that different from a bad one. If you're a conscientious, guilt-ridden student, testing makes little difference in the knowledge you gain. You learn the material because someone who supposedly knows what is good for you assigned it to you. If you're especially driven, you find sources on your own as well. A good system would encourage you to do that regardless, but who has the time?

You have entire generations of people who feel like they have to measure their success through testing. The problem is, the knowledge base to support success in testing isn't there. For example, I'm a good test taker. On the SAT, I got involved in a math problem and had to guess on the last 7 questions in the section because I only had 30 seconds remaining. All 7 were correct. I never took a class on how to do well on the SAT-I'm just a good test taker. I'm also smart, but I could take a test on a completely new subject and pass with a 'B' or an 'A'. If I don't know something, I am NOT encouraged to speak up and ask about it. In fact, I'm encouraged to do the opposite. I'm often the lone voice in a class. As a student, you feel like any admission of ignorance or misunderstanding marks you to fail or as a failure. You don't feel tested only during a test. Teachers 'test your knowledge' during class with constant questions to check performance. To teachers, these questions are meant, ideally, to help them figure out where the class is in learning. To students, these questions are just further tools to test them.

It's testing that collides with the gap between high school education and college.

More soon...

posted by Sarah @ 1:14 PM