"Those who cheat are only hurting themselves"

Once upon a time (in a galaxy far far away) I took a daylong training session on teaching online classes.  During a break in the training, I asked the trainer, “What do you do about exam security?”  Another trainee (teaching a giant online section of a general education class, History of Rock and Roll) piped up with his answer.  “I find that those who cheat are only cheating themselves.”

The trainer nodded wisely.  “Yes, those who cheat are only cheating themselves.”  

Translated: “We don’t concern ourselves with exam security.”

I had some strong reactions to those comments.  But I was trying to be sociable and friendly and to play well with others … so I kept my mouth shut.  (Others could hear my teeth grinding.)

My thoughts at that time should not be printed.  A much milder version of them was, “That is such --”  

A much much milder version of those thoughts was simply “That is SO WRONG.”  

“Those who cheat are only cheating themselves.”   Think Bernie Maddox.  Enron.  Various political figures.  People who cheat hurt LOTS of other people!

Can you imagine a university president, asked about the authenticity of college’s degrees, answering “Well, we here at State U. feel that those who cheat are just hurting themselves.  That’s the philosophy of my college.”  

How can an intelligent person spout such dribble?

A major difficulty with online education is secure exam testing.  But there are companies that offer secure online (at-home) exam testing.  It's not easy.  It has its problems.  But there are people doing it.  

Here is a story from the Chronicle of Higher Ed.

http://chronicle.com/article/Behind-the-Webcams-Watchful/138505/

Early College (or “Who goes to high school anymore?”)

(Part 2 of 2)

In Part 1 (an earlier post) I told a story of a student who only learned by the “multiplying method”.  But that was only half of the story.  The half I didn’t tell you is that those 65 hours of college credit were also the student’s  junior and senior high school classes.

This was a little confusing to me.  The student is 18.   She just graduated from high school.  But she immediately entered Sam Houston as a college junior with 65 credit hours because all her junior and senior high school classes are also simultaneously community college classes.  Her high school teachers were also, simultaneously, teaching the same class in the same room at the same time to the same students as a cross-listed community college class [1].  

This is called “dual-enrollment.”   

I thought I knew “dual-enrollment.”  Several of my children took college classes during their senior year and high school credit was an option.  But it never occurred to me that a high school could just make all its college-bound junior & senior classes into (simultaneous) classes for community college credit!  

These “college classes” were not at the college level.  The student received a failing grade in one math class but then, after her mother complained to her teacher, her high school (= college?) teacher then let her rework some problems and pull her grade up to a passing grade.  This teacher continued to let her rework problems and pull up failing grades in later “college” classes.  This apparently explains how she achieved a C in “College Algebra” in her high school math class in her senior year.

Her math SAT score was in the 11th percentile nationally, far below college requirements.  But here at Sam Houston she was advised out of our developmental math classes and into precalculus because her high school senior math class (“College Algebra”)  transferred in as our freshman College Algebra class.

This is a new wrinkle in the transition from high school to college.  Community colleges in Texas now certify high school teachers to be community college teachers and then anoint their classes with college credit.  This solves problems with high school budgets and the high school/college transition.  College is now high school.

But wait!  Why stop at two years of college credit for high school classes?!  Why not give four years of college credit?  Students should be able to graduate from high school with a college degree!  And, given our shortage of medical doctors, why not let students graduate from high school with medical degrees?  The possibilities are endless!  

(I get sarcastic when I'm angry.)

In an earlier blog I expressed concerns about removing “education” from “higher education.” In this post I am concerned that we are also removing the term “higher.”

1. Footnote:  Read this webpage on "Early College". Then answer the following quiz question (multiple choice):  To market our new program to parents and legislators, we should describe our program as  A. “friendly,” B. “easy,” C. “rigorous,” D. “supportive.”  (Choose two.)