242.The following appeared as an editorial in the student newspaper of Groveton College.
"To combat the recently reported dramatic rise in cheating among college and university students, these institutions should adopt honor codes similar to Groveton's, which calls for students to agree not to cheat in their academic endeavors and to notify a faculty member if they suspect that others have cheated. Groveton's honor code replaced an old-fashioned system in which students were closely monitored by teachers and an average of thirty cases of cheating per year were reported. The honor code has proven far more successful: in the first year it was in place, students reported twenty-one cases of cheating; five years later, this figure had dropped to fourteen. Moreover, in a recent survey conducted by the Groveton honor council, a majority of students said that they would be less likely to cheat with an honor code in place than without."
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At first glance ,it seems quite reasonable and nothing improper ,which is just implementing a proved and effective pattern of monitoring exam in other institutions. But when thought over, it remains something to be done before making a rational choice. in general, It is essential to consider following several respects as well.
First, whether the honor codes are really that effective as the plausible statistics shows. As I see it , fewer and fewer students were reported to have cheated in the exams ,and that is all about the proof to show that the honor codes is more superior to the old-fashioned system. Is the statistics reliable? I cann’t help asking. The so-called new system almost fully makes the students out of the teachers’ monitoring, and it is anybody’s guess whether he or she has cheated in the exams since others won’t always keep an eye on somebody who are ready to cheat. Also they may reasonablely choose not to report to a faculty member , though they has found someone cheating. It may because the cheaters are their friends , classmates or somebody who always make them have a reason to keep silent. There still may be others who keep their eyes closed since it is none of his business. therefor the 30 students reported in the old-fashioned systems may be all who have really cheated ,while the 21 and 14 may be just a fraction of the whole pool who have cheated. as for the survey conducted by the Groventon just of late, in which most of the students included claimed students are less likely to cheat with the honor codes putting in practice. While the fact may be that some may choose to lie since they are those who benefit from it,or the most investgated students are in favor of the new system just for it make them comfortable having exams without somebody occasionally staring at them. thus the honor codes may not be so effective as to be adopted by other institutes since the statistics it relies on remains to be ensured.
Second, honor codes may not fit any institutes ,of which the pattern and content of their own examination paper may differ. Students may not likely to cheat in the exam featuring subjective questions ,which mainly requires the participate to write down their own ideas or comprehensions, and the answers generally can’t be found in prepared paper or easily got from others. Nevertheless, in the exams which mainly intend to test their metrication of knowledge or contains many objective questions which students can effortlessly scan the answers in slight movements especially in the new system. Which system to choose should depend on its specific situation. It is unadvisable and blind to implement the new system to all other institutes ignoring the different results may get in different institutes.
In short,the argument fails to convince us the reliability of the statistics and the cover as well, accordingly the effectiveness of the honor codes is bound to be doubted. As I see it ,a more detailed cover and a period of the test of the new system may help the decision maker to make a rational and proper choice.
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