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FIRAT EDUCATIONAL JOURNAL The New Educational Journal of Houston Sponsored by Firat Educational Solutions
Cheating in School Can Lead to Doubtful Behavior Later in Life
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By Ingrid Furtado
Math test: the nervousness takes place in the classroom. Students’ hearts beat fast and, suddenly, one little sneaked paper appears between a scholar’s fingers. From that point, the answers for most of the tests’ problems raise. This scenario
might be really common not just only for students in the USA but also for others around the world. Cheating in school is a chronic situation that teachers have to face in classroom. But what are the consequences to who cheats?
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Recent research has shown that cheaters in school history teacher Christopher Doyle wrote a comhigh school are far more likely as adults to lie mentary at Education Week about the attitude of cheatto their spouses, customers and employers and ing at school. He talks with exclusivity with Firat Eduto cheat on expense reports and insurance cational Journal about the theme. “I believe that ethics claims, says The Josephson Institute of Ethics’ are learned and reinforced by experience, positive and study. negative. Cheating in school might be the beginning of The survey, which was released last year, is other negative ethical choices in later life”. based on 6,930 respondents in five age groups: 17 and under, 18-24, 25-40, 41-50 and over 50. Firat Educational Journal – In your previous comIt analyzes the relationship mentary, you reinforce that one way to “Teachers should rethink between attitudes in high start solving problems about cheating school and the behavior and their motives for the work is to create a friendly environment belater conduct in adult life. Retween a teacher and a student. When they assign. Often, our searchers noticed that regardthe question „Who cheats on test, proassignments derive from less of current age, people jects and home work?` is popped up in tradition.” who cheated on exams in class how do the students react? Christopher Doyle high school two or more times are significantly more likely to be disChristopher Doyle -Many of my students adhonest later in life. In general, the study mit cheating is wrong. That's important. It shows they showed that high school cheaters are three are aware there is an ethical problem. The next step times more likely to lie to a customer or inflate could be to ask parents to get involved. Teachers could an insurance claim and more than twice as like- ask parents if they know about the pressure their chilly to inflate an expense claim. dren feel to succeed. They could also ask parents about They are also twice as likely to lie to or detheir children's homework and lives outside of school. ceive their bosses or lie about their address to School administrators should take an active role in this get a child into a better school. In addition, the conversation with parents. The goal could be to examstudy showed that “cheaters” are more likely to ine the child as a whole person, not just a student in an lie to spouse or significant other (as parents, individual class. When you get a picture for a kid's boss, and so on) or cheat on taxes. whole life, it's easier to see if the child is overschedThis news can be stark for a lot of current or uled. former students. However, there are some FEJ- Pressure, competition, and stress are common considerations to be pointed out. The high components in our life. Years ago, the most ordinary . Educating our future with solutions for life. ™ www.firateducation.com
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worries for kids or teenagers were playing, watching TV and having good grades at school. Extra classes, swimming, or other activities were done just to pleasure. Nowadays, those activities are a must have. Do you think the students are now overscheduled? It can influence their behavior at school? Christopher Doyle -Many of the activities you mention--foreign language lessons, sports, volunteering at a homeless shelter or a hospital--are terrific. They become a problem if kids do them merely to look good. It's a question of motivation, I think. If you do an activity because you love it, it will not seem like work. You will want to give it your best effort, and it will seem very bad to cheat. If you are doing the activity only to impress someone else, you tend to do as little as possible and will cut corners any way you can. The goal is intrinsic motivation rather than extrinsic pressure. I think people will be honest if they are doing things they love. Make them do activities they dislike, or force them to follow someone else's rules, and cheating will likely occur. FEJ- Some experts in education field believe that the “solution” to stop cheating at school is “legalize” to cheat. Let me explain better: Imagine that you give a test in classroom and one student starts cribbing. This is wrong when is not permitted. However, if reading notes in a book or in the notebook become allowed during the tests,
cheating will no longer exist. What do you think about it? Christopher Doyle - I agree that teachers should rethink their motives for the work they assign. Often, our assignments derive from tradition. We give homework because there is a long history of doing so. We test students individually, not cooperatively, because it's always been done that way. I think teachers should constantly ask themselves what they want students to get from their work and whether it might be valuable to let them cooperate, use their notes, etc. FEJ- Recent survey made by Josephson Institute of Ethics shows that there are relationship between high school attitudes and behavior and later adult conduct. Do you believe on that? Christopher Doyle -Yes, I believe that ethics are learned and reinforced by experience, positive and negative. Cheating in school might be the beginning of other negative ethical choices in later life. Still, I don't blame my students, because, as I say in the article, they consider cheating a survival skill. This makes the exceptional kid who does not cheat seem all the more rare. I should end by saying that I have seen schools where cheating plays a much smaller role in the culture. In such schools, the daily schedule is less stressful (fewer classes a day
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and longer class periods), grades are given less emphasis, students have a greater voice in the curriculum and in classroom management. Parents, students, and teachers work together to set individual learning goals by marking period and by semester. Grades take the form of a written narrative about how successfully a student has met her individual goal. No school is perfect, but schools like the ones I describe greatly reduce cheating.
*Christopher Doyle is a History Teacher with 25 years of experience in secondary schools and universities.
PIVOTAL CHANGES ~ LIFE AND BUSINESS
COACHING WHEN THE STATUS QUO IS NOT AN OPTION
Coaching for Life Roberto Noce*
For almost 20 years, I have been working in business and marketing across the United States and the rest of the globe. I have established new businesses and business units, penetrated new markets, grown existing ones, and marketed new products and technologies. Now, I have decided to help others as a life and business coach. I work with entrepreneurs, professionals, adolescents, and young adults who have decided that the status quo is no longer an option, and they want to achieve results fast and turn their vision into action. However, they are stuck and cannot get on the right track to achieving what they want. One of my educators once awakened me to the fact that, "You cannot invest your soul in a compromise". This has driven my coaching practice. My philosophy is that, when we let go of the status quo and utilize our strengths and qualities to pursue our true passions.
*Roberto Noce holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Notre Dame and two masters degree.He has also completed extensive continuing education on coaching and executive development. roberto.noce@pivotalchanges.com
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Math might seem like a
math is such a difficult subject but I do not think it is as hard as people make it out to be. Don’t get me wrong, I struggled as well to understand topics just like many of you but I was able to find ways and strategies that helped me out”, says mathematician Edward Garcia Jr.. In this issue, he is going to help you out with understanding the changing of signs.
challenging subject for many students. But with some helpful hints, Absolute Value, Logs, Algorithm and much more can be made easier for you. The language of the numbers can now be expressed in confidence by FES tutors. Often, we are going to publish Hints of Math written by one of the tutors. The hints might help you to ingrain more knowledge and understanding of the math world. “Many people have called me crazy because Image courtesy of http://www.faqs.org/photo-dict/phrase/607/math.html
Hints of Math By Edward Garcia Jr. *
When doing a problem, one mistake that many students make is getting lost with positive and negative signs. Students tend to forget a variable is negative and just do through the operations like it was never there. Positive and negative variables change the problem completely. Addition and Subtraction: Helpful hints for these two operations: 1) Always remember two negatives make a positive! 1 – (-3) = 1 + 3 = 4 2) Don’t get confused with the orientation of the variables! -1 – 2 = -3, -10 + 3 = -7, -2 – (-4) = 2 Continues on next page
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Multiplication and Division: Helpful hints for these two operations: Two negatives make a positive (-)/(-) = (+), (-) x (-) = (+) 2) Look at the amount of negative and positive signs in the problem a) If there is an EVEN number of negatives then the answer to the problem will be positive. (-1) x (-2) = (+2), (-2)⁴ = (+16) BUT BE CARFEUL!!!!! -(2)⁴ => (-1) x (2)⁴ = (-16) IT’S NEGATIVE!!!!! WHY????? b) If there are an ODD number of negatives then the answer to the problem will be negative. (-1) x (-2) x (-3) = (-6), (-1)⁵ = (-1) BUT BE CAREFUL AGAIN!!!!! -(-1)⁵ => (-1) x (-1)⁵ = (+1) IT’S POSITIVE BECAUSE THERE IS AN EVEN NUMBER OF NEGATIVES!!!!! As you can see, signs can be tricky if you do not pay attention to how many you have. Follow these simple tips and negative and positive signs will not give you any trouble.
*Edward Garcia Jr. is a graduate from the University of HoustonDowntown with Bachelor’s in Science for Applied Mathematics and a Minor in Statistics. He is also one of FES tutors.
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Dear FEJ Readers,
On behalf of FES and FEJ, I would like to extend my appreciation to you for making the year of 2010 one of the most remarkable and successful years in our history. During this year, we have had quite a number of accomplishments. We have had two FES students make the National Merit Scholarship offered by the College Board; we have had one FES student get accepted to Georgetown University in Washington, DC; we have increased our students’ average SAT scores by 350 points within as little as three months; and last but not least, we have re-launched our popular Firat Educational Journal. While it is impossible to list all our accomplishments into a small space, it is possible to recognize those who made this success possible: YOU, and many heroes whose names are engraved into the hearts and minds of FES and FEJ—our individual consultants, tutors, office assistants, managers, editor-in -chief, assistant editor, and many more. For all these great things you have accomplished with us, thank you. We wish you and your loved ones the best in this holiday season, and hope that we will continue to accomplish even greater successes in year 2011. With all the best, Ibrahim Firat*.
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Ibrahim C. Firat is the President, Founder, and Chief Academic Coach of the Firat Educational Solutions in Houston, TX. He obtained his undergraduate degree in History and Mathematics, and his Master‟s in Business Administration degree from the University of St. Thomas, Houston, TX. He has influenced academic decisions and careers of more than 200 students in the last 7 years. He can be contacted at Ibrahim@firateducation.com
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Educational Headlines
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The following are headlines found in international, national, and local newspapers and magazines concerning education in today’s world.
Doctorate Degrees in U.S. Increase to Record Level by The New York Times
U.S School Graduation Rate is Rising by The New York Times
ABC News Investigates For-Profit Education: Recruiters at The University of Phoenix by ABC News
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