<p>Harvard</a> accuses 125 students of cheating - News - Boston.com</p>
<p>And yet when we visited MIT, the admissions officers were clear that collaboration was the best way to advance...which is why students work together and all names go on the work.</p>
<p>I realize the parameters of this cheating scandal at Harvard are different and yet wonder too if education is missing the collaborative component...</p>
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<p>Nothing wrong with collaborative work when it’s designated as such, other than the multiple issues you hear/read about when your grade is tied to someone else’s performance. In this instance, there was no doubt or ambiguity. Best and brightest in the nation…(insert Bronx cheer here). Laziness knows no intellectual ceiling.</p>
<p>I agree there was cheating here…
no argument there…</p>
<p>I guess I wonder where is collaboration of value and encouraged in learning…and where are we only looking at individual performance…and where/how should those two things connect in academia</p>
<p>Well, there appear to be two question here:
(1) Is collaboration cheating when the test expressly forbids collaboration? and
(2) Is collaboration a positive force in many areas of society?</p>
<p>The answer to (1) would appear to be “No” especially when fairness to the other test takers is taken into account.</p>
<p>The answer to (2) is also obvious, though persons who believe in either “Yes” or “No” to the question are probably unlikely to accept arguments supporting the contrary position.</p>
<p>Both Ds had classes in high school where they had to collaborate. But unless the testing is designed for collaboration, it is inappropriate to do so and I expect the students knew this.</p>
<p>I am finishing up an accounting degree and some classes have collaborative work (i.e. group projects - yuck) but they also have work that they are very specific about telling you must be done on your own. For instance, in my last tax class there was a complicated tax return done in a small group (I was lucky and had great partners who didn’t mind having the old lady - in fact they picked me) but no help was supposed to be sought from other groups, though the prof could be contacted if help was needed. The final for the class was an even more complicated tax return to be done without any collaboration (or use of tax software). It was by necessity a take home exam as it took several days to complete. The rules about it being individual work were reiterated over and over again, so no one had the least doubt about it as I am sure was the case with the Harvard students.</p>
<p>Collaboration where allowed can be a useful tool to help learn - even for those who find it easier to pick up stuff than others, they always say teaching a subject is the best way to learn it thoroughly. And of course they always tout the “this is what it is like in the real world” which i don’t buy at all because someone who doesn’t put in their share of the work in the real world would hopefully be out of a job (ok, maybe this is wishful thinking). </p>
<p>The individually graded work and exams is to test your own individual knowledge.</p>
<p><a href=“1”>quote</a> Is collaboration cheating when the test expressly forbids collaboration?
…
The answer to (1) would appear to be “No” especially when fairness to the other test takers is taken into account.
[/quote]
I hope you actually meant yes, it would be cheating when the test expressly forbids it…</p>
<p>^ Sorry, my bad. Of course it’s “Yes.”</p>
<p>This is a duplicate thread of this one <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1385826-125-harvard-students-suspected-cheating.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1385826-125-harvard-students-suspected-cheating.html</a></p>
<p>To answer the question in the title – Here’s a rule of thumb: If you wouldn’t want the prof to see you doing it, it’s probably cheating.</p>
<p>In life most things of consequence require the participation of multiple people, so the ability to collaborate productively is a valuable skill. But there are two considerations - if for a given project the rules bar collaboration, it’s a no brainer - you shouldn’t do it. And secondly, unless there are ways to ensure that everyone puts in their share of the work to reap the rewards, you’ll have some getting a raw deal. A project may mean little to one person whose strategy is to put in the bare minimum while another is aiming for perfection; if there’s no way to reflect this in the final assessment, you have an imperfect situation.</p>