Exam questions that address cheating: primer or ethics reminder
Dan Ariely is the James B. Duke Professor of Behavioral Economics at Duke University and visiting professor at MIT's Media Laboratory. I found an interesting and timely post that he wrote on his blog the other day, which is short enough to share in full:
Do you think this is a primer for students to cheat, or a gentle reminder to do the ethical thing? I'm inclined to believe that for most students, it is the latter (at least I hope so).
What are your thoughts?
Here are the first two question of the exam I just gave:
1) My parents and grandparents would be most proud of me if:
a. I did not cheat on this exam and got the score I deserve
b. I cheated on this exam and got a score higher than the score I deserve
2) While taking this exam, I intend to:
a. cheat (e.g., by looking at other people’s answers, or showing my answers to others)
b. not cheat
I think it was effective...
Do you think this is a primer for students to cheat, or a gentle reminder to do the ethical thing? I'm inclined to believe that for most students, it is the latter (at least I hope so).
What are your thoughts?
Labels: cheating, ethics, exams, finals, psychology