Yesterday, I witnessed my first case of academic dishonesty when I had my first final of the season. It was a Hebrew written exam about a story (in Hebrew) we were supposed to read on our own. The exam asked comprehension questions to test our reading ability and writing skills. We were told about this exam the week before Thanksgiving break so we could spend our time reading and rereading this story, asking questions, and making sure that we fully understand what was happening in the short 20-page story.
In class yesterday, one girl came in and asked the teacher if she could explain the ending. The teacher replied "not anymore, you had three weeks to come into my office and ask questions. But now, right before the exam, I can't say anything." The girl looked confused and a little surprised.
Then the exams were passed out. We had just over 50 minutes to answer ten short answer questions. About ten minutes into the period, the teacher walked over to the same girl and asked if she had translated her entire story. It was an open book exam, and we could have a few vocabulary notes, but not the entire book translated. The girl replied that she didn't translate every page--only the ones she didn't . The teacher looked disappointed and just walked away.
Both of their responses were shocking to me. First, the girl didn't seem to think that translating the majority of a 20-page story for a reading comprehension essay exam was a problem. The story is testing our ability to read and understand Hebrew, not Google Translates ability to read Hebrew. Once we understand the vocabulary, we are supposed to be able to read and discuss this story independently. Yet the girl thought it was ok to write out summaries of every paragraph in the margins of our book. And maybe I am assuming that the teacher told us to not translate the entire story, but this is a 400 level Hebrew reading class, you should be able to comprehend Hebrew without Google Translate.
But what was more baffling to me was that the teacher just walked away. Two times before in this class, this girl has been asked who is helping her write her essays. Her mother is fluent in Hebrew, and the girl's written essays are amazingly correct when homework assignments and projects have many grammatical errors. So this girl has a history of getting too much help at home without being penalized for it--she received very high grades on both essays. And on this final exam, again she was not being penalized for essentially cheating. The girl should have received a 0 on that exam, or at the very least lost the privilege to use her copy of the book on the exam. The teacher is sending the wrong message by not condoning this type of behavior, by just walking away. The teacher did not follow what she laid out in the academic integrity section of her syllabus. This girl cheated on the exam by translating the story into English--but hey, at least she was honest about it.
In class yesterday, one girl came in and asked the teacher if she could explain the ending. The teacher replied "not anymore, you had three weeks to come into my office and ask questions. But now, right before the exam, I can't say anything." The girl looked confused and a little surprised.
Then the exams were passed out. We had just over 50 minutes to answer ten short answer questions. About ten minutes into the period, the teacher walked over to the same girl and asked if she had translated her entire story. It was an open book exam, and we could have a few vocabulary notes, but not the entire book translated. The girl replied that she didn't translate every page--only the ones she didn't . The teacher looked disappointed and just walked away.
Both of their responses were shocking to me. First, the girl didn't seem to think that translating the majority of a 20-page story for a reading comprehension essay exam was a problem. The story is testing our ability to read and understand Hebrew, not Google Translates ability to read Hebrew. Once we understand the vocabulary, we are supposed to be able to read and discuss this story independently. Yet the girl thought it was ok to write out summaries of every paragraph in the margins of our book. And maybe I am assuming that the teacher told us to not translate the entire story, but this is a 400 level Hebrew reading class, you should be able to comprehend Hebrew without Google Translate.
But what was more baffling to me was that the teacher just walked away. Two times before in this class, this girl has been asked who is helping her write her essays. Her mother is fluent in Hebrew, and the girl's written essays are amazingly correct when homework assignments and projects have many grammatical errors. So this girl has a history of getting too much help at home without being penalized for it--she received very high grades on both essays. And on this final exam, again she was not being penalized for essentially cheating. The girl should have received a 0 on that exam, or at the very least lost the privilege to use her copy of the book on the exam. The teacher is sending the wrong message by not condoning this type of behavior, by just walking away. The teacher did not follow what she laid out in the academic integrity section of her syllabus. This girl cheated on the exam by translating the story into English--but hey, at least she was honest about it.
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