in their many years of deaning, none had seen a student-generated report like the one we all contributed to. over and over: ‘thank you,’ ‘i have confidence in this report,’ ‘this is fantastic.’ our interest in high quality instructors and course content came across very strongly.
the report (survey, comments/recommendations) was not intended to go only to the top. soon, class officers will have met with all our instructors, course directors, department chairs, and deans to address the quality of instruction at every level.
deans have already started meeting with department chairs to reaffirm our feedback.
3 comments:
In response to the discussion we had in class today, I think we need to be clear about a few things.
First, this is not an attendance issue, this is an honesty issue. With the exception of GDS, the administration could not care less about whether we attend lectures or not. The fact that we have CPS questions for extra credit is an incentive to come to class, whether we choose to beyond that is our prerogative.
Second, the administration needs to accept that honesty cannot be imposed on people. Honesty and other ethical values are intrinsic. An honest person will continue to be honest despite the circumstances. It is unfortunate that people in our class choose to “cheat”. Let’s face it, giving your cps to someone else to key in the answer for you while you are not in class is both dishonest and a form of cheating. I can understand why people might be driven to do it, especially if they are desperate to get into a specialty or are borderline passing. That doesn’t mean I condone it. Taking down names and ID numbers doesn’t work cos people just put down the names and numbers of their friends. Checking photo id, registering finger prints or iris scans might work but come on, they’re not feasible. Maybe the administration needs to make exams pass/fail and stop offering incentives that tempt students who are desperate to cheat.
Thirdly, I do not think the class would support someone who came forward and reported any cheating that they saw. In fact, I have personally heard people be very vicious towards anyone who displayed such a tendency. Maybe I’m not very brave but I wouldn’t want to deal with the glares.
And last of all, I think we’ve lost sight of the fact that we’re going to be health professionals. We will have people lives and their health in our hands. That requires a great deal or responsibility. I would expect someone with that kind of power and responsibility to have strong moral and ethical values, honesty being chief among them. Personally, if I was a layman I would not want to be treated by a dentist if I knew they were the type of person who would cheat. What is to say that they would not falsely charge me for restorations that I did not need?
At the end of the day, twenty years from now, will those few extra points really matter? Whether it is CPS points or a midterm or an exam, just let them go.
I agree that the administration cannot force us to be more honest. We, however, need to hold ourselves to a higher standard and evaluate our actions.
When we graduate, we are doing so at the recommendation of the faculty and deans. They are putting their names and their reputations behind us. They are saying we have the ability to be good, honest health care providers.
The administration knows how easy it is for us the cheat. Surely, we are not the first class to do so and likely won't be the last. Yet, year after year, they show faith in us and assume that we will not cheat. They shouldn't have to take all these precautions against cheating. Are biometric safeguards the only way to make sure we don't lie about going to class? Seriously?
For all their support and faith, how do we reward our teachers and deans? Just because it is easy for us to cheat does not mean we have the right to cheat. As one of our classmates aptly put it, we do not need to perfect, but we do need to be accountable.
Do we really need someone to tell us that using two clickers is cheating? Do we really need the instructors to lay out the punishment for cheating? What difference does it make? Wrong is wrong. We are going to be health care providers. If you live by the saying "Don't do the crime if you can't do the time," go find a less respected career. We should not be doing the crime. Period.
I understand that it is hard to look someone who cheated in the face and speak up, but what are we saying if we do nothing? Do we allow those people to compromise the what our instructors and deans think of us? This is not just the administrations problem. This is our problem too.
kind of unrelated but is there any way that we can have printing hours start at 7:30am so that students can print lectures before class (Esp because profs sometimes put lectures up last minute)!?
the printing hours can take an hour break in the middle of the day or something to make up for the time difference but pleeeeeease?
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