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October 14, 2006
Caught redhanded and I'm feeling blue
Our students had their midterm on Wednesday.
As we were grading, one of the TAs had been suspicious that one of the students from one of my recitations was cheating. Her first page looked iffy, but the second page was unmistakeable.
The guy next to her was really excited about his answer, and at the end wrote (words changed for the protection of the innocent) "I'm da bomb." At the end of her very odd and incorrect essay, she wrote "I'm da bomb" as her concluding sentence.
I didn't confront her in recitation on Thursday, not knowing yet how the professor will handle it. My first reaction--other than laughing at the absurdity of it--was to get angry. In this copy-and-paste generation, some kids have little qualms about breaking the clearly stated rules of academic integrity. We could easily fail her in the whole class, leaving a mark on her academic record. I wanted to at least give her a zero in the exam.
This morning, I saw her working in the library, perhaps even full-time. And she's an international student, English is definitely not her first language, though she does speak well.
And my heartstrings are being plucked. I have a soft part for international students, their guts in working in a language and country not their own. And I also have a soft spot for kids who work their way through school, instead of having it handed to them on a silver platter.
Justice or mercy?
Sigh.
teaching | By Tim and Jo | 12:00 PM
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