Friday Sprog Blogging: academic integrity for first graders.

A bonus sprog blog! Somehow, this has become cheating week, and this conversation feels like it fits in with our discussions of how do-gooders do bad and of how freshman engineering students think about cheating.
* * * * *
Dr. Free-Ride: (arriving to pick up the sprogs from the afterschool program) Hey, gather up your stuff! It’s time to go home.
Younger offspring: OK. I just need to get my homework back from [a first grade classmate].
Dr. Free-Ride: What is [the classmate] doing with your homework paper?
Younger offspring: Copying the answers.

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There are days when having a body is inconvenient.

Do you know that feeling one gets that is characteristic of “about to come down with something”, where you have an off taste in your mouth and your head feels fuzzy, and it seems like the very best thing you could possibly do is just lay your head on your desk for a few moments and close your eyes?
Yeah. I’ve had that feeling all day.
However, I have absolutely zero time to actually come down with something at this particular juncture. Therefore, I will be conducting a Mind Over Immune System experiment (not a very scientific one, I’ll admit) in which I see whether telling myself sternly not to get sick keeps me from actually getting sick.
Indeed, I feel extra-motivated not to succumb to whatever bug is trying to get the upper hand given that I learned from a reliable source this morning that it is possible to vomit through one’s nose (indeed, to be woken up by doing so in one’s sleep). That in itself sounds like a good reason never to get sick. Ever!

What freshman engineering students think about cheating.

In the freshman introduction to engineering class, where I am teaching the ethics module, the students have electronic clickers with which to respond in real time to (multiple choice) questions posed to them in lecture. I took advantage of this handy technology to get their responses to a few questions on cheating. I’m presenting the questions here in poll form so you can play along at home:

var all_polls = document.getElementsByClassName(‘quimble_poll_div’);
for (var i = 0; i < all_polls.length; i++) {
all_polls[i].style.width = '500px';
}

var all_polls = document.getElementsByClassName(‘quimble_poll_div’);
for (var i = 0; i < all_polls.length; i++) {
all_polls[i].style.width = '500px';
}

var all_polls = document.getElementsByClassName(‘quimble_poll_div’);
for (var i = 0; i < all_polls.length; i++) {
all_polls[i].style.width = '500px';
}

(In the event that Quimble is down and the poll is thus inaccessible, you can view the questions in this follow-up post.)
What do you suppose the students said?

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