Like Jim Cooper wrote, Puerto Ricans are the most hospitable people in the world: they really love to help everyone that needs it, especially their friends. It is fine to help people you really care about, but what happens when you help a person in a situation that you are not supposed or allowed to do it? The very-interesting chapter eight of the novel "Down on the island" by Jim Cooper talks about how students helped each other during tests. This is known as cheating, and college students know that this attitude has so many negative consecuences. The great problem is that, students did not realize that they were doing something wrong. When Cooper asked them why are they looking at other student's papers, they honestly said that they really needed the answer to get a better grade.
Also, Students really think that if they don't have a good grade at the end of the semester, it is because the proffesor never liked them. Professors want you earn that good grade. Most students do not want to study english because they do not dominate the class, or they care more about the grade that they want to obtain, but in an easy way. The real problem is that school system makes them to think that way. Cooper writes that even teachers promote the cheating attitude.
This problem is still affect people, including myself. Sometimes we just want to help people, but we dont realize when we are helping in a in a bad way. We just have to make a balance between these two problems. We have to promote active learning (Cooperative works really improves the student's intelectual status. Every problem has a solution, we just need to work on it.
The pressure that the Education System impose over students, makes them take matter into their own hands, or into their classmates hands. We cheat because, we don't care about learning just passing the class with an A. Once, every student get the idea that education does not consists in passing and failing, maybe it can start alternative learning process. Education is key, but as you said : we need a balance.
ReplyDeleteEvery problem does have a solution, but some of us don't see cheating as a problem and how it can badly affect us. Nevertheless, that is not an excuse to do so. Great way to relate it with Jim Cooper's text.
ReplyDeleteI really agree with you when you said: " We have to promote active learning (Cooperative works really improves the student's intelectual status."
ReplyDeleteHelping isn't the same of cheating and that's the line that we have to build.
ReplyDeleteI think that we all need a change in these views. I think we're all too used to getting help and sometimes can't tell the difference between the two. Nice post.
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