The video was an address to a group of students who were accused of cheating by Professor Richard Quinn of UCF. The address progresses through a confession of shame and regret that Quinn is having to deliver such a lecture to the students he has taught. It is regarding cheating by about one third of the students who did so based on some kind of test bank and succeeded in predicting the possible questions. It is the rather unusually higher grade rate that made Quinn suspicious about the reality of the mid- term examination and he investigates, and finds out that there has been instances of cheating by specific students through forensic analysis. The assistance by a guilt- ridden student set the investigation on pace by silently dropping the test bank used in the cheating by classmates and by himself or herself possibly. The entire mid term has been cancelled and all the students will have to retake the mid- term examination soon, none of the questions of which will resemble any sort of test bank, so as to purge the institution of this bashful disrepute. The names of the possible students, who are responsible behind this cheating, have been enlisted and the list would be submitted to student affairs division soon. The guilty students are indirectly addressed to confess their guilt privately or publicly so that, as arranged by Professor Quinn in a painstaking effort, there will be no further actions taken against them but they will have to go through a course on such forms of academic misconduct. The choice is left to the students whether they will confess of take chance in case they are left undetected; a chance which is a really faint one.
It is obvious that the approach of the university towards this instance of cheating was very serious in both preventive and rectifying manner. It is Mr Quinn who arranges a way out for the students. University has run both a forensic set of investigation and also offered course on misconduct of this sort so that such incidents can be prevented from occurring in future. The position of the university is clearly strict and unmoving in this case. If is for obvious reasons that the university placed so much importance on this issue of cheating. Any instance of cheating raises question on the quality, administration and ethical standard of an educational institution which is worse than death for it. Way besides being a business, an educational institution performs an invaluable duty in a society with respect and commitment at its basis and layer of intellectual investment. It preserves the reputation in the same manner and thrives on it. So naturally, the university put adequate importance on the issue of cheating. To the students, it might appear as a mere means of passing just one examination with better grade, but on the part of the university, it is an unfathomed failure if cheating can become a regular malpractice.
Bragging around about having a better grade was, perhaps, the first mistake that was made by the students. But the basic thing is, it is such behavior that prompts students to lean on cheating as a means of developing in examination, puts teachers’ and the honour of the university at stake, and above all puts the student’s future at stake. Any unfortunate success in a single attempt of cheating result in behavior which would promote the benefit of such misconduct in academic level, and that alters the entire mindset of the surrounding people on the long run. So, it is essential that shame should be the chief driving factor of behavior and for that developing a strong and ethical set of mindset is essential. That is the effort this university has exerted through offering the course on misconduct as a way out for the guilty students.
Such behavior does not relate to my value system and culture. Every individual is responsible for his or her own destiny and that is precisely why it is subjective view and decision making that sets the course of life and future. Indeed, it is important to interact with others but whether to be influenced by others or not is a choice that rests on me, and that is what will determine my end. Though I have made this mistake, my personal and academic goals are based on certain ethical code that I have inherited from my parents that will ever govern my thoughts and actions. On the long term, I intend to pursue both my financial needs and study of PhD in my discipline. If life permits at some point, I want to set out on a journey to tour the world with substantial time in hand and learn about human cultures and nature.
The teaching of such conduct and circumstances in university life is of a distinctive nature. Our life is divided into many phases where every phase imposes specific purpose and role on us to perform. Success depends on how successfully we perform those duties in that phase of our time. Conducts like cheating only stains our year- long effort before the first instance of cheating and, in turn, insults us and our puts our future honour and prospect at stake. These are some conduct that must be avoided in order to have a good life; as I see it.
As mentioned before, misconduct like cheating puts a stain on my honour and future prospect and naturally I would not like to make the same mistake of doing anything on the sly futher; in this case hide this incident from any of my future employer. So, I plan to give my utmost effort from this very moment on developing my skill in my discipline of study and be regular and honest in my university work so that, from this point onwards, my result and reputation speaks on my behalf in a positive light to any of my future employers.
References
Quinn, Richard. (2010, November 10). UCF Professor Richard Quinn accuses class of cheating. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbzJTTDO9f4.
