Should I Reward Cheating?

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It was a day of miracles. Lo and behold, all my students completed their work. Everyone passed up their work which was weird. You know what they say, when something is too good to be true, it normally is...

Upon further investigation, my suspicion was confirmed. Most of my students cheated by copying each other's work. It was an individual task of 30 questions. However, some of them worked together to complete their work. They shared the workload so they would not have to attempt all 30 questions. Instead, all they had to do was complete one, perhaps two questions each and share their answer with each other.

I was impressed yet disappointed at the same time. The task was given so I would get a better idea of each of their ability. If they collaborated, it becomes difficult to determine the extent of each student's understanding. However, they did have a lot on their plate and working together seemed to be the more sensible idea. Thus, there was a dilemma...

Encouraging Collaboration & Problem Solving Skills

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I come from a strict Chinese school background whereby discipline and obedience is prized above all. The thing is, it is often difficult to focus on a skill like problem solving and obedience at the same time. Take the example above when the students banded together to solve a problem, that shows their ability to solve an issue. However, it can be rather difficult for them to solve the problem and obey at the same time. While they could work together to complete the homework, it is not as 'efficient' as copying each other's work.

Thus, some part of me wanted to congratulate them on a job well done. We all find some sort of shortcut or hack in solving our daily problems. We may look for bots to welcome someone in a discord group or collaborate with others to complete a large scale project. To do so effectively takes training and skill and the students displayed that. However...

A Disregard of Authority

If I were to congratulate them on cheating, I do wonder what message would I send them. Perhaps they may get the wrong idea that everything in life can be hacked. While that is true, it does diminish the need and value of hard work. Think about it, would you strive for something knowing that there is a shortcut to everything? I do wonder if I would be crippling them for life, indirectly sending them a message that they do not have to work hard.

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Perhaps worse of all is that I may be telling them that it is alright to disregard authority. I don't hold any grudge against my students disobeying me, instead, I worry. I worry if they would continue doing this and that costs them something in the future. Like it or not, we learn from people in authority. It is through working in a company that we learn how to open our own. It is by listening to a teacher that we learn how to be a better learner. However, if the students disregard that authority, I fear it may cause them to lose out on learning opportunities that could benefit them in the long run.

Referring back to the example of students cheating on their task, if they were to complete the task on their own without cheating. Valuable lessons such as time management and stress management can be learnt. However, disregarding my authority and other teachers, mentors and experts' authority in the future will cost them even more as time goes by. This may even snowball to a lifetime of missed opportunities and lessons.

Can You Guess What I Did?

As I thought through all this, perhaps I am the only one faced with such a dilemma. For most, I am sure that the decision is easy and the students will be punished for cheating. Since I do encourage problem solving and collaboration in class, I wonder if punishing them would make me a hypocrite. That being said, what seems clear is that I have to choose.

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Standing in front of the students, I addressed them and commended them for completing the task despite having a lot of tasks to do. However, I disciplined the class with extra tasks and written assignments. The issue for me is not merely about creativity or obedience but character. I lovingly informed the class that if they find cheating ok, and managed to somehow justify why cheating is good, perhaps they may do the same in the future. It could be a project, a job or even on your family. Thus, they need to know that it matters on how we achieve our goal and they should strive to reach it via the correct means even if it takes a longer time.

Intelligence and obedience are admirable traits, but having your heart in the right place means more, at least in my opinion. What are your thoughts on this? Do let me know in the comments below.

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