Thursday, September 27, 2007

Exploring Chicago



Going on a trip to the city to observe is much different than going downtown for just leisure. I noticed many more things on this trip than I have in my previous visits to the city. The two places my group visited was the Harold Washington Library and the Museum Campus. I have been past the library multiple times, but this was the first time I went inside. To be honest, I did not expect the inside of the library to be so nice. It had nine levels, and the inside looked very elegant. Each level was full of people of all kinds. There was everyone from fancy looking business men to homeless with all of there possessions.
The second place we went to was the Museum Campus. I have been around there multiple times, but it was interesting to see all of the new sculptures around. In this area, it is very evident that Chicago values art and culture. The sculptures around there were each of a globe, but each globe was decorated in different ways to show different cultures perceptions of the world. It was also very interesting to see the view of the city from where the Museum Campus was.
This was a very fun trip, and a great way to view the city in a different light.

Thursday, September 13, 2007

 For the discussion I read the article "Student Cheating" by Bill Puka. I
found this article to be very interesting, especially because it did not
take the normal stance on the situation. Not only did Puka discuss student
cheating, he also talked about the other side of the situation; the
teacher and administration side. I feel that Puka brought up some very
interesting points. He talked about how he wished he would have cheated
when given an unfair test. I feel that was something interesting to think
about, although cheating is still cheating. I also thought this quote was
interesting, "Isn't such negligent or disingenuous teaching more ethically
problematic than student cheating?". I believe, in a certain sense, that
statement is true.
In my discussion group, we brought up the topic of what constitutes
cheating and if some cheating is worse than others. We came to the
conclusion that cheating was one of two things. First, cheating could mean
stealing someone else's ideas, beliefs, theories, or works as claiming
them as one's own. Or, cheating could mean using a tool such as a cheat
sheet, stealing a test, looking off of others, or another method of some
how getting the answers without having to think about them. My group came
to the conclusion that while cheating is cheating, and all cheating does
is take away from the individual, some cheating does not seem as bad as
others. For example, if someone cheats on a 'busywork' worksheet by
sharing answers with their friends since the information isn't really
important to them (though you never know when you may need to know
something) it would not be as bad as someone taking an essay from someone
else and using it as their own.
Most of the time, cheating only hurts the one who cheats. In some cases though,
cheating can hurt many innocent bystanders. For instance, if someone cheated in
a class where the teacher graded on a curve, everyone in the class would be affected.
That means that cheating is not a victim-less crime. I do not believe that students who
cheat think about this, nor would they really care if they did.
We also all thought about who was to blame and what should be done about
it. We talked about if students should be responsible to turn in their
fellow students who are cheating. Personally, I don't think that is right. I do
not believe that Elmhurst should use this method to stop cheating. Turning everyone
into tattlers would not be a good solution.
Overall, I believe this discussion was very interesting. It gave me
something to think about even after the class ended and is something I
will continue to think about when I see forms of cheating going on around
me.