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Academic Standards Students are trained to regurgitate. They listen to the teacher, repeat and copy, and memorize the repetitions for a test. It is not unusual for a student to copy something hundreds of times for an assignment or as disciplinary action. Many students are adept at writing neatly with several pens in their hands to reduce the amount of time spent writing one word over and over again. Says Yue Yu, a Chinese immigrant now residing in America, “I went through the Chinese education system from elementary school to University… While Chinese students may spend much more time in school and studying, Chinese students are not learning. Studying and learning are two very different things.”1 China is experiencing a similar problem as India, in which the elite are able to attend schools which extensively train them in the math and sciences, and bring to mind the stereotype that most westerners are familiar with. While math, sciences, and foreign languages are certainly given focus in most early education programs, once students take their entrance exam many are locked into a potential that relies on a veritable degree mill. These second tier schools emphasize punctuality and discipline over more useful, modern job skills, such as clear and practical English or the ability to deliver presentations. Students are taught by rote, and while they may exceed at memorizing theories, they do not feel comfortable tearing apart a theory or developing their own2. Students are accustomed to sitting through a lecture class, in which they take a few notes, or perform an assignment which often includes copiously copying out vocabulary or basic themes. Cheating and plagiarism is a huge problem. On both assignments and tests, cheating is widespread and sadly indiscreet. Students seem to expect to be able to cheat, as presumably their Chinese teachers have tolerated this for many years. Oftentimes one student is recruited to do the assignment, after which their paper is then passed around and copied. Unfortunately, they don't usually pick the brightest student so the act of copying answers has a double negative educational value. When confronted by a teacher, students often shrug, as if they are slightly confused or irritated. They were copying someone else's answers? So what? They filled out the answers on their paper. They don't understand why this is a bad idea for everyone involved. My job was to prepare students for the possibility of attending a University outside of China, where plagiarism and virulent cheating would be grounds for failing, losing scholarships, or even being expelled. Early on in the year we discussed plagiarism and cheating, its effects on education, and the consequences of such behavior in other academic institutions and job situations. The students were amazed to find out that plagiarism is considered a criminal offense when perpetrated on the large scale, and is highly disrespectful on the small scale. Nonetheless, cheating and plagiarism (especially from the internet) continued to be a consistent problem throughout the course. This may be slightly reflective of Chinese culture as a whole, in which the appearance oftentimes takes precedence over the reality, even if this means lying about something potentially dangerous. For example, Chairman Mao was well known for being a strong swimmer, and often swam rivers in China to show his strength and to symbolize the ability of man to conquer and triumph over nature. He once sent two men to investigate a length of the river before him, to find a suitable spot for a highly publicized crossing. The segment of the river where Mao was interested was at a very dangerous, swift moving, and potentially violent portion of the river. One man returned to Mao with a report that the river was a fantastic choice for a public swim, confirming Mao’s previous ideas and desires. The other man confided that the river might not be safe, that there may be dangerous parasites from sewage in the water, or rocks hidden by the swiftly moving current. This man was quickly removed from office for his honest report and cautious feedback. His sycophantic companion who lied out of fear of the Chairman was promoted for clearly seeing the glory of China as compared to nature’s feeble challenge. This can be a problem amongst Chinese students who study overseas in Western Universities as well. Students expect to not have much homework. When it's assigned, most of them don't do it. When they make it to university they haven't been presented with concepts such as plagiarism, time management for long assignments, notebook organization, taking notes from oral lectures (good at copying from the board, bad at deciding what is important to write down on their own), writing bibliographies or works cited lists, evaluating internet sites for legitimacy, taking part in class discussions, or asking questions during class. On the whole, students are very competitive, insecure and very frightened of making mistakes. Accustomed to being publicly criticized for wrong answers, the students are very easy to motivate through praise and encouragement to work through mistakes. And while the fear of failure and poor grades is reasonable, there is a certain expectation present, at least in certain English education programs, which is quite contrary to the potential usefulness of the grading system.
1. Letters to the Editor, New York Times, Nicholas D Kristof’s “Chinese Medicine for American Schools,” 26 June 2006 2007 © alarana.net |