▶ Your Answer :The writer of a recent report concluded that all colleges
and universities should adopt honor codes similar to Groveton’s in order to
decrease cheating among students. This argument is based on the evidence that
Groveton College has successfully reduced student cheating by adopting an honor
code which calls for students to agree not to cheat in their academics and to
notify a faculty member if they suspect one. This argument might seem strong
and assuring at first; however, several questions need to be answered as these
questions can weaken or strengthen the argument. Without this additional
information, the recommendation remains unconvincing and difficult to be
evaluated.
As a threshold matter, the writer concluded that an honor
code in Groveton College was successful because the number of cheatings
reported using an honor code not only was smaller than that reported using the
older method, but also decreases over 5 years. However, the number of reports
doesn’t represent the number of cheatings. In fact, it can conveys a meaning
that there are few number of cheating reported while the number of cheating
remains the same. In this case, this can be a detrimental solution which can
increase cheatings in academics. The question about whether the number of reports
represent the number of actual cheatings should be answered in order to
validate this evidence.
Also, the success of an honor code at Grovel College was
based on the survey which said that students would be less likely to cheat with
an honor code in place than without. However, the surveys can be biased and
cause students to like that they would cheat less. Also, in fact, students will
say that they would be less likely to cheat if they can cheat more easily.
Therefore, what kind of questions are asked and how frankly students answered
these questions should be addressed in order to evaluate the argument.
One question that need to be answered in order to decide
whether the recommendation is valid or not is whether the situations in other
colleges or universities are the same as Groveton College or not. An honor code at Groveton College might be
successful, but this doesn’t mean that it will be successful in other sites.
For instance, other colleges or universities might already have a successful
method to keep the number of cheatings low. Or, students in other places can be
those who would perform well with an honor code as well as much worse with it.
Therefore, how similar the situation of Grovel College to other colleges or
universities has to be answered in order to make the recommendation valid in
other places
In final analysis, several questions need to be addressed
and answered in order to evaluate the recommendation as these questions can
prove the recommendation reasonable or invalid. T |