4 ms·

I don't disagree at all. I sure as heck did every problem myself and took pride in it, and I'm sure I'm more capable because of it. But that's not the point of

by ef4 14y ago

I don't disagree at all. I sure as heck did every problem myself and took pride in it, and I'm sure I'm more capable because of it. But that's not the point of my post. I'm asking why somebody who clearly doesn't care about learning this bit of math feels the need to go through the motions in the first place. It's a suboptimal way to learn anything.

jeremyjh 14y ago
Because they are buying a credential.
- ef4 14y ago
  Yes, but the credential is supposedly tied to actual abilities that matter. If they use their fraudulent credential to get a job and then perform well, then the material really was pointless and the system really is a big show without substance. I can hardly fault someone for gaming such a system. On the other hand, if they fail miserably because they lack relevant skills, then they didn't really prosper from their cheating.
bunderbunder 14y ago
The freshouts I spoke of before all seemed to be genuinely shocked at their first experience of the real world. Not only were they wholly unprepared for their chosen career; they also seemed wholly unprepared for the revelation of how unprepared they were. I can't say for sure why that might be, but I could speculate on it for days. Perhaps they never really understood the point of school in the first place. Perhaps they were seeing so much success at Googling their way through school that they were never given any reason to suspect they might not be able to get away with Googling their way on through the rest of their lives. Perhaps they knew how dependent they had become on being hand-held through everything by others, but didn't know how to escape that pattern. shrug All I know is that at this point, if I were to find out that there were a university that had a policy of flunking students for asking, "Is this going to be on the exam?" I would immediately write a letter to HR suggesting that we aggressively recruit graduates of that program.

by ef4 14y ago

jeremyjh 14y ago

Because they are buying a credential.

ef4 14y ago
Yes, but the credential is supposedly tied to actual abilities that matter. If they use their fraudulent credential to get a job and then perform well, then the material really was pointless and the system really is a big show without substance. I can hardly fault someone for gaming such a system. On the other hand, if they fail miserably because they lack relevant skills, then they didn't really prosper from their cheating.

bunderbunder 14y ago

The freshouts I spoke of before all seemed to be genuinely shocked at their first experience of the real world. Not only were they wholly unprepared for their chosen career; they also seemed wholly unprepared for the revelation of how unprepared they were. I can't say for sure why that might be, but I could speculate on it for days. Perhaps they never really understood the point of school in the first place. Perhaps they were seeing so much success at Googling their way through school that they were never given any reason to suspect they might not be able to get away with Googling their way on through the rest of their lives. Perhaps they knew how dependent they had become on being hand-held through everything by others, but didn't know how to escape that pattern. shrug All I know is that at this point, if I were to find out that there were a university that had a policy of flunking students for asking, "Is this going to be on the exam?" I would immediately write a letter to HR suggesting that we aggressively recruit graduates of that program.