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MelissaMarsh
English1010CE
ProposalEssay
April15,2016

HighSchoolCheating:ReplaceTestswithProjects
Youaretakingatestandontheteachersdeskistheanswersheet.Youaresittingclose
enoughthatyoucanseewhatitsays.Nooneelseislookingandthistestwillhelpdetermine
yourentirefuturebyallowingyoutogainafullridescholarshiptothecollegeofyourdreams.
Wouldyoutakealook?Thismightbeanextremecasebutstudentsarefacedwiththisissueon
adaytodaybasis:tocheatornottocheat.
Studentstodayhavetoomuchpressuretoperformwellinschool.Theyaretoldtheir
entirefutureisdependantontheirgrades.Thiscanleadtosomedishonestyinthepublicschool
system.Whenkidsbelieveatestwilldeterminealloftheirfuturesuccessinlifeitisvery
temptingtocheat.Humansnaturallylovetolearnbutschoolscangivestudentssomanytests
thatitcantakethejoyoutoflearningandleavestudentswithanapatheticattitude.This
apatheticattitudecanalsoleadtoanattitudethatcheatingisokay.Whenstudentscheatonatest
anddowell,teachersassumethattheyhavelearned,butinfactstudentshaventtrulylearned.In
CheatingStudentsTommyRaskinputsitthisway:

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...everyonescheatingeveryoneelse.Theteacherischeatingthestudentsofreal
educationthestudentsarecheatingeachotherofafaircompetitionandeveryoneis
cheatinghimorherselfofthejoysoflearning.
Itisnotonlythestudentsfaultsometeacherscreateenvironmentsthatcanencourage
cheating.Sometimesteacherscanoverlookcheatingallowingstudentstogetawaywith
dishonestbehavior.
Nearlyhalfthehighschoolstudentsinanationwidesurveysaidthey
believetheirteacherssometimeschoosetoignorestudentswhoarecheatinginclass.(Stricherz)
Tostopcheating,teachersjusttrytolookharderandcreatemorerulesandrestrictions,
butcheatingstillhappens.Inanessaypublishedin
TheHumanist
TommyRaskinstates:As
longastherearetests,atleastthekindofstandardized,multiplechoice,brainlessregurgitation
testgiventoday,therewillbefraudulentattemptstogarnerhigherscoresonthem.
Teachers
cantrytokeepaneyeoneverystudentthewholetimeduringatestbutthisishumanly
impossible.Therewillalwaysbeanopportunityforstudentstocheatandifstudentscangetthe
chancetheywilltakeit.
Tohelpeliminatecheatingandtocreatedeeperunderstandingandinvolvement,students
shouldbegivenmoreprojectsinsteadofbeingtested.Projectsallowstudentstoapplywhatthey
arelearningtowhattheycouldbedoingasacareerinthefuture.Ina
Scholastic

articleWayne
DOriowrites:

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ThebigpayoffforPBL[ProjectBasedLearning],...comeswhenengagedstudentslearn
notonlythecurriculaandtheconceptsinvolvedinaproject,butalsolearnhowto
organizeandpresenttheirthoughts,howtomanageacomplexprojectinalimited
amountoftime,andhowtocollaboratewithmembersofagroup.
Theseareskillsthatworkingadultshavetoapplytotheircareersonadaytodaybasis.By
usingprojectbasedlearningwecouldencouragethesesametraitsinstudentswhichwillbetter
preparethemfortheworkingworld.
Somepossibleobjectionstohavingmoreprojectsinsteadoftestisthatprojectstake
muchlongertodothantest.Thishowever,isnotnecessarilytrue.Testsaregivenattheendof
thecoursework,thatistosay,allthecurriculumandassignmentsleaduptoonebigtest.Witha
project,thecourseworkandtheprojectcanbedoneatthesametime.Studentscanworkonboth
thingsatonceandpresenttheirprojectsattheendoftheunit.Yesprojectstakelongertodobut
theycanbegivenatthebeginningoftheunitandsubmittedattheendsotheunitcantakethe
sameamountwithaprojectthatitwouldwithatest.
Also,somepeoplebelievethatcheatingstillcanoccuronaprojectlikeitwouldonatest.
Itistruethatsomeelementscouldbecopiedbutprojectsaremoreopenendedthantests.There
ismorethanonecorrectanswer,PrincipalDanLiebertatTechValleyHighSchoolstatesThe

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bestquestionshavenoclearanswers...Asopposedtogettingtherightanswer,[wetellstudents]
tocomeupwithananswertheycandefend.(qtd.byDOrio)
Thefirststepinaccomplishingthisstartswithgettingmoreteachersonboardwiththe
ideaofprojectbasedlearning.Havingteachersattendatrainingandlearningaboutthebenefits
ofgivingprojectsinsteadoftestscouldhelpmoreteachersimplementtheidea.
Itisallabout
onesmallstepintherightdirection.Ifeveryteacherdecidedtomakeasmallchangeintheir
teachingstyletoallowforoneprojectinsteadofatestitcouldchangethewayweareteaching
students.
Testsarentaneffectivewayofdetermininghowmuchastudentknows.Somestudents
gettestanxietyandcantperformwellonatesteveniftheyunderstandtheconcepts.Projects
createanopportunityforstudentstoshowtheirunderstandinginamorecomfortablesettingand
cancreateopportunitiesforstudentstobemorecreativeandinvestedintheirschoolwork.This
allowsstudentstoretainmoreinformationforalongertimeratherthansimplymemorizing
somethingforatest.
GaryStager,aprofessorofeducationatPepperdinesaysitbest:Projects
arethelearningthatstudentsrememberlongafterthebellrings.(qtd.byDior)

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WorksCited
D'Orio,Wayne."ThePowerofProjectLearning."
Scholastic
.N.p.,n.d.Web.18Mar.2016.
Raskin,Tommy."CheatingStudents:HowOurSchoolsFailtheHumanisticVisionof
Education."
TheHumanist
.N.p.,n.d.Web.8Mar.2016.
Stricherz,Mark."ManyTeachersIgnoreCheating,SurveyFinds."
EducationWeek
.N.p.,n.d.
Web.8Mar.2016.