CreativityRulz

I teach Spanish to all ages and I notice that adults, who perhaps have themselves a history of "cheating" are always looking for shortcuts in language learning. So we deal with that by trying to make the experience of learning a language mutisensory, interactive with lots of outdoor activities and real interaction with real human beings. Less PC and more real world.

Just my thoughts
Amaya

I haven't seen a classroom with bolted seats since I left elementary school forty years ago.

There is nothing wrong with requiring students to memorize basic facts. In fact, memorizing basic information is necessary for more advanced learning to occur and for students to get the full advantage of other learning techniques. Just Googling won't cut it.

While I wholeheartedly agree with experiential and collaborative learning and use that approach heavily in my classes, I find that students do need a baseline level of knowledge to fully engage with and benefit from that type of learning (also see the review of the relevant cognitive science research literature by Daniel T. Willingham in Why Don't Students Like School?). Students need a mental schema scaffolding on which to pin their newer understandings. Any math teacher will tell you that students need to be able to effortlessly add/subtract/multiply/divide relatively small numbers in order to be able to focus on learning to solve more advanced algebraic problems (or calculus, etc.). After 30 years of experience teaching undergraduate and graduate students in business, I find that is also true in advanced business subjects. (I will admit to being frustrated with teaching college students who still don't have mastery of basic facts they should have learned before high school.)

In addition, it is my responsibility to certify that a particular student has mastered a certain level of baseline knowledge in a subject to award a grade. That's hard to determine with any accuracy in group work. So, part of my evaluation must still be a proctored exam that minimizes the possibility of cheating. I also find an appalling tendency for students to blithely present the work of others as their own with no ethical qualms whatsoever.

So I ask that you not belittle concerns about cheating.

This article was designed to be provocative. I certainly believe that cheating is terrible. I also believe that it is important to master basic facts, formulas, and processes.

I have a PhD in neuroscience, and spent endless hours in the classroom and the laboratory. From personal experience, I learned much more, and remembered it much better, when I was actively involved in the lab. And, I know that I was better prepared for my lab research by having a solid base of knowledge about the field. Book learning and experiential learning complement one another.

I strongly believe that discovery is intoxicating, and makes students want to learn more. And, I am disappointed that so many teachers miss the opportunity to let students discover the answers on their own, as opposed to memorizing them. Experiences are powerful learning tools.

In addition, the learning environments we so often create in schools don't represent the working world. We are doing our students a disservice by not giving them the chance to learn how to work with others, how to use all the resources at their disposal, and how to find solutions to problems without one right answer.

To reiterate, cheating is a terrible transgression. The goal of the original article is to encourage educators to consider all the tools at their disposal when designing learning spaces, assignments, and exams, in order to create the most effective learning experience.

Best,
Tina Seelig