Cheating?

A recent large example of cheating on an exam in a large management course (http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2010-11-12/news/os-ucf-cheating-investigation-retest-20101112_1_students-step-cheating-ucf-spokesman-grant-heston) has ignited a general discussion of academic misconduct. The facts surrounding this incident appears to be a little fuzzy but the administrative investigation is still underway, so we will learn more about the details.
One first glance, it seems that we have a professor who is using test bank questions to create his exam. This is a common practice, especially with large freshman level courses (unfortunately the size of these classes usually mean that multiple choice tests are used). These are common and most instructors use them but modify them to suite their own teaching style and the concepts they emphasized in class.
Students having a copy of the test bank questions mean that they have a distinct advantage over those who did not receive these questions. Academic misconduct can be viewed as the attempt to provide an distinct advantage over others. Most will view this as unfair and obviously wrong! Students who take advantage of these opportunity are simply confirming that they do not want to work as hard as everyone else. The real concern must be that these students will take this poor work ethic into the professional world and thus will be like those that put our economic system on the brink of ruin two years ago!

Welcome

My intention is to develop a site where those that teach biology at the secondary or college level can share ideas and concerns.  I teach biology at a regional university, ETSU in east Tennessee.  My courses range from a freshman level course designed for pre-service K-6 teachers to biology major courses in Cell Biology and Molecular Biology.  I have been involved in several externally funded grants related to developing curriculum, especially curriculum where math and biology has been integrated.  I was recently recognized for my commitment to teaching with both the College of Arts and Sciences Outstanding Teaching Award and the University Distinguished Faculty Award in Teaching for 2010/2011.

Join me as we explore how we can continuously improve our teaching of biology, one of the most dynamic disciplines of the 21st century!