Dans l'ensemble, les réponses françaises et américaines sont semblables. Néanmoins, je dénote quand même une différence majeure, à savoir celle concernant le fait que plusieurs réponses des étudiants américains consistent dans le fait de rapporter qu'un étudiant triche au professeur. Cela nest pas mentionné une fois par les étudiants français. Comment expliquez vous cette différence de comportement? Est ce parce que vous vous sentez plus en compétition que nous? est ce parce que vous considérez que jamais personne ne doit tricher? ou est ce parce que si quelqu'un triche, vous considérez que cela réduit d'autant vos chances?

je remarque tout de suite que la plus part des gens ne s'occupe pas de cette situation qui ne concerne que la personne intéressée. mais il faut noter que tous les étudiants français sont solidaires entre eux et soiit ne s'en occupe pas, soit l'aide; alors que quelques étudiants américains veulent allez voir le professeur pour lui raporter ce qu'il a vu, la délation semble alors plus présente dans la mentalité américaine. Vous sembler vous sentir en concours avec les auters étudiants, moi même je passe un concours en ce moment en plus de mon 3e cycle et si je voyais quelqu'un tricher alors qu'il n'y a pas beaucoup de place je ne le dénoncerais pas pour autant.

armelle

Cela doit être sûrement différent dans d'autres disciplines, mais il est vrai qu'en ce qui nous concerne, donc en droit, l'indifférence face à une telle situation l'emporte largement. On pourrait presque parler d'un esprit de solidartité. N'exagérons rien tout de même. Chez vous, par contre, on semble lire une certaine rivalité dans les études. Est-ce une question de morale ou une question de compétition?
Peut-être les deux? ou alors le fantasme d'un français... ;-)

I noticed that overall there were a lot of similarities between the American and French students. However, like Armelle, I also noticed that on the American side there were some students who would tell the professor if a student cheated whereas no French students said that they would tell the professor if they saw a student cheating. I think that to a certain extent there is competition among students at MIT. There are a lot of students who work very hard here and want to do well thus they do not feel that it is fair when a student cheats and then does better than they do. On the other hand though, a lot of students are focused on how they perform and do not worry about what others do. There are certain situations in which if a student cheats it can directly affect other students, for example if the class is small. Do you think that if this situation arose the French students would simply accept the fact that another student cheated and not say anything?

In my opinion (regarding more Americans reporting the student to the professor), I think it's a combination of competition and morals. While competition is a prevalent factor (especially in small classes), there's more to it. Perhaps many of us see see cheating as unacceptable and immoral. So, eventhough it may be difficult to approach the professor about it (knowing that you're telling on one of your classmates), some of us feel obligated to do it. My question is, is there a concept of an "honor code" in France? For example, not cheating even when you're 100 percent sure you can get away with it?

AS Krzysztof said the honor code is something very important here,
basically any kind of cheating is prohibited, however i do not know if the honor code says that one should report someone that one knows is cheating.

Aaaaahh!!! Vous me choquez les gars, sérieusement! Vous pensez que tricher est inacceptable et immoral... Mais ne l'est-ce pas plus encore de balancer ses camarades???!! Un peu de solidarité, quoi! J'ai rarement triché dans ma vie parce que j'ai bien trop peur de me faire pincer (ce qui m'est arrivé d'ailleurs), je n'encourage donc pas cette attitude. Cependant il ne me viendrait JAMAIS à l'esprit de juger quelqu'un qui triche, et a forciori encore moins de le dénoncer!!! Krzysztof, je ne sais pas ce que tu entends exactement par "honor code"... Mais si nous devions avoir une telle chose ici, la solidarité entre étudiants en serait une des principales règles et honte à celui non pas qui triche, mais qui balance quelqu'un! QUEL INTERET??! La personne se plantera certainement d'elle-meme de toutes façons! Je trouve votre façon de voir les choses très mesquine et ça me chagrinne beaucoup. Oubliez donc un peu la discipline et concentrez-vous sur la tolérance, qui ne consiste pas seulement à accepter les homosexuels et les indiens mais aussi à ne pas juger ceux qui vont à l'encontre des règles établies!

An "honor code" is an interesting thing. I don't think that we really have one at MIT. But at a number of universities and secondary schools in the US, students are required to sign an agreement. They promise that they won't cheat. In addition, many honor codes require you to agree to report your classmates if you see them cheating. The penalties for not reporting your classmates for cheating can be severe. As far as I know, we're not required to do this at MIT. But I'm sure the culture of the honor code sort of carries over.

Additionally, many classes at MIT are graded on a curve. Only a certain percentage of the class will get A's, B's, etc. So if a student cheats his way to a good grade, this may actually lower the grade of one of his classmates. I'm not sure it's really a feeling of competition, exactly, that makes us so upset about cheating. I think we'd just like to get the grades that we earn fairly, and that's not always possible when there are only a certain number of "A's" that the professor is willing to give out.

I wonder what is the role of a professors in france? are they very open and friendly, can you talk to them often? When you approach to them can you call them by name, or you say DR. X, Professor X , etc?
It seems to me that there is gap, or a line that divide students from professors at France.

Alexandra, I love your emotional remarks :)
The policy on cheating in the US is very different than in Europe. In Bulgaria, I went through high-school with a lot of cheating. It is definitely a great fun, sometimes preparing your cheat sheets took longer than learning the material, and it does enforce the solidarity among students. But I do respect the unofficial honor code here. I think that it places emphasis on the knowledge you obtain, rather than the grade you get. At the same time, the grades you eventually get have more value and meaning than if cheating was known to occur. Especially at university level.

By the way, a lot of international students in the US get into serious trouble because of cheating. Serious means expelling. This fact clearly shows the difference in attitudes.

Speaking of the official honor code that Jessica mentioned, I went for a year to a college that had it. I thought that it is a great psychological experiment about the honesty/conscience/principles/priorities of people. The professors were forbidden to be present at exams. Also, we had take-home final exams (you do it whenever and wherever you want and it is assumed that you will use only the specified time and no outside help) With this I want to tell you that the honor code is a contract - it demands obligations but grants a lot of freedom too. It is like the laws, you should know that.

I do not think cheating on the exams occurs often here (if happens at all). You cannot look up to the "cheating sheet" without people who seat near you noticing this. And knowing that they will most likely report you, it is not a good idea to do this. I just cannot imagine someone using book on the exam (if it is closed book exam). It seems crazy thing to do, maybe because no one else does it. I spent one year at the university in Ukraine and cheating there is veeery common. Some people always cheat. Even those who study good use prepare "cheating sheets" the night before the exam just in case...And this does not seem inappropriate, because everyone does it. Professors can fail you on the exam if they notice you cheat. You just retake exam in a few weeks, so there is little risk in being caught.

Concerning MIT I can say that in small classes student who cheat does not jeopardize chances of other students to get a high grade in any way. There is no grading on curve in small classes and everyone gets an A if he deserves it. Actually I think there is no way to get a lower grade just because your classmate cheats in any class.

Hello,
I am not sure if some of you did not mix the honor code with the fear of penalties. For me, honor code would mean taking exams with integrity and being honest because of ethical reasons and your personal choice. It seems to me however, that here people do not cheat very often not because of morals but because they are afraid of the consequences of being caught (which may be quite severe; I think you get suspended or expelled after they caught you two times). Students do not cheat during exams very often here but they are still okay with copying someone's work on problem sets and homework. Isn't it a contradiction? What kinds of penalties are imposed on a student who cheats in France? Are they severe? Do you think that students would cheat less if the penalties were different?

Ici, si on est surpris en train de tricher, c'est CINQ ANS d'interdiction d'examen!!! Dans ces conditions, il faudrait vraiment détester quelqu'un pour le dénoncer et l'exposer à une telle sanction... C'est justement parce que c'est bien trop grâve que personne ne le fait.

Alexandra, do I understand correctly that if you get caught cheating, you're, in effect, suspended from taking tests for 5 years!? That sounds surprisingly strict - what does one do in that situation? How many students get caught on average?

To answer Katarzyna's comment about copying homework, most professors that I've had encourage group work, as long as the final write-up is each student's own work. Obviously it's not hard to just copy somebody elses work in this case, but then you don't learn the material, and you're not prepared for the exam. So, I don't think that most professors expect students to do the homework alone, and hence it's not the same as cheating on an exam, where you're asked to demonstrate your own ability.

Oui, Krysztof, c'est cinq ans de suspension. Par contre effectivement, je ne parlais pas des devoirs faits à la maison, pour lesquels les profs sont assez indulgents, ni meme des controles de cours au lycée... Je parlais des "vrais" examens qui se déroulent une à deux fois dans l'année, des tests d'entrée, des concours...