THINKONTHESETHINGS

Itwasoneofthosephysicsmidsemexams.Itwastimetoturninthepaper,butIwasstillrackingmy
brainswithsomeofthemultiplechoicequestions.Inthecommotionwhenmanyareturningintheir
papers,Ihearavoicefrombehindme,myfriend's.Hewantsananswertooneofthequestions.Irefuse.
Heinsists.Istillcontinuethinkingonmyproblem.

Abouttenyearslater,inadifferentIIT...

Ihandoutquestionpapersataquiz,toabout30students.Withinaminute,Iseeonestudentpeepinginto
hisneighbour'spaper.Idecidetolooktheotherwaytoseeifhecontinues.Thathadadifferenteffect.By
theendof45min,Ihaddetectedabouthalfofthestudentspeepingintoeachother'spapers.AsIcollect
thepapersIask"Howmanyofyouthoughtitwasjointwork?"ThereplyIgotwas,"Itdidn'thelptodo
jointwork".Perhapsitdidn'tforthatexam,butthatwasbesidesthepoint.

Itissurprisingtomesometimes.Sometimesitissad.Astohowcopyingissomethingevenacceptable
amongsomanystudents.Ofcoursenoteveryonecopies,andnotallthetime.Butevenamongthosewho
donotcopy,manydonotmindinhelpingcopy.Andmanyoftherestfindthedishonestyacceptable.

ThoughIhavebeenawareofitsincemyB.Techdays,incidentssuchastheoneaboveinthepastyear
havepromptedmetothinkmoreconsciouslyonacademicdishonesty.Sowhydosomanystudents
attemptdishonesty?

Ifthestudentswhocopyaretryingtobreaktheevaluationsystem,cansomethingbewronginthe
evaluationsystem?Ataphilosophicallevel,evaluationsystemsareneverdesirable.Infact,many
philosopherswhohavethoughtabouteducationcriticizeevaluationsingeneral.Evaluationsingeneral
createcompetitionandpressure.Andpressuredoescontributetothereason,atleastforsomewho
wouldnototherwisecopy.IhavehadstudentstellmeIhadnotworkedontheassignmentuntilthelast
day,andIwastempted(tocopy).

Butthen,evenunderpressure,whyshouldsomeonegetwhatonehasnotputintheeffortfor?Certainly,
someoftheircolleagueshaveputinthateffort.Andisn'titthecasethatevenwithapoorGPA,astudent
fromIITisguaranteedasecurelifeanyway?Ofcourse,Iamnotimplyingthatoneshouldnotputineffort
iflifeissecureanyway,orthatoneshouldcopyiflifewerenotsosecure.Butmypointhereisn'titthat
thereishardlyanyjustificationinthiscontextforattemptingtogetmorethanwhatonedeserves?

Itisonethingtolookatthisdishonestyfromapuristpointofview.Anotherperspectivemightbetonot
lookatthingsintermsofabsolutes,andjudgetheacceptabilityofsomethingbasedonitsimplications.So
whataretheimplicationsofwidespreadacademicdishonesty?

ThisIthinkiseasytoseeintermsofparallelsinothersituations.Whataretheimplicationsofsomeone
tryingtobeat,say,theroadtrafficsystem?Givenenoughnumberofpeoplewhowanttodothis,we'll
havesomethingliketheKanpurcitytrafficatourhands.Iftoomanypeoplewanttotakeshortcuts,the
systemsuffers.Togiveamoreseriousparallel,takethegovernmentsystem.Whathappenswhentoo
manypeopletrytobeatthesystemthroughtakingorgivingbribery?Givenenoughnumberofpeople
whodothis,we'llhaveacountrythatisstrugglingfordecadestodevelop.Aren'tweseeingthisso
plainly?Isn'titthatmostpeoplewouldrankcorruptionamongthetopreasonsforwhyIndiaisbeing
pulledback.

Shortcutsandattemptstobeatthesystemleadtothecollapseofthesystem.Asmallcrackinabuilding
maynotmatter,butgivenenoughsmallcracks,itwillcrumble.Haven'twealreadyseensomany
indicationsofthisintheeducationsystem?Wehaveanincreasingnumberofexamscams,casesofexam
impersonations,cutandpastereports/theses/code(thankstotheInternet),etc.Why,itsevenpossibleto
getcertificatesanddegreesforlittleeffort,andnexttozerolearning.

Wouldyoubecomfortableentrustingyourownlife,orthatofyourlovedones,toadoctorwhohasearned
hisorherdegreebybeatingthesystem?Orentrustingbuildings,bridges,dams,computersystems,
transportationsystems,etc.toengineerswhosedegreesarenotwellearned?

Isn'ttheeducationsystemofacountrycrucialtoprotect?Andshouldn'twebedoingthistothefullest
extentwithinthecontrolledconfinesofourcampus?

Sowhatshouldbedone?Shouldthestudentswhocopybepoliced?Stricterinvigilation,harsher
punishments,noassignmentsortakehomeexams,etc?Idon'tthinkpolicingcanbeasolution.Policingis
necessarytoacertainextentinanysystem.Butthatistocatchexceptions.Andtoomuchpolicingwill
haveothereffects.Itwillendupinacatandmousegame.Itwouldbecomeanintellectualchallengeto
copy,morethantoanswertheexam.Ihavegottowitnesssomequiteamazingattemptsinexam
invigilationsattemptstocopyrightunderthenosesofadozeninvigilators.

Policingandpunishingarenotalwaysgoodorcompletesolutions.Iftheyaretheonlywaystoapproacha
problem,thatwouldmakethesystemliveuptoPinkFloyd'sopinionofschoolsandeducation.Itleavesa
badtaste,andwouldonlyfurtherincreasethefacultystudentdivide(policeandpoliced).Tothecontrary,
Ithinkthatthesolutioninpartrequiresdecreasingthedivide,withrolesforbothfacultyandstudents.

Ihavetriedtocommunicatewiththestudentsinthisrespect.InthecoursesItaught,Ihadassignmentsand
takehomeexamsaspartoftheevaluation.Whilegivingthem,Ispecificallyevenmentionedinclass"I
knowyoucancheat,butItrustyoutobehonesttoyourself".Sadly,intheratraceforgrades,thingslike
"trust"and"facetofaceobligation"hadlittlevalue.Sureenough,Icaughtseveralcasesofcopying.

Buttalkingwiththesestudentsandothershasbeenquiteanexperience.Somehadthefearofwhatis
goingtohappenandoflosinggrades.Buttherewerealsothosewhorealizedwhattheydidwhenthey
cametotalktome.Ifeltthatthisrealizationwassomethingquitedifferentfromwhatjustapenaltyor
gradereductionwouldhaveachieved.Infact,manywhoItalkedtowerefearlessandcandidinsaying
thingsforwhattheyweresomethingforeveryoneincludingmetolearnfrom.Ittakesquiteabitof
reflectionandanalysisofone'sactionstobethatcandid.Whenwehavesuchstudentsamongstus,Ithink
weshouldbeabletodobetterthanjustapolicingbasedsolution.

SoIthinkpartofthesolutionliesincommunicationwiththestudents,facetoface,insuchsituations
insteadofsimplyhandingazero.Thisisforindividualfacultytodo(perhapssomealreadydo).

Fromthestudents'side,therootofthisissuehastobeaddressed.Theproblemcurrentlyisthe
overwhelmingacceptanceofcopyinganddishonesty.Fewthinkofitasaproblem,eventhosewhodoso
areunderpeerpressure.Itispartoftheculture,nottobequestioned.Itisinfactextremethereisfear
oflosingfriendshipifyoudonothelpincopying!Thefewwhofeelstronglyagainstcopyingaremostly
silentbecauseofthis.

Shouldn'titbetheopposite?Shouldn'titbepartoftheculturetonotcopy?Shouldn'ttherebefearof
losingfriendshipifsomeoneisdishonest?Ofcourse,changingsomethingwhichispartofthecultureis
neithereasy,norcanitbequick.Itrequiresconcertedeffortandconstantpressurefromthosewhoare
concerned.
Itisuptothecollectivewisdomofthestudentstothinkonthesethings.Thinkontheimplicationsofwhat
theydo.Andwhetheritaddstothegeneralchaosintheeducationsysteminsociety,orsetsstandardsto
liveupto.Andchangepassiveconcernstoconcertedaction.Thatwaywe'llhavemoreS.K.Dubeys
workingagainstdisorder,ratherthanpeoplewhosilentlyaddtothechaos.

BhaskaranRaman.
TitleofarticlewithdueapologiestoJ.Krishnamurthy
P.S.Ifyouwishtodosomethingactiveonthisissue(probablybuildingonwhatproceduresexist),orjust
wishtoshareyourthoughts,pleasecontactmeIwouldbemorethanhappy(braman@iitk).