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Firat Educational Journal December 2010
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DECEMBER, 2010 VOL 1 ISSUE 6
Educating our future with solutions for life. ™
www.firateducation.com 1
Cheating in School Can Lead to Doubtful Behavior Later in Life
Image courtesy of httpwww.concurringopinions.comarchivescategorylaw-school-teaching
By Ingrid Furtado
Math test: the nervousness takes place in the
classroom. Students’ hearts beat fast and, sudden-
ly, one little sneaked paper appears between a
scholar’s fingers. From that point, the answers for
most of the tests’ problems raise. This scenario
might be really common not just only for students
in the USA but also for others around the world.
Cheating in school is a chronic situation that teach-
ers have to face in classroom. But what are the con-
sequences to who cheats?
FIRAT EDUCATIONAL JOURNAL The New Educational Journal of Houston
Sponsored by Firat Educational Solutions
DECEMBER, 2010 VOL 1 ISSUE 6
Recent research has shown that cheaters in
high school are far more likely as adults to lie
to their spouses, customers and employers and
to cheat on expense reports and insurance
claims, says The Josephson Institute of Ethics’
study.
The survey, which was released last year, is
based on 6,930 respondents in five age groups:
17 and under, 18-24, 25-40, 41-50 and over 50.
It analyzes the relationship
between attitudes in high
school and the behavior and
later conduct in adult life. Re-
searchers noticed that regard-
less of current age, people
who cheated on exams in
high school two or more
times are significantly more likely to be dis-
honest later in life. In general, the study
showed that high school cheaters are three
times more likely to lie to a customer or inflate
an insurance claim and more than twice as like-
ly to inflate an expense claim.
They are also twice as likely to lie to or de-
ceive their bosses or lie about their address to
get a child into a better school. In addition, the
study showed that “cheaters” are more likely to
lie to spouse or significant other (as parents,
boss, and so on) or cheat on taxes.
This news can be stark for a lot of current or
former students. However, there are some
considerations to be pointed out. The high
school history teacher Christopher Doyle wrote a com-
mentary at Education Week about the attitude of cheat-
ing at school. He talks with exclusivity with Firat Edu-
cational Journal about the theme. “I believe that ethics
are learned and reinforced by experience, positive and
negative. Cheating in school might be the beginning of
other negative ethical choices in later life”.
Firat Educational Journal – In your previous com-
mentary, you reinforce that one way to
start solving problems about cheating
is to create a friendly environment be-
tween a teacher and a student. When
the question „Who cheats on test, pro-
jects and home work?` is popped up in
class how do the students react?
Christopher Doyle -Many of my students ad-
mit cheating is wrong. That's important. It shows they
are aware there is an ethical problem. The next step
could be to ask parents to get involved. Teachers could
ask parents if they know about the pressure their chil-
dren feel to succeed. They could also ask parents about
their children's homework and lives outside of school.
School administrators should take an active role in this
conversation with parents. The goal could be to exam-
ine the child as a whole person, not just a student in an
individual class. When you get a picture for a kid's
whole life, it's easier to see if the child is oversched-
uled.
FEJ- Pressure, competition, and stress are common
components in our life. Years ago, the most ordinary
Educating our future with solutions for
life. ™
www.firateducation.com
.
2
“Teachers should rethink
their motives for the work
they assign. Often, our
assignments derive from
tradition.”
Christopher Doyle
DECEMBER, 2010 VOL 1 ISSUE 6
Educating our future with solutions for life. ™
www.firateducation.com 3
worries for kids or teenagers were playing,
watching TV and having good grades at school.
Extra classes, swimming, or other activities were
done just to pleasure. Nowadays, those activities
are a must have. Do you think the students are
now overscheduled? It can influence their behav-
ior at school?
Christopher Doyle -Many of the activities you
mention--foreign language lessons, sports, volun-
teering at a homeless shelter or a hospital--are ter-
rific. They become a problem if kids do them
merely to look good. It's a question of motivation,
I think. If you do an activity because you love it,
it will not seem like work. You will want to give
it your best effort, and it will seem very bad to
cheat. If you are doing the activity only to impress
someone else, you tend to do as little as possible
and will cut corners any way you can. The goal is
intrinsic motivation rather than extrinsic pressure.
I think people will be honest if they are doing
things they love. Make them do activities they
dislike, or force them to follow someone else's
rules, and cheating will likely occur.
FEJ- Some experts in education field believe that
the “solution” to stop cheating at school is
“legalize” to cheat. Let me explain better: Imag-
ine that you give a test in classroom and one stu-
dent starts cribbing. This is wrong when is not
permitted. However, if reading notes in a book or
in the notebook become allowed during the tests,
cheating will no longer exist. What do you think
about it?
Christopher Doyle - I agree that teachers
should rethink their motives for the work they
assign. Often, our assignments derive from tra-
dition. We give homework because there is a
long history of doing so. We test students indi-
vidually, not cooperatively, because it's always
been done that way. I think teachers should con-
stantly ask themselves what they want students
to get from their work and whether it might be
valuable to let them cooperate, use their notes,
etc.
FEJ- Recent survey made by Josephson Insti-
tute of Ethics shows that there are relationship
between high school attitudes and behavior and
later adult conduct. Do you believe on that?
Christopher Doyle -Yes, I believe that ethics
are learned and reinforced by experience, posi-
tive and negative. Cheating in school might be
the beginning of other negative ethical choices
in later life. Still, I don't blame my students, be-
cause, as I say in the article, they consider cheat-
ing a survival skill. This makes the exceptional
kid who does not cheat seem all the more rare.
I should end by saying that I have seen
schools where cheating plays a much smaller
role in the culture. In such schools, the daily
schedule is less stressful (fewer classes a day
DECEMBER, 2010 VOL 1 ISSUE 6
and longer class periods), grades are given less
emphasis, students have a greater voice in the
curriculum and in classroom management.
Parents, students, and teachers work together
to set individual learning goals by marking peri-
od and by semester. Grades take the form of a
written narrative about how successfully a stu-
dent has met her individual goal. No school is
perfect, but schools like the ones I describe
greatly reduce cheating.
Coaching for Life
Roberto Noce*
For almost 20 years, I have been working in
business and marketing across the United
States and the rest of the globe. I have
established new businesses and business units,
penetrated new markets, grown existing ones,
and marketed new products and technologies.
Now, I have decided to help others as a life
and business coach.
I work with entrepreneurs, professionals,
adolescents, and young adults who have
decided that the status quo is no longer an
option, and they want to achieve results fast
and turn their vision into action. However,
they are stuck and cannot get on the right track
to achieving what they want.
One of my educators once awakened me to
the fact that, "You cannot invest your soul in a
compromise". This has driven my coaching
practice. My philosophy is that, when we let
go of the status quo and utilize our strengths
and qualities to pursue our true passions.
Educating our future with solutions for life. ™
www.firateducation.com 4
*Roberto Noce holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from the
University of Notre Dame and two masters
degree.He has also completed extensive continuing
education on coaching and executive development.
roberto.noce@pivotalchanges.com
*Christopher Doyle is a History Teacher with
25 years of experience in secondary schools
and universities.
PIVOTAL CHANGES
~ LIFE AND BUSINESS
COACHING WHEN THE STATUS QUO IS
NOT AN OPTION
DECEMBER, 2010 VOL 1 ISSUE 6
Educating our future with solutions for life. ™
www.firateducation.com 5
Image courtesy of http://www.faqs.org/photo-dict/phrase/607/math.html
Math might seem like a
challenging subject for
many students. But with
some helpful hints, Absolute
Value, Logs, Algorithm and
much more can be made
easier for you. The language
of the numbers can now be
expressed in confidence by
FES tutors. Often, we are
going to publish Hints of
Math written by one of the
tutors. The hints might help
you to ingrain more
knowledge and
understanding of the math
world. “Many people have
called me crazy because
math is such a difficult
subject but I do not
think it is as hard as
people make it out to
be. Don’t get me
wrong, I struggled as
well to understand
topics just like many of
you but I was able to
find ways and strategies
that helped me out”,
says mathematician
Edward Garcia Jr.. In
this issue, he is going to
help you out with
understanding the
changing of signs.
Hints of Math By Edward Garcia Jr. * When doing a problem, one mistake that many students make is getting lost with positive and
negative signs. Students tend to forget a variable is negative and just do through the operations like it was
never there. Positive and negative variables change the problem completely.
Addition and Subtraction:
Helpful hints for these two operations:
1) Always remember two negatives make a positive!
1 – (-3) = 1 + 3 = 4
2) Don’t get confused with the orientation of the variables!
-1 – 2 = -3, -10 + 3 = -7, -2 – (-4) = 2
Continues on next page
DECEMBER, 2010 VOL 1 ISSUE 6
Educating our future with solutions for life. ™
www.firateducation.com 6
Multiplication and Division:
Helpful hints for these two operations:
Two negatives make a positive
(-)/(-) = (+), (-) x (-) = (+)
2) Look at the amount of negative and positive signs in the problem
a) If there is an EVEN number of negatives then the answer to the problem will be
positive.
(-1) x (-2) = (+2),
(-2)⁴ = (+16)
BUT BE CARFEUL!!!!!
-(2)⁴ => (-1) x (2)⁴ = (-16) IT’S NEGATIVE!!!!! WHY?????
b) If there are an ODD number of negatives then the answer to the problem will be
negative.
(-1) x (-2) x (-3) = (-6),
(-1)⁵ = (-1)
BUT BE CAREFUL AGAIN!!!!!
-(-1)⁵ => (-1) x (-1)⁵ = (+1)
IT’S POSITIVE BECAUSE THERE IS AN EVEN NUMBER OF NEGATIVES!!!!!
As you can see, signs can be tricky if you do not pay attention to how many you have. Follow these
simple tips and negative and positive signs will not give you any trouble.
*Edward Garcia Jr. is a
graduate from the
University of Houston-
Downtown with
Bachelor’s in Science for
Applied Mathematics and
a Minor in Statistics. He
is also one of FES tutors.
DECEMBER, 2010 VOL 1 ISSUE 6
Educating our future with solutions for life. ™
www.firateducation.com 7
Dear FEJ Readers,
On behalf of FES and FEJ, I would
like to extend my appreciation to you for mak-
ing the year of 2010 one of the most remarka-
ble and successful years in our history. Dur-
ing this year, we have had quite a number of
accomplishments. We have had two FES stu-
dents make the National Merit Scholarship
offered by the College Board; we have had
one FES student get accepted to Georgetown
University in Washington, DC; we have in-
creased our students’ average SAT scores by
350 points within as little as three months; and
last but not least, we have re-launched our
popular Firat Educational Journal.
While it is impossible to list all our ac-
complishments into a small space, it is possi-
ble to recognize those who made this success possible:
YOU, and many heroes whose names are engraved into
the hearts and minds of FES and FEJ—our individual
consultants, tutors, office assistants, managers, editor-in
-chief, assistant editor, and many more.
For all these great things you have accomplished
with us, thank you.
We wish you and your loved ones the best in this
holiday season, and hope that we will continue to ac-
complish even greater successes in year 2011. With all
the best, Ibrahim Firat*.
Image courtesy of http://www.limoservicedenver.com/Christmas_Light_tour_Denver.html
Ibrahim C. Firat is the Pres-
ident, Founder, and Chief
Academic Coach of the Firat
Educational Solutions in
Houston, TX. He obtained
his undergraduate degree in
History and Mathematics,
and his Master‟s in Business
Administration degree from
the University of St. Thomas,
Houston, TX.
He has influenced academic decisions and careers
of more than 200 students in the last 7 years. He
can be contacted at Ibrahim@firateducation.com
3701 W Alabama St.
Suite 390
Houston, TX 77027
If you have any questions or com-
ments concerning the Firat Educa-
tional Journal, please email us at
journal@firateducation.com
DECEMBER, 2010 VOL 1 ISSUE 6 Educational Headlines
The following are headlines found in international, national, and local newspapers and magazines concerning
education in today’s world.
Educating our future with solutions for life. ™
www.firateducation.com
Doctorate Degrees in U.S. Increase to Record Level by The New York Times
U.S School Graduation Rate is Rising by The New York Times
ABC News Investigates For-Profit Education: Recruiters at The University of Phoe-
nix
by ABC News
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