Ethical Question

[Tunaman]

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#1 You witness a student cheating. Back up your answer

a) tell on them
b) wait for another classmate to hopefully notice and let them report the student
c) pull the student aside and tell them not to do it again
d) do nothing

#2 Discuss a situation where you disagreed with a rule/ policy but chose to do nothing about it and why



I had 2 friends encounter these separate questions on their interviews. I have an idea of how I might answer these questions, but what do you think their interviewers were looking for?

 

[aznboi89x]

see if you care to consult with the student in mind.
For example, ask them if they have other kinds of stress, family problems, illness, or etc.

I was asked this question and how I would answer it is this: I would consult with the student first and then report this matter to the lower level of administration before moving my way up (You never know if they will do it again or not). My colleague and I are going to health professionals and being a health professional puts us with many responsibilities. It is wrong to cheat and I wouldn't feel good or confident to have a dentist that cheated in anesthesiology class or restoration class or etc. That dentist could put the patient @ risk since they did not properly learn the material. I'd rather have a dentist that made a "D" in the course, passed, and properly learned the material than a dentist that cheated and didn't learn anything. Also I don't want to play God and ruin my colleagues educational career, but what can i do? I would just report since I put my patient first in mind rather than the dentist. We are all sworn to the same Hipprocatic Oath to be ethical and truthful.

In dental school, people are where they need to be and should't have cheating on their minds anymore but temptations are everywhere.
I would like to see others to chime in on this. I know there is a thread over this years ago.

 

[Stacker]

You have to tell the professor. This is not high school. We're health professionals and the patients' health and lives depend on our ability to make educated decisions. By cheating, you are admitting to not being knowledgeably equipped to proficiently take responsibility for another person's body. You are not just cheating the test, you're also cheating the unsuspecting patient of a qualified professional. I wouldn't want a physician or dentist who cheated to pass an exam that is meant to measure if they are qualified enough to treat me. This is some serious business.

 

[aznboi89x]

You have to tell the professor. This is not high school. We're health professionals and the patients' health and lives depend on our ability to make educated decisions. By cheating, you are admitting to not being knowledgeably equipped to proficiently take responsibility for another person's body. You are not just cheating the test, you're cheating the unsuspecting patient of a qualified professional.

thank god someone agrees with me

 

[Stacker]

thank god someone agrees with me

I would never confront the student. It's not my job. That's the job of the committee, the professor, and the school. I wouldn't want the person I "ratted" on to know that their dental education was ended by me (actually indirectly by me, more directly by themselves).

 

[aznboi89x]

I would never confront the student. It's not my job. That's the job of the committee, the professor, and the school. I wouldn't want the person I "ratted" on to know that their dental education was ended by me (actually indirectly by me, more directly by themselves).

hmmmm. I never thought about that.... Some faculty I spoke to said that they would like to see the fellow student to consult with the student that cheated. I agree I would feel horrible for doing it.

 

[Stacker]

hmmmm. I never thought about that.... Some faculty I spoke to said that they would like to see the fellow student to consult with the student that cheated. I agree I would feel horrible for doing it.

Then I disagree with the faculty. I don't want to find out the hard way that the student is a psychopath and a gun owner.

 

[aznboi89x]

Then I disagree with the faculty. I don't want to find out the hard way that the student is a psychopath and a gun owner.

that I want to avoid. Thanks for opening my mind up a lot further on this.

 

[Tunaman]

The 2 of you are right, as professionals, we are held up to a standard, but no one wants to be "that person". At the point, you must wonder if the administration perceives you as brown-noser or a rat.

 

[timmytim]

I was actually faced with this issue in my biochem classes (yes, multiples biochem classes) and I knew the students who were involved in the grand cheating scheme. I immediately notified the professor and the TAs without actually disclosing the students names. I didn't disclose the names because 1. I was almost certain that they were not the only cheating students 2. I felt like if I were to disclose the names I would be the one punishing them on their unethical behavior, which is not my responsibility.

BTW I said the above almost vebatim at one of my interviews.

 

[timmytim]

hmmmm. I never thought about that.... Some faculty I spoke to said that they would like to see the fellow student to consult with the student that cheated. I agree I would feel horrible for doing it.

That faculty is one lazy faculty.

 

[Tunaman]

Bump

 

[KittySquared]

Instead of taking on the responsibility as s/he should as a professor, s/he asked the student to confront the cheater? That's grounds for getting kicked out of school. Highly irresponsible and unethical on the professor's part.