Cortney Germain    Assignment #2

•	do you agree or disagree with Norman’s position? Why? 
	I agree with most of the points that Norman makes because I have experienced them myself. I will admit that I do cram before tests, spit out the information the day of the test and then most often forget most of the material anyway. I think that students learn better in groups and should be taught early on how to work in groups. I was in an astronomy class last year where we had a weekly assignment due. We would meet as a class, work in groups and get help from the TAs. But, there was always one person who preferred to work alone and didn't want anyone copying their assignment. What they didn't understand was that we didn't want to copy their assignment, we only wanted to know how he or she went about figuring it out. I think that the universities make cheating out to be the worst thing you can possibly do so students are afraid to help others for fear that they might be called out for cheating. I also think that working in groups on school projects is helpful when students get out into the working world. A lot of jobs today require group work of at least two or more people and I think students should know how to handel that before they graduate college. The one point I don't agree with it Norman says, "The sin of plagiarization is not that it involves copying -- this should be rewarded -- but that it doesn't give credit for the originator." I don't think that students should be rewarded for copying an essay. They should be rewarded for their effort to research and find it, but also to put it in their own words so that the professor knows they understand what is being said. It is too easy for me to just google a topic, find an essay, print it out, and hand it in for credit without even having to read it. 

•	how does his view relate to your own experience in your school, university, and working life? 
	I was in a class last year where the professor gave us the actual midterm and final exam to study from. There were 50 questions, all of which were multiple choice. Although this may seem like the ideal situation for a student, it wasn't. Myself along with everyone else would just memorize the answers since the test would be exactly the same. I didn't learn anything from it and couldn't possibly tell you even one question that was on the exam, but still got an A on both tests and recieved an A in the class. I could have read through each question more carefully and learned each one, but then it would take me longer to study and I had better things I could be doing. Why would I, or anyone else for that matter, want to actually learn the questions when we had all the answers right infront of us? I feel as though in college you just go through the motions and all that is on our minds as students is who can get the best grade to make our professors and parents happy. My parents have always expected high grades from me and my siblings and I realized a little while ago that I have been pressured throughout my schooling to just get good grades. I never thought about what I was acutally getting out of it. In reality, when I go to find a job, my employer is not going to discard my application because I got a D in weather and the atmosphere and is not going to ask me what I learned in math class. I believe that learning makes your mind stronger and more open to other ideas and able to understand more complex ones. I know plenty of students who arrange their schedules around their roommates or friends schedules so that one or the other can go to class every other time to take notes and quizzes. One night one does the homework for both of them and the next time its the other's responsibility. I also know students who sit next to each other in exams and have a tapping system where the number of taps tells the other the answer. I think it's pathetic and probably takes them more time to plan out a tapping code than actually learn the material. So in conclusion, I completely agree with most of Norman's points.