Academic Dishonesty

Sadly, my TA's and I caught far too many students cheating on various homework assignments this past semester.  For example, students were caught cheating on chapter worksheets in my HR class.  All the student needs to do to complete the assignment is download the worksheet from Blackboard, read over the chapter to find the answers, and then bring it to class to be discussed and graded.  No need to cheat on such an assignment, right?  Well.......

One student got caught handing in worksheets from a prior semester.  When questioned, she said with a straight face that she borrowed it from a sorority sister, erased the answers, and then completed it.  Zero! Three students handed in identical worksheets, right down to the font, punctuation, and verbatim responses.  When confronted they did not see this as cheating, "they were working together on their assignments and thought the department encouraged teamwork!"  Zeroes!

I am not sure which makes me more crazy, catching kids cheating or their response to me when confronted with it.  Most refuse to believe that what they did was cheating and will continue to lobby for some kind of credit for the assignment or a chance to do it over (which tells me other professors have buckled and rewarded cheating).

I recently read an article on academic dishonesty that shed some light on why students cheat, written by Michael DePietro, entitled "Theoretical Frameworks for Academic Dishonesty" and published in POD's 2010 issue of To Improve the Academy, which is an annual peer reviewed compilation of essays on teaching for learning.  Here are some that may shed some light on academic dishonesty that I found quite interesting:

1.  Deterence theory posits that cheating is a function of the severity of the consequences.  To stop cheating the punishment has to include not only failing the assignment but perhaps the course as well, along with academic probation or even expulsion from the program.  The bottom line is that if students think they can engage in cheating without dire consequences they are likely to do so.

2.  Rational Choice theory posits that dishonest actions are the result of "rational decision making" involving a cost-benefit analysis on the part of the cheater.  So cheating may be the result of reducing the amount of effort required to do the assignment on their own, prepare for the exam, and so forth.  This is the response I usually get when confronting students with cheating as they try to convince me that their excuse for cheating is warranted regardless of the act of cheating itself.  Indeed, at the end of last semester I had a student take another run at me and suggest that if I had not given her zeroes for the assignments she got caught cheating she would get a B in the class which is an audacious rationalization that her cheating did not cost her a higher grade -- it was that I caught her doing it!

 3.  Neutralization Theory posits that students are able to engage in morally wrong acts without damage to their self-concept if they can rationalize those acts and think of them as morally neutral rather than wrong.  Four neutralization techniques used by students includes: a) the Curly excuse of "I was a victim of circumstances," b) cheating is no big deal and a victimless crime, c) it is the professors fault due to unfair exams, etc., and d) "I was helping a friend pass the course."

In the attempt to keep this blog post short, there were two other theories including Planned Behavior Theory (cheating happens because students see a chance to do it and take it) and Situtational Ethics (had no other choice than to cheat).  It also turns out that one of the most effective ways to deter cheating is by establishing honor codes aimed at eliminating the culture of cheating by having students sign a pledge that they will not cheat, involve students heavily in academic review boards to handle cheating cases, give unproctored exams, and require students to report cheating.  In short, cheating begins and ends with the responsibility being placed on the student to not do it in the first place!

If you have a paragraph or two on things your students have done to cheat and/or methods by which you have eliminated cheating in your classes send them to me and I will be happy to post on the blog for our learning community.

Pearson's MyCulinaryLab

Pearson was the sponsor of the FELC Ultimate Teaching Competition at the 2010 Summit.  While talking with Leigh Ann Sims, Executive Marketing Manager, at the Summit I learned of MyCulinaryLab as a great tool to help teach culinary math to students that do not like mathematics all that much.  Here is some information about the teaching tool and some links you can visit to learn more about this great teaching for learning tool.

MyCulinaryLab, powered by Pearson’s own Pegasus platform, is an online assessment and learning system for Culinary Arts instructors and students. With advanced pedagogical features such as personalized study and teaching plans, book-specific learning outcomes and objectives, and standards management, MyCulinaryLab allows for a truly unique, beneficial, and integrated learning experience with the textbook.

For Students
MyCulinaryLab enables students to review their culinary skills and knowledge online, on their own time, and at their own pace. Students can easily track and evaluate their progress during and after the learning process. Performance is based on summative and formative assessment in the form of study plans, homework, extra practice, pre- and post-tests, etc.  Some highlights of the program include:

- Pre-loaded study materials for EACH chapter. Students just log in and they are ready to go. Professors don't have to do anything to set up the course
- Includes a full e-book
- Study plans and learning and assessment activities to help assess skill levels—students won’t waste time re-learning skills they already possess
- Grade book that allows students to view their grades and reports showing their progress
- Interactive multimedia: videos with questions, fill-in-the-blank exercises, matching activities, key concept simulations
- A 2-yr subscription

For Instructors
MyCulinaryLab is an easy-to-use online resource designed to supplement a traditional lecture course and provides instructors with basic course management capabilities in the areas of course organization, grades, communication, and personalization of content. Instructors benefit with access to key course management tools such as a robust grade book, integrated course email, and reporting tools.  Reporting features include:
- Data tracking and reporting for students, grades, and question usage
- Detailed student results and performance tracking

This product accompanies:
Labensky, Martel, Hause & Labensky, On Cooking "To Go Edition"
Labensky, Hause, Labensky & Martel, On Cooking: A Textbook of Culinary Fundamentals, 4/E

To watch a short demo, visit:
http://www.allthingsmedia.com/avatar-trailers/culinary/index.html

If you would like to learn more about MyCulinaryLab™ (http://www.myculinarylab.com/) contact:

Leigh Ann Sims
Executive Marketing Manager
Pearson Education
leigh.ann.sims@pearson.com
Office: 614.841.3717
Cell: 614.893.5457

Superb Visual Thinking Resource at Vanderbilt

I was blown away by a teaching for learning resource provided by the Vanderbilt Center for Teaching on the subject of visual thinking.  On their website they have a variety of sources that cover the topic and the ones I reviewed were quite interesting, especially Prezi, which is a way to make presentations similar to a concept map where you can click on the diagram and up pops videos, powerpoints, etc.  The concept map at the top of the page is really fascinating and took me some time to figure out but you can click all around it and expand various areas and watch film clips, read materials, and more.  To take this magical mystery tour into visual thinking visit: http://is.gd/bTUcV

Here is a description of the source by those who put it together:
Our brains are wired to rapidly make sense of and remember visual input. Visualizations in the form of diagrams, charts, drawings, pictures, and a variety of other ways can help students understand complex information. A well-designed visual image can yield a much more powerful and memorable learning experience than a mere verbal or textual description.  Below you'll find resources for integrating visual thinking in your teaching. You'll find ideas for enhancing your presentations and for incorporating visual thinking in your students' in- and out-of-class activities.

Seriously, grab a cup of whatever and set aside 10-15 minutes -- or more if you can afford it -- to go through the site and watch some of the videos that await on the topic of visual thinking.  Really eye opening stuff.  If so inclined drop me a line and let me know how you are using visual thinking in your teaching and I will happily share on a future blog post (mlalopa@fooded.org)

Burgerville Pioneers Calorie Count Technology

I wanted to share a very cool article I read in Fast Company about Burgerville that has found a way to print nturition information on their receipts.  This is a very innovative technique and sure simplifies getting this information to customers who need to know the number of calories they are shoving into their pie hole given the fact that 40% of the American population has now been classified as obese.  Of course, it was great to hear today that food companies are now volunteering to do their part in the fight against obesity (yesterday's Wall Street) to cut calories from many of its product offerings.  Sadly, not a single foodservice company signed on to that agreement.

Here is the article that shows a picture of the receipt at:
http://www.fastcompany.com/1649254/burgerville-offers-personalized-calorie-counts-on-receipts-but-is-it-too-much


"It started first with guests interested in customizing our food. For those who have allergies or are health-conscious, how do they know if they're on track or not?" Burgerville CEO Jeff Harvey tells FastCompany.com. So Harvey did some research on Nutricate, a system from SmartReceipt that offers personalized nutritional information on receipts. The system is already used in many hospitals and employee cafeterias, but Burgerville is the first fast food chain to adopt it.


Burgerville's receipt system doesn't just shock customers into making different food choices--it also suggests what some of those choices might be. "One of our signatures is a real ice cream milkshake with seasonal fruit--it has the best quality ingredients, coming straight from the farms, but the calorie count could be as high as 800 calories. So guests will get a recommendation saying, for example, if you like the blueberry shake, you might consider getting a blueberry smoothie next time," Harvey says.


The program makes sense for customers on a diet, but we have to wonder if it feeds just a little bit too much into our ever-growing obsession with calories. Burgerville customers can at least rest easy knowing that their high-calorie food isn't coming from factory farms. But if it catches on, the program could set a questionable precedent. New York City already requires chains to provide calorie data on their menus, so it's not a stretch to think that a calorie-counting receipt system might be implemented at some point in the future.

I am totally impressed with such forward thinking on the part of Burgerville.  I am always in awe of those companies that choose not to moan about giving customers information on what they are eating and instead take the bull by the horns and take a leadership position.

Then again, what makes me sick to my stomach is why did it not come from one of us in the business of culinary arts and hospitality education?  When are we going to meet the challenge and get off the "business as usual" education model and one that prepares students to be leaders in our beloved industry?!  I am up for it and pushing the envelope every day.  Anyone else out there doing the same?

Program Development Coordinator - Culinary Arts

East Central College (ECC) in St. Louis, MO, has an immediate opening for a Program Development Coordinator in the Culinary Arts program responsible to reconfigure the curriculum to fit a late afternoon/evening culinary arts program. ECC's Culinary Arts program is an American Culinary Federation accredited program. Responsibilities include coordinating program and curriculum design efforts with other faculty, staff, and college administrators; Exercising leadership in the area of program oversight and curriculum maintenance; some teaching responsibilities, supervision and representing the program both internally and externally.

Primary responsibilities include create course descriptions and syllabi for program courses; develop distance education coursework; develop assessment and evaluation processes for the program; attain and/or maintain program accreditation and accreditation standards.

Associate’s degree or equivalent required; Bachelor’s degree preferred; American Culinary Federation certification level of Certified Chef de Cuisine or higher; an active ServSafe Sanitation certificate required. College level teaching experience, strong communication skills, understanding of grant funding principles and regulations, knowledge of budget management.

This is a grant funded position through the Training for Tomorrow Grant. Expected duration of this Grant is two (2) years. Anticipated start date: June 2010. Excellent benefits, tuition reimbursement, PSRS membership, and much more. Anticipated Start Date: June 2010.

Associates Degree required.
Posting date: Mar 17, 2010 / Open Until Filled (Interviews in Progress)
To apply visit:
http://www.eastcentral.edu/admin/hr/how_to_apply.html

Angles on Learning

Today's post is most interesting indeed for anyone wanting to know different aspects of teaching for learning, based on the work of James Atherton's "Angles on Learning" tree.  The link below will take you to a graphic that looks a little like a conceptual map starting from "learning" then branches into "What is Learning?," "References," and "Theories of Learning."  Under the category of "What is Learning?" are topics such as "authority and learning," "Bloom's taxonomy," and more.  All you need to do is click on any of the topics you might have an interest in and that will take you to a link with an expanded definition, with examples, and so forth.  This is perhaps one of the coolest things I have seen in a long time so grab a cup of cofee and spend some time clicking around the diagram as it is quite informative.

Check it out, you won't regret it:
http://www.learningandteaching.info/learning/index.htm

The Kentucky Bourbon Cookbook

FELC members might want to check out The Kentucky Bourbon Cookbook, written by Albert W.A. Schmid, who heads up the Hospitality Department at Sullivan University, that is published by University Press of Kentucky (it is 139 pages, and retails for $24.95).  As someone who has known Albert to be someone who is interested in advancing the quality of teaching for learning in culinary arts and happen to teach courses for him online at Sullivan University I am betting you will like the book.

Below is the review that appeared in the Wall Street Journal on May 8 - 9, 2010, written by Aram Bakshian Jr.  

Let's not get carried away. First and foremost, bourbon is a drink. Indeed, if apple pie is the quintessential American dessert, bourbon has to be the ultimate American booze, invented here—in 18th-century Bourbon County, Ky.—and still subject to strict purity laws. The liquor's only permitted ingredients are pure water and a base of at least 51% corn mash (the remainder is malt and rye). No caramel coloring or other additive is allowed; bourbon's hue, flavor and bouquet all come from its simple, natural ingredients and its aging in wooden casks. And if it isn't distilled in the U.S., it isn't legally bourbon.

While many scotch lovers shun bourbon on account of its sweeter flavor, this very sweetness makes it a useful flavoring agent in a far wider range of foods than its drier, smokier Celtic cousins. Southern cuisine has long drawn on bourbon, especially for simple glazes, barbecue sauces and desserts. But, as Louisiana-bred chef Albert Schmid proves in this brief but versatile collection of recipes, the old Southern stand-bys are only the beginning. After warming up his readers with recipes for 20 different bourbon-based cocktails and punches, Mr. Schmid brings out an array of appetizers, soups, salads, side dishes, main courses (among them Kentucky Bourbon Glazed Pork Tenderloin) and desserts, all containing at least trace amounts of bourbon. There is no culinary showboating here; all the recipes are straightforward, are easy to prepare and involve readily available ingredients. As with most good home cooking, the emphasis is not on the painstaking or the exotic but on easy prep and easy eating. The recipes lean heavily on bourbon-friendly foodstuffs (e.g., pork, apples, brown sugar and cream). Sometimes, as with his banana flambé, Mr. Schmid expands his repertoire by taking a traditional recipe that involves alcohol—in this case, brandy—and substituting bourbon, to good effect. There are even times when the application of bourbon to an old standard like blueberry-pancake sauce may help brighten your morning. The clumsiest kitchen hands should have no trouble following Mr. Schmid's instructions for "Kentucky Breakfast." The recipe calls for "1 steak, 1 quart of bourbon, 1 man and 1 dog." The man then "throws the steak to the dog and drinks the bourbon."

Think About It

I was meeting with our Assessment person at Purdue today.  He is working to have the Schlolarship of Teaching part of the academic culture to improve student learning for years to come.  The Scholarship of Teaching, as defined by Georgia State University is, "problem posing about an issue of teaching or learning, study of the problem through methods appropriate to disciplinary epistemologies, application of results to practice, communication of results, self-reflection, and peer review."  In other words, it means casting a critical eye at one's teaching and determining whether or not students are learning/mastering course objectives in the classes you teach.  If there is a problem, based on the results of a particular assessment method that has been put into place (formative or summative) to gauge whether or not students have mastered the objective, then the onus is on the instructor to take the necessary steps to find ways to solve it and I do not mean by dumbing down the test, teaching to the test, preparing for the test, and all that other bullshit that those in public education have had to stoop to for state and federal funding to continue their mission to educate our children.

During the course of my discussion with our Assessment Officer he at one point lamented that he wishes we would stop using the term teaching and learning and call it what it really is which is teaching for learning.  Thinking of it this way forces educators to look at the performance of students on the various assessment methods that have been put into place to gauge whether students are -- or are not -- mastering the course objectives and then examine the circumstances that produced it, such as the chosen teaching method, learning environment, etc.  His subtle change in terminology stuck with me the entire day to the point that I wanted to share it with FELC members on the blog today.  I look upon this subtle change in the term to be a profound change in the way we practice our craft to help students make their dreams come true, celebrity chef or not, as they work to complete our respective programs.  Give it some thought; it sure caught my attention today.

It is the Chicken's Fault!

I want to blow a gasket every time I read profoundly ignorant statements by researchers and industry pukes who want to defend battery cages.

Here is one sad perspective embarassingly from a researcher at my very own university.  He claims that the reason there are problems with battery cages is that decades of breeding to make the white leghorn hens that lay most of the nation's eggs more productive have also boosted the birds' territorial instincts.  So they are more prone to pecking attacks that border on cannibalism.  So, what is needed is for researchers to breed chickens that are productive but less aggressive.  He calls them, "Kindler Gentler Birds."  In the meantime, they will have to be de-beaked to protect them from their cannibalistic ways.  Of course, Professor Muir is shown in his lab that looks clean enough to eat out of the cages themselves and nowhere near as cramped as those found in industry.  Say what?  It is not the problem of having the animal in a confined inhumane space that is the problem -- it is the chickens who are to blame!

Not to worry, Gene Gregory, president of the United Egg Producers that represents 90% of the nation's eggs has another rock solid (bullshit) answer to defend the battery cage practices.  He says (with no evidence) that there would be more pecking deaths with open cages and egg prices would go up because more workers would be needed to manage the birds.  Of course, what he means is that obscene profits would go down while the health of the bird and the worker would go up. 

Thank God there enlightened beings out there such as the Humane Society of the United States that maintains such conditions cause hens' needless suffering and increase their agitation by limiting their ability to walk around and preventing them from acting on natural urges to peck, nest and perch.

Thank goodness seven states have now passed laws that will eventually ban or limit different types of livestock cages.  Two of those states -- California and Michigan -- have passed laws that will eventually ban battery cages for chickens, as has the European Union.

Why should you care?  What can you do?  As an educator you should care to bring this to the attention of students because it is wrongheaded and selfish.  To justify the mistreatment to these animals to pay artificially low prices for eggs is immoral and devastating to the local farm community who is increasingly beholden to corporate ag businesses.  What you can do is not order these eggs for your labs and establish a relationship with a local egg farmer -- if one exists -- to suppy you with eggs instead  That is, unless of course, you have sold out to the corporate ag mentality and want to pay the lowest prices possible for eggs to "save money!" regardless of who supplies them to your lab.

Newest issue of Mountain Rise

You can now check out the Spring 2010 issue of Mountain Rise, Volume 6, Number 1, the international journal for the scholarship of teaching and learning, published by Western Carolina University.

The journal has a new platform – through Open Journal Systems – that gives it a new look and feel. The editors are hoping that the reader's will like the journal’s new features which include interactive features, an electronic reviewing system, and new genres that include book reviews, case studies, and video-enhanced articles.

Articles from the journal are also fully accessible through the Education Database in EBSCO host – as well as through their websitge: http://mountainrise.wcu.edu/

One article I liked in particular in this latest issue was one entitled, When Liking Your Students Empowers Them: A Case Study by Robert Drake of North Carolina A & T State University that found that "many students benefit in a meaningful way when they not only like their professor, but also when they feel that their professor respects and cares about them as both people and as students. These benefits include: greater academic confidence and self-esteem, higher levels of effort and time spent studying, and better grades."

Hold the Line on Final Grades

As you know from yesterday's post, there have been students who have lobbied for "something more to do" to get a few more points to get an "A" and there is not.  Reason being, there are dozens of assignments in my classes each semester ranging from papers to exams to group projects to creative projects to worksheets, and more.  In sum, I use a wide variety of teaching methods and corresponding assessments to determine if students are -- or are not -- mastering the course objecives.  For example, in my HR course there are 16 worksheets from the text that covers every chapter in the required text (which reminds me, if you are requiring students to buy books for your class and they never crack it all semester I say "Shame on You!").  There are also 10 video case studies, an exam, an essay, and a team video case study. 

When all is said and done the assignments are worth 1,650 points.  The cut-off for an A is 93% in all my classes, with a B betweeen 80 to 92, a C between 70 to 79, and so forth. 

I entered final grades for the HR class earlier today.  I went right down the grading sheet and assigned the final grade based on the percentage of points associated with each letter grade.  I followed the ranges without fail meaning those students who earned 92% of the total points possible got a B.  In fact, no student who was one point away from getting the next higher grade got that grade because they did not earn it when given the chance over the course of the semester.  Indeed I make no compromises for any students when entering final grades.  One reason is that if I give an A to the kid who was one point away that changes the grading scale to 92% and then suddenly those who were 2 points away from an A are now 1 point away.  Shouldn't they get an A, too?

I am sad to say that there were two students who ended up with 59% of the total points possible and were given the F they earned.  This is not my problem, this is their problem.  Had they handed in one more worksheet, or attended one more case study, or missed one less class where attendance was taken they would have passed.  But the truth of the matter is that they did not do what they needed to do when they had the chance to pass and I refuse to reward lackluster students with grades they did not earn.

So the message for today is, hold the line when giving out final grades!  Do not make concessions for one student unless you are willing to do the exact same thing for all of the kids in your class.  Have confidence in your grading -- unless, of course you are one of those teachers who are too lazy or stupid to give students more than a midterm and final to assess learning, which is an utterly unreliable measure of student learning.

Well, The Policy Mostly Worked

 

In a blog post for last Thursday I indicated that a policy I put in my syllabus to put an end to the end-of- semester lobbying, begging, etc., for grade changes, extra credit, had stopped the flow of students to my office or e-mail inbox.  Well, such did not remain the case.  Here are three e-mails I was actually sent over the weekend that have not been edited other than to take out the names of the students who sent them to me:

"How are you! This is Student X in your HR class, I got 95% of the grades after my team case study, but my percentage was deducted to 91% after an absence of other teams' presentations, which means my grade was dropped from A to B. I did not know that there would be a 50-point deduction for every absence of the team case studies before my absence, and this is the only class I missed of the whole semester. So can I have the chance to make up for the points so that I can still get an A?  Thank you very much and have a great week!"

"hello, i am a student from sales class and i want to ask that if all the grades updates until now in the blackboard system is the final version.  Is this all of our grades posted..? so at the bottom percentage is our grade of this semester?  Personally, i really really really.. need to get A out of this class..like i
need to ... ( and i am 92 % according to blackboard ...is there NO WAY?!?! that i can get 1% or point some percent maybe?..is this all i can get?  i really want to ask you a favor..know it's hard but i really really need to get an A.:( and i worked hard... so please consider anything anything i can do and let me know.
thanks much,
Student Y

"Is there anything I could do to improve my class grade? My current score is 89, not far away from an A. If you check my attendance, you would realize that its perfect, and I truly believe I excelled in performing the sale of products. I sold my share of merchandise and helped fellow teammates. I was an active participant in class, and felt I gave the class the time it deserved. The one mistake I did regarding class was not turning in one peer evaluation. I don't think its fair that this paper is given too much emphasis. In many courses, one may learn from failures after looking at the errors in an exam but I believe that HTM 331 is a learn or don't learn "in class" course. If someone did not
succeed in selling, then perhaps they should revise their approach to different behavioral styles. If students never learned how to sell, there is no written paper they can look back to see what they did wrong. There is no point of reflection in the course as if there was a second chance to sell a product. I
honestly tell you that I have completed this course with a new perspective regarding my relationships in life. Whether it is with my roommate, family, or a professional contact; I truly believe in the The Platinum Rule for Sales Mastery, and how it is helpful in understanding people's behavior. I would
greatly appreciate your consideration in this matter. Thank you very much.
Kind Regards,
Student Z

Here is my actual response to Student Y, which is basically the same version for all three students and any others that try to win special favors:
"The grades are up to date and all posted. The time to earn an A in the class has passed via the course assignments. I do not make individual concessions to any one student. What you are asking me to do is engage in unethical behavior and disappointed that you would ask me to change my policies just for you and not offer the same opportunity to all students. That would be unethical."
Dr. La Lopa

So far there has not been a response to the e-mail that I sent to the students, except for Student Y who apologized once the reality of the question was put into an ethical perspective.  Since we place a great deal of emphasis on ethics in our department I trust this will not be one last lesson lost on these and other students who try to do the same.  Should you feel like voicing your frustration or sharing similar stories and how you handled them please respond anonymously to this post or send me something to share as a future post to the benefit of our learning community.