Chinese police arrest three in high-tech exam cheating scheme

As we've seen countless times, the temptation to cheat on tests using various gadgets and wireless technology is often too great for students to overcome -- even chess players have occasionally given themselves an unfair advantage. While much of the test cheating involves nothing more than hidden iPods or cellphones, it can sometimes raise to the level of elaborate test cheating crimes rings, with students forking over big bucks for a little assistance. As Reuters reports, that appears to be what has gone down during China's recent national college entrance exam, where three men were arrested for relaying answers to a student from a van parked outside the school. Apparently, the student (who paid $1,500 for the "service") wore a wireless microphone to read out the questions, with the men in the van using a pair of computers to look up the answers. That's not all the police had to deal with, however, with them also reportedly turning up 42 pairs of so-called "cheating shoes" with "transmitting and reception ability" prior to the exam, as well as some "cheating wallets" and hats.

[gadjitfreek @ Jun 9th 2007 6:59AM]

I teach high school science, and I see cheating/copying going on as though it were just a normal part of the educational process. I have caught one particular student cheating on the last four tests in a row. Students copy answers from the one person in the class who actually did the work. A lot of teachers in my school don't even give homework anymore, as they don't see the point. The kids either don't do it or just copy it. When they all turn in exactly the same ridiculously wrong answers, it can get very frustrating. I told them that the only job that most of them would qualify for when they graduate is that of scribe, and since that job got eliminated with the invention of the printing press, they would have no relevant skills to bring to the workplace. Competition is fierce for top schools, but if you can't get in on your own merit, how are you going to survive if you are accepted? More cheating?

The concept of personal responsibility is apparently not included in the human psyche. Look at Paris Hilton. In a sane world, she would be a nobody, and no one would have ever heard of her. She has no talent, brings nothing productive to the table, and yet is considered a role model for girls. Scientists point out that the Earth will become inhospitable to life in a few billions years, and humans need to find a new home if they are to survive. I think that is really optimistic. The human species will not survive another ten thousand years, and I strongly believe even that is an optimistic assessment. I do not believe that we will ever make it off of Earth and colonize other worlds. I do not believe that humans, as a species, have the wisdom to rise above the natural tendencies of their fundamental properties...basically meatsticks on legs. We will be the ultimate cause of our own demise, and in the short term rather than the long. Cheating is just one example of our own natural self-destructive behavior. If every cell in an organism was out for itself, it would not survive very long. Every species ultimately fails to adapt and perishes. Every species but the simplest, that is. We are the most mentally complex organism yet on this planet, and therefore will likely be one of the fastest species to reach extinction.

And on that day, the Earth shall rejoice, for it has shaken us off like so many pesky fleas...

Feel free to shred me alive. It's what we do best, isn't it? Reject every opinion but our own?

[mac @ Jun 9th 2007 9:57AM]

Wow, big rant.
You're complaining about your pupils how they're not applying their skills (and themselves), but maybe you should think about how if you applied your skills as a teacher, you might be able to have an influence over your class and turn them round into good students.
A good teacher doesn't have a disobedient class. If you catch people cheating, get them to come and do a written test at lunchtime - then maybe they'll think twice about cheating.
Also I think your rationale for the human race becoming extinct 'faster than any other species' is wrong - we're the most mentally complex organism - but that means we are the best able to adapt to our environment (think about the rapid acceleration of technological advances in the modern world). Earth will eventually become inhabitable, but thankfully you won't be around to pour scorn on the human race and its chance of survival. A little less NEGATIVE and a bit more POSITIVE, please Mr Teacher.

[Big @ Jun 9th 2007 10:42AM]

I teach Junior High School Science.
I know EXACTLY HOW YOU FEEL.

I've observed many other teachers in many other classrooms and I see the same things.

#1 Copying from blackboards without adequate instruction.
#2 "Instructional Readings" that last for 45 out of 50 minutes in a period.
#3 RAMPANT cheating and even worse...PLAGIARISM without regard for writer responsibility...


There was a kid who got caught plagiarising his essay from Wikipedia. This dumbass simply copy/pasted the entire article on Jackie Robinson - without realizing someone had vandalized it.
In the article it clearly stated

"Jackie was a pimp and he had a stable full of hoes"

Not only did the kid plagiarize but he didn't even bother to reread it for errors !!!


I see the education system going downhill. No Child Left Behind is part of the problem - but, even worse, there is so little money in the system that people who would make the best teachers DON'T WANT THE JOB. Not for the psychological stress of dealing with American students who are becoming dumber with every new television series.


My recommendation...

#1 NO VIDEO GAMES for kids.

#2 NO CABLE TELEVISION
(only BROADCAST NEWS)

#3 No radio, no Hip Hop and No rock music.
(Classical only - and books on tape)


As long as these forms of media are allowed in the lives of JHS and HS students THEY WILL CONTINUE TO UNDERACHIEVE and inheret a culture of stupidity.

[gadjitfreek @ Jun 9th 2007 10:46AM]

A good teacher does not have a disobedient class? LOL!!!!! Spent much time in a classroom as a teacher? I do what you suggested, it's what any teacher worth their salt does. They simply decide not to come to make it up. The parental response? "I don't know what to do with them, I have given up." Great, now what am I supposed to do?

I have been able to turn kids on to science that have always detested the subject. I have inspired students to go on to become engineers and pharmacists and doctors. Most of my students want to be there. There are waiting lists to get into my classes. Parents demand that their students be put in my class. Most have improved their study habits (from none at all) as a result of my class, and many have learned the fundamental math skills they are not learning in their math classes from me. I inspire, I demonstrate application to everyday life and things that are important to them. Sit in on one of my classes before you judge what kind of teacher I am. I have won numerous awards for my teaching, nominated by colleagues and students alike. You will understand my frustration and disappointment, then, when I describe the students who I cannot reach, no matter what methods I employ, no matter how many options I give a child, no matter what I offer them. The ones who decide that it is easier simply to copy from someone else instead of actually doing the work. The ones who decide that it is more practical to cheat instead of getting by on hard work and effort. The mindset of a nation that publicly decries cheaters but secretly admires those who get away with it. The mindset of parents who are convinced that their child is the best, even though only one child can be number one. A nation that is so afraid of upsetting the applecart and using words that might potentially make someone feel bad that we refuse to say what we mean for fear that it will come back and bite us in the ass. A nation where covering your own ass is more important than personal responsibility or the satisfaction of a job well done. If someone doesn't pour scorn on those with their heads in the sand, then the heads stay there, firmly embedded.

Perhaps I am wrong about the survivability of humans as a species...I think that those who stand the best chance of survival are those who do not rely so heavily on the toys that we have built for ourselves. I love those toys, don't get me wrong, that is why I am such an avid reader of this site...but think about what happens when the electricity goes out. It has been predicted that this next solar cycle may be the strongest one in a century or more. That powerful solar flares could overload transformers, blowing out our electrical grid for months or more. Think about the mass chaos that will follow that. Or any other significant natural disaster. How quickly civilization will come crashing down around our ears. It has happened time and time again throughout human history, but never before have we had the capability of actually wiping ourselves out on a global scale. Never before has society been so reliant on the degree of infrastructure that we have built (but are failing, in many cases, to maintain). People who live in more undeveloped nations (or live a much simpler life in a developed nation) stand a much better chance of surviving global catastrophe, since they understand survival at its most basic level. At that point, farmers become a much more necessary commodity than software engineers, baseball players and actors.

So perhaps it is premature to doom the whole human race to extinction on such a short scale, even though it has been demonstrated time and time again that the more complex the organism is, the shorter the expected survival of the species as a whole. Perhaps I should have said...we should watch our own butts lest we let our current civilization come crumbling down around OUR ears. Our education must remain rooted in the fundamentals so that if such a fall comes to society, the loss does not have to be total. Where will our library at Alexandria be if all knowledge is relegated to quantum states that can be so easily undone by electrical flux? What use are our toys in such a world?

Like I tell my students, there are two paths that one can take in life. The Path Of Least Resistance leads to the land of Mediocrity and Unfulfilled Hopes. The Path Of Hard Work has more stones in it, the occasional personal demon to slay, and it does not lead directly to the Land Of Complete Happiness and Success, but it passes close enough that you can bushwhack you way through should you so desire. Nothing worthwhile comes without effort. Life is a battle against the two fundamental driving forces in the universe...all things tend towards lower entropy and greater disorder. Mother Nature favors the lazy and messy, but personal fulfillment requires that you fight those natural tendencies.

OK, so this is another rant, but I have spoken from the heart here. I do not sugarcoat for the sake of making others happy. Sugarcoating obfuscates true meaning, and there is enough of that going on these days.

[gadjitfreek @ Jun 9th 2007 10:54AM]

".all things tend towards lower entropy and greater disorder. Mother Nature favors the lazy and messy, but personal fulfillment requires that you fight those natural tendencies."

Make that "all things tend towards lower ENERGY and greater disorder."

[Sheniferous @ Jun 9th 2007 7:14AM]

...looks like someone watched "old school" one too many times.

[Jumbie @ Jun 9th 2007 9:55AM]

Ha ha ha, that's the first thing I thought of when I read this article.

Blue!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Carmelo Lisciotto @ Jun 9th 2007 8:10AM]

I guess the cheating scam will be some releif to those Western students constantly told on how smart their Eastern counterparts are "academically".

Carmelo Lisciotto

[Chuckles McGee @ Jun 9th 2007 10:35AM]

To be fair, that college entrance exam is the ONLY factor in deciding which college (if any) a chinese student will get into- there are no grades, no other academic measures, no extracurriculars considered in the admissions process. You have one chance to take the test and that's it, no retesting or canceling of scores like the SAT permits. I'm not saying this justifies cheating, only that the stakes are many magnitudes higher than any western test. To say that Chinese students are less academically strong simply because they've decided to break the rules for an event that will literally alter the course of the rest of their lives is unfair. It only says that some Chinese, like many other people, are not morally perfect under extremely high-stakes conditions.

[mentalsticks @ Jun 9th 2007 8:20AM]

I'm just wondering: are the people in the picture in any way connected to this news or are they just 'generic Chinese'? If that is the case: would you put a picture of some 'generic caucasians' next to an article on something similar in, say, Europe, or is this a variation on the theme 'all Chinese look alike'?
Sorry if I sound uber-politicaly correct, it's just that this kind of thing really p_sses me off.
Then again, the people in the pic *may* be connected with this news, in which case I am making an utter ass of myself.

[Gil @ Jun 9th 2007 9:12AM]

The picture IS connected to the article. It's a crowd of parents outside the exams awaitng the results:
"Parents wait as their children take the National College Entrance Exams in Shanghai, June 7, 2007. REUTERS/Aly Song"

Look for yourself:
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsPhotoPresentation.aspx?type=oddlyEnoughNews&imageID=2007-06-08T172119Z_01_PEK181559_RTRUKOP_0_PICTURE0.xml

"Then again, the people in the pic *may* be connected with this news, in which case I am making an utter ass of myself."
No comment

[Arnie @ Jun 9th 2007 8:36AM]

On the contrary to what the first commenter wrote I believe that cheating is one of the proofs that the human species survives and will continue to survive. In fact it is an adaptation of the will to survive for in todays world skills sets such as these are as much necessary as is pure genius. One does not need what is taught in schools to survive. Most of the richest people in the world are barely college educated. Education alone does not suffice, its the will to do something which is sufficient for one to get better at something.
Industrialization has made most jobs today repetitive and mundane.People will continue to survive because that and only that is the requirement for life. We will find ways for everything else.

[Samuel Curtis @ Jun 9th 2007 8:45AM]

In China, this is not news-- miniature wireless speakers is so commonly used in exam cheating that the governments invest as much as 100m yuan yo put screeners in exam halls.

[mike @ Jun 9th 2007 10:07AM]

I guess the cheating scam will be some releif to those Western students constantly told on how smart their Eastern counterparts are "academically
--

Keep telling yourself that. 10 million students wrote this test. 3 were caught? The other 99.99999% were studying 6-10 hrs a day on this thing..

[Big @ Jun 9th 2007 10:30AM]

I ACTUALLY LIVED IN SHANGHAI, CHINA back in 2003, and taught English to in FuDan University.

I know all to well that cheating is RAMPANT in China.

The problem is many of the students fear failure from the education system. Unlike in America, where you can fail and just go to summer school or repeat a grade... failure in China's school system puts you at a TREMENDOUS disadvantage (since the population consists of moderately skilled human labor).
You flunk school over there and you end up in the service sector FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE.

Chinese students are prone to cheat on the GRE and the TOEFFEL as well as other foriegn language examinations. This is because these exams are weighted HEAVILY when they attempt to enter the review process for Visas to go abroad.
Many, MANY Chinese students want to go to Grad School just so they have a chance applying for a Visa to America. Now that America is outsourcing heavily to China however, there have been fewer applications (still in the millions).

I've got seeral Chinese girlfriends over there who are college grads working for INTEL and MICROSOFT making far less than they'd be making over here.

One of them, Fang Ling, designs Intel Microprocessors and only makes $800 a month.

[drtekger @ Jun 10th 2007 9:53PM]

many many girlfriends, yous a pimp! I am currently working in China for a German company and our Chinese "graduates" don't deserve their bachelor degree. We have people around here whose mayor was "English" and they cannot speak it at all, only write and read it. They must have all been cheating or the Chinese edu-system isn't worth a penny.

[AndrewNeo @ Jun 9th 2007 12:51PM]

Why the heck don't they just faraday the exam rooms?

[Emceay @ Jun 9th 2007 3:11PM]

Nah.. I think I'd rather have the children playing games and increasing their hand-eye coordination, rewiring their brains for complex tasks they've yet to experience but will have an upper hand when they do.
I'd rather have them watch cable tv and eventually come to learn what everyone else learns: stuff on tv is stupid but people watch it anyway for whatever reasons.
I'd rather have them listen to whatever music they please and keep them open to all cultures and viewpoints, because limiting kids to classical music makes that kid who's house you never want to spend the night at because his mom will make you do chores.

[Drew @ Jun 9th 2007 5:38PM]

Is it just me, or is there a typo in the story? Should it say "forking over big bucks" not "fucking over big bucks". Or is it just some new expression that I have never heard of before?

[Drew @ Jun 9th 2007 5:41PM]

Sorry. Another typo. I meant forking over big bucks.

[emenBlade @ Jun 9th 2007 7:01PM]

I am a jh student And i Don't cheat, i do occasionally let other cheat off me on tests but i never cheat for myself, because i share the opinion with some of the authors of these comments, the current generation is getting dumber.i have cable t.v., but I do realize that those shows are all fictional, and it really hit me, a few years ago, when i was watching magyyver, and the decides to watch Stargate, same person but different people. and i do listen to rock music. right now i have billy talent numbing my earlobes. I am also a competitive gamer, i scrim up to 10 times a week.
Considering this and the fact that i am an honours (cnd spelling) student, in almost all my classes, I do not in any way think that the amount of home work done affects ones ability to understand and learn.

with this in mind i am failing 1 class (yet i am still honours.) But that is because she puts more emphasis on home work, rather than tests and assignments. 2 matching worksheets is worth more than a 50 question exam? bs. Any way the point i am trying to make(although not very well) is that it is the teacher and the parents and the student who all have to work together to achieve high grades and succeed, it isn't fair to us students when a teacher is unwilling to go in front of his or her class and teach and thoroughly explain the information, and it isn't fair when the teacher doesn't show the students any repercussions and or punishments for not completing work. and it most importantly isn't fair to the students when it is a multiply choice exam and all 2 or more of the selectable answers could work. And teachers i don't know how jh to hs works in the usa, but in Canada if one doesn't have more than 65% one isnt in the normal grade ten classes. if your average is lower than that u go into a grade nine and a half class.
so teachers your class averages should be over that mark if you are trying really hard to teach. and if you are actually putting an effort. in the case of the class i am teaching the class average is around 50 and she doesn't see any thing wrong with this number.


im sorry for the long rant, my 2 cents
-peace

[epitrypt @ Jun 9th 2007 10:34PM]

Cheating is a part of life. The education system is failing our children. This is retaliation to the general sub-par nature of how we teach our children. Focusing more on memorisation rather than understanding and appplication. Our brains natural ability is to reject knowledge we cannot apply regularly.

Schools and university focus more on the business of teaching us rather than the art of teaching us