From: viznyuk@ohstpy.mps.ohio-state.edu
Newsgroups: soc.culture.soviet
Subject: Re: More education talk...
Date: 2 Oct 92 16:10:00 EDT

In article <1992Oct2.175107.7850@news.nd.edu>, Alexei.Strounine@nd.edu (Alexei Strounine) writes:
> In article <1ahs55INNg86@mizar.usc.edu> miwalker@mizar.usc.edu  
> (Michael Walker) writes:
> ->  I have been following this debate over the relative merits and 
> -> demerits of the educational systems in the U.S. and xU.S.S.R., and 
> -> had a question I'd like to
> ->  throw open to some of the Soviet educated people who post here.  
> -> How prevalent is cheating in academic institutions?  I have a few 
> -> Russian friends, and a few
> ->  Byelorussian friends who still live in Minsk.  While visiting 
> -> them this summer
> ->  one of the girls (who seemed very upright and moral) told me she 
> -> had used a cheat-sheet during and exam, and the discussion that
> -> followed seemed to indicate this was a very commom practice.  I am 
> -> just wondering how much of a problem this is.  Certainly goes on  
> -> here too, but the casual way this was expressed to me really 
> -> suprised me, especially considering how conservative these people 
> -> were in most other ways.  
> ->  
> 
>     Yes, the practice of cheating during an exam is very common in  
> Russia, but the fact just shows the difference between Russian and  
> American education. 

 It's common in US as well, to cheat wherever and whenever possible,
especially in auto-repair and, yes, on the exams in schools too.
The only difference is that the punishment the US citizen [student]
gets for cheating is unmeasurable with that the Russian citizen
[student] usually gets. Credit is something of value here, but not
there [as yet].
As a matter of fact the using notes&textbooks during _written_
exams e.g. at PhysTech is not even being considered as a cheating.
Anyway the problems were such, that it doesn't help even if you
bring the whole library with you, unless you _really_ know the
material. That's the difference between US and [some] Sovok's schools.

>     Students in Russia are supposed to learn to THINK, not only to  
> MEMORIZE some recipes. Problems which are usually given to students  
> on an exam require some creativity, some original ideas, and cannot  
> be solved using one standard method or another. In this case,  
> cheating does not help much. 
>     When I studied at the university in Russia most of my professors  
> allowed us to use textbooks and notes during exams, but they also  
> gave as questions that were not so easy. Sometimes we were able to  
> take a break for a lunch.

  There was a usual way of taking _oral_ math and physics exams
at PhysTech: you get _at random_ a problem assignment from exam
supervisor, go somewhere to the back raw, took the textbook out
of your ass pocket, copy the problem (if you manage to find
what to copy), then go and try to get to the _good_ professor.
Then you spend some time reading him what you took off the book,
and only _after that_ begins the exam. Very often the prof
simply discards whatever you have written, and starts giving
you the problems of his own. I could only imagine what would
happen in US university if such practice has been used here.
Crowds of whinning students sueing their professors for
_unfair_ treatment...or sexual harassment...Shootings in
a hallways...Arsons by nights...
  BTW, there was one arson of Administrative Building at
PhysTech during my studying there. One guy from Dept
of Aerophysics and Space Research tried to destroy his
records...

Serega & Co

>     
>     "Est' takoi vid sporta - beg v meshkah: Vyigryvaet ne tot, kto  
> begaet bystree, a tot kto begaet bystree v meshke".
> 
> Alexei