Ethics Café – Cheating Lessons: Learning from Academic Dishonesty

Associate Professor of English and Director of the Center for Teaching Excellence at Assumption College, will discuss his latest book Cheating Lessons: Learning from Academic Dishonesty (Harvard University Press, 2013).

When students engage in academically dishonest behaviors, they are reacting inappropriately to a learning environment that has not sufficiently captured their attention or motivated them to learn. Dr. Lang will address how to gain a better understanding of the reasons for academically dishonest behavior and use that knowledge to build better learning environments.

Drawing on research in cognitive theory, Dr. Lang describes the differences between how novice learners process and understand new information and ideas, and how their processes differ from those of the experts who are teaching them. Recognizing these differences may help design courses, units, or assignments that foster more richly connected knowledge networks within students.