Posted to Malaysian Chronicle (1/9/2011) on 1/9/2011
Commenting on "When politicians start tinkering with education, you know your kids are in trouble"
http://www.malaysia-chronicle.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=18568%3Awhen-politicians-start-tinkering-with-education-you-know-our-kids-are-in-trouble
Posted on 1/9/2011 at 12:48 PM
"Plagiarism, cut-and-paste and the outsourcing of tasks and assignments have become the norm in the higher institutions of education – all due to the lack of proficiency in the English language. " is neither unique to Malaysia, nor due to lack of proficiency in the English language. This is NOT uncommon in Australia, and I had to fail many of my students (as high as 90% in one class), with the blessing my Departmental Director. In severe cases, they had to repeat the subject / module.
The problem is, what do the lecturers / tutors do when they discover plagiarism? Many will sweep it under the carpet and score the assignment / project accordingly, some will give them borderline pass, some will interview the students asking them why they do such silly things. Education is a business, and many colleges / universities don't like high failure rates. Teachers / lecturers are pressured to pass students despite poor performance. So the practice continues on.
Plagiarism is a no no, and is always stipulated in the college / university student diary or policy handbook. Students MUST BE reminded on the very first day they enter the classrooms / lecture halls the consequence of plagiarism. I'm not a very popular teacher / lecturer, but I do "produce" some excellent performers and achievers.
Posted on 1/9/2011 at 1:28 PM
Symbols used in Maths and Science are universal, and therefore the language of delivery is not important.
Germany, the largest economy in Europe uses German instead of English in their education system.
Many mainland Chinese students go to Germany universities to study, without knowing a word of German at the start. I met several of them on one of my European tours. They were very fluent with German, and spoke little English. How did I communicate with them? In Mandarin / Potunghua, of course.
I am thankful that my late father sent me to a Chinese-medium school up to Primary 6. That provided me a good foundation, despite the fact that I went on an English-medium school after that. I still write blogs in Chinese in Chinese newspaper, tell stories to the Australians about Chinese traditions and culture, and developed bilingual software in Chinese / English for HK clients.
Many overseas students from Indonesia, Japan, Thailand, Korea, Burma, China, etc who come to Australia for Higher Education undertake a year or two of intensive English language classes. Many become just good as other English-speaking students.
Posted on 1/9/2011 at 1:38 PM
In respond to MARA, I did get away from being sacked. I took the policy handbook to the Director, and asked whether the policy was for real and I should follow it. No Director would ever say NO to policy written by the college / university in black and white as well as on the website. I then said to him that he had just given me permission to fail 90% of the students! This is effective negotiation!
Posted on 1/9/2011 at 3:15 PM
Only human students plagiarise when they do their assignments / projects. Tutors, lecturers or professors assess or mark the students’ submissions, and therefore they are not the culprits of plagiarism. As for colleges and universities, they cannot plagiarise because they are non-living things!
Commenting on "When politicians start tinkering with education, you know your kids are in trouble"
http://www.malaysia-chronicle.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=18568%3Awhen-politicians-start-tinkering-with-education-you-know-our-kids-are-in-trouble
Posted on 1/9/2011 at 12:48 PM
"Plagiarism, cut-and-paste and the outsourcing of tasks and assignments have become the norm in the higher institutions of education – all due to the lack of proficiency in the English language. " is neither unique to Malaysia, nor due to lack of proficiency in the English language. This is NOT uncommon in Australia, and I had to fail many of my students (as high as 90% in one class), with the blessing my Departmental Director. In severe cases, they had to repeat the subject / module.
The problem is, what do the lecturers / tutors do when they discover plagiarism? Many will sweep it under the carpet and score the assignment / project accordingly, some will give them borderline pass, some will interview the students asking them why they do such silly things. Education is a business, and many colleges / universities don't like high failure rates. Teachers / lecturers are pressured to pass students despite poor performance. So the practice continues on.
Plagiarism is a no no, and is always stipulated in the college / university student diary or policy handbook. Students MUST BE reminded on the very first day they enter the classrooms / lecture halls the consequence of plagiarism. I'm not a very popular teacher / lecturer, but I do "produce" some excellent performers and achievers.
Posted on 1/9/2011 at 1:28 PM
Symbols used in Maths and Science are universal, and therefore the language of delivery is not important.
Germany, the largest economy in Europe uses German instead of English in their education system.
Many mainland Chinese students go to Germany universities to study, without knowing a word of German at the start. I met several of them on one of my European tours. They were very fluent with German, and spoke little English. How did I communicate with them? In Mandarin / Potunghua, of course.
I am thankful that my late father sent me to a Chinese-medium school up to Primary 6. That provided me a good foundation, despite the fact that I went on an English-medium school after that. I still write blogs in Chinese in Chinese newspaper, tell stories to the Australians about Chinese traditions and culture, and developed bilingual software in Chinese / English for HK clients.
Many overseas students from Indonesia, Japan, Thailand, Korea, Burma, China, etc who come to Australia for Higher Education undertake a year or two of intensive English language classes. Many become just good as other English-speaking students.
Posted on 1/9/2011 at 1:38 PM
In respond to MARA, I did get away from being sacked. I took the policy handbook to the Director, and asked whether the policy was for real and I should follow it. No Director would ever say NO to policy written by the college / university in black and white as well as on the website. I then said to him that he had just given me permission to fail 90% of the students! This is effective negotiation!
Posted on 1/9/2011 at 3:15 PM
Only human students plagiarise when they do their assignments / projects. Tutors, lecturers or professors assess or mark the students’ submissions, and therefore they are not the culprits of plagiarism. As for colleges and universities, they cannot plagiarise because they are non-living things!