Ms. Ligator
Honors English
15 November 2013
The Little Essay That Could- Open-book vs. Closed-book Eugene Nathaniel Butler once stated, “Some people cheat their way through life. They cheat on tests in school. Cheat on girlfriends/boyfriends then graduate to cheating on wives/husbands. They cheat on taxes and many times shortchange their own kids. Life becomes one big game, but once YOU realized the game is rigged and let go, they lose…game over.” For centuries, cheating has always been a major concern for institutions of higher learning. Institutions fear cheating, because of the reputation dishonest students will establish for that particular institution. Suspected students will have to face numerous penalties; in most cases, expulsion from the institution. Predominantly, cheating ruins the value and individual integrity of the student, and may cause them to become apathetic in future activities. Therefore, it is important to ensure the soundness the essay, exam, and any other academic related projects so as to avoid students cheating.
Undoubtedly, students are increasingly tempted to cheat, because they feel that they have the need to cheat. Open-book examination eliminates such need. The ways that students cheat, such as preparing cheat sheets or glancing at the responses of other classmates, imply that students worry about forgetting, or even forget the contents they are required to memorize. Open-book examination does not require students to remember the book contents as they are allowed to bring and use their textbooks. With these references, students certainly will not forget and hence, will not cheat. Moreover, according to the research, students would have the tendency to cheat if the exam is difficult (Batool, Saeeda, Anam Abbas, and Zahra Naeemi, 2011). Namely, the chances of