The only software that I can think of off the top of my head is PeopleSoft, more specifically, GullNet. GullNet is basically the main place that students can go if they need to register for classes, look up classes to take in the future, find out about financial aid, and look at their transcript. It has a lot of resources within the one piece of software and I feel that is a decision making software for many students.
Along with this, I feel that many search engines can be considered decision making software. For example, if you Google restaurants in a city that you are unfamiliar with, Google may help you find the place that you will eat that night.
This shows that there are various types of decision making softwares, and you may utilize them without even knowing it.
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
My Professor will never notice that I copy and pasted this whole paper...
Plagiarism is, and will continue to be, a major problem on college campuses all over the world. The main cause of this issue is the Internet. Students have access to almost anything on the internet these days and they tend to take full advantage of that. In an article by professors at the Rochester Institute of Technology, they claimed that "Four years ago a count of term paper mills on the Web—including A-Plus Termpapers, Paperz.com, School Sucks, and Research Assistance by Collegiate Care—set the number at 70." This number is pretty astonishing and shows how many options students have when it comes to finding term papers. I also feel that many students do not want to take the time to produce their own paper and they feel that if they use someone else's, it won't be a big deal. You are taking someone else's work and taking undeserved credit for it. It would be better to be honest with your teacher then take the F and possibly get an academic dishonesty mark on your transcript.
When it comes to efforts on the university side to fix this issue, I feel that there is only so much the school can do. I think the first solution would be to block those term paper websites from the on-campus network, but there are still the other 55% of students that live off-campus that you have to worry about. I know a lot of professors use Turnitin.com which is a really good way to monitor plagiarism. Turnitin is branched from Plagiarism.com which was basically the segway into many other plagiarism prevention sites. When you turn in a paper to this website, it scans the Internet and compares it to your document to see if there are statements that stand out or are similar to another paper that is already written.
I feel tools like Turnitin.com are the best a university can do at this moment to prevent plagiarism. It also comes down to the student's decision; they can be unethical and copy a paper, or they can make the ethical choice and write a paper that they deserve a grade for. All in all, it is up to the student to make the right choice.
http://www4.ncsu.edu/~ladare/eac595/readings/scanlon-neumann.pdf
https://turnitin.com/static/index.php
When it comes to efforts on the university side to fix this issue, I feel that there is only so much the school can do. I think the first solution would be to block those term paper websites from the on-campus network, but there are still the other 55% of students that live off-campus that you have to worry about. I know a lot of professors use Turnitin.com which is a really good way to monitor plagiarism. Turnitin is branched from Plagiarism.com which was basically the segway into many other plagiarism prevention sites. When you turn in a paper to this website, it scans the Internet and compares it to your document to see if there are statements that stand out or are similar to another paper that is already written.
I feel tools like Turnitin.com are the best a university can do at this moment to prevent plagiarism. It also comes down to the student's decision; they can be unethical and copy a paper, or they can make the ethical choice and write a paper that they deserve a grade for. All in all, it is up to the student to make the right choice.
http://www4.ncsu.edu/~ladare/eac595/readings/scanlon-neumann.pdf
https://turnitin.com/static/index.php
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
I Didn't Do It!
Ethics have always been that chapter in the textbook that teachers and professors hate to teach in class. It's like the textbook companies put it in there just be politicaly correct. By saying this I am not saying that living an ethical life is not important, but I feel that ethics is something that you cannot be taught from a book.
I know that I have been faced with many ethical situations in life, many of those being at the workplace, and also on social networks. In my hometown, I have been working at the same job for about four years. It is a restaraunt and this place has really become my second home. When I first started out, I was only 15 years old and still very naive and unsure about how the workplace was run. My managers were awesome people and very relaxed, but I know I was placed in some situations that should not have happened. Some of them would let me drink behind the bar, or they would talk to me about things regarding the restauraunt that I should not have been told. Another thing about working in that place was that everyone, and I mean everyone, talked behind each other's backs. I feel that this is an ethical issue because no one is truly honest with each other and things get said in the workplace that should not have been. I will admit that I gave in to the gossip at times, but as I got older, I found that walking away from the situation was usually a better solution. This way, I don't have to worry about being involved or accidentally hearing whatever my coworkers are discussing.
When it comes to social networks, you are almost guaranteed to come across ethical issues. The problem in this day and age, is that people use social networking, and social media in general, abusively. Twitter is the perfect example; most people that "tweet" use this site as a way to vent about others and just complain about anything going on in their lives. I also feel that Facebook has gotten even worse as they make more changes to the site. Their most recent changes give Facebook users even reason to track other users which could eventually turn into stalking.
Overall, Facebook and Twitter, and many other sites, are going to continue giving more opportunities to be unethical and users will definitely take advantage of this.
I know that I have been faced with many ethical situations in life, many of those being at the workplace, and also on social networks. In my hometown, I have been working at the same job for about four years. It is a restaraunt and this place has really become my second home. When I first started out, I was only 15 years old and still very naive and unsure about how the workplace was run. My managers were awesome people and very relaxed, but I know I was placed in some situations that should not have happened. Some of them would let me drink behind the bar, or they would talk to me about things regarding the restauraunt that I should not have been told. Another thing about working in that place was that everyone, and I mean everyone, talked behind each other's backs. I feel that this is an ethical issue because no one is truly honest with each other and things get said in the workplace that should not have been. I will admit that I gave in to the gossip at times, but as I got older, I found that walking away from the situation was usually a better solution. This way, I don't have to worry about being involved or accidentally hearing whatever my coworkers are discussing.
When it comes to social networks, you are almost guaranteed to come across ethical issues. The problem in this day and age, is that people use social networking, and social media in general, abusively. Twitter is the perfect example; most people that "tweet" use this site as a way to vent about others and just complain about anything going on in their lives. I also feel that Facebook has gotten even worse as they make more changes to the site. Their most recent changes give Facebook users even reason to track other users which could eventually turn into stalking.
Overall, Facebook and Twitter, and many other sites, are going to continue giving more opportunities to be unethical and users will definitely take advantage of this.
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Why Bother Going to School Anymore?
The title sounds pretty pessimistic but that is the vibe that I get from a lot of people my age and also from the younger generation. Our country has advertised the fact that schooling is not the only way to go, despite the traditional views of going to college and getting your degree. I know many young adults my age have opted not to go to college and continue to work in place of schooling. Even though making money seems like a good idea at the time, many scholars say that people deciding to go to college now, especially in this economy, are going to earn more money in their lifetime.
Despite the perks of going to college, or even just sticking it out through the high school years, many students decide that higher education is just not for them. Even though this is an unfortunate thought, there are reasons that people may not want to go to school. The first is that most teachers do not stay within the education system for very long. Most teachers quit after only five years of teaching. Teachers should not be quitting for many years because they went to college for four years and paid to get a degree. Why would you quit a job that you worked four years for?
The biggest issue I see within the system is that many parents simply do not care what their kids do in school or HOW they do in school. I know that throughout all of my public school education, my parents were on me about doing homework and my grades. Even up until the end of my senior year, my parents would still help me with homework and reviewing my papers. Some parents now do not even bother asking how their child is doing in school; it may be because they don't care or education is not important to them. This is a sad thought to have because education should be important to every parent and they should express that importance upon their children. I also think that students have found ways to avoid telling their parents about their grades and therefore, the parents stop asking. After a while, parents just give up because they know their child will never tell them.
Despite these issues, the American education system has positive aspects and will continue to until the end of time. The fact that America has such an established education system that is still popular to its citizens is amazing within itself. The system is also expanding and becoming more available to anyone that wants to take advantage of it. I foresee the issues I discussed above, and many others, to continue getting worse, but one can only hope that things will turn around and be on the rise.
Websites used:
http://www.newyorker.com/talk/comment/2010/09/27/100927taco_talk_lemann
http://www.nationalforum.com/Electronic%20Journal%20Volumes/Boyer,%20Ashley%20Problems%20Facing%20American%20Education.pdf
Despite the perks of going to college, or even just sticking it out through the high school years, many students decide that higher education is just not for them. Even though this is an unfortunate thought, there are reasons that people may not want to go to school. The first is that most teachers do not stay within the education system for very long. Most teachers quit after only five years of teaching. Teachers should not be quitting for many years because they went to college for four years and paid to get a degree. Why would you quit a job that you worked four years for?
The biggest issue I see within the system is that many parents simply do not care what their kids do in school or HOW they do in school. I know that throughout all of my public school education, my parents were on me about doing homework and my grades. Even up until the end of my senior year, my parents would still help me with homework and reviewing my papers. Some parents now do not even bother asking how their child is doing in school; it may be because they don't care or education is not important to them. This is a sad thought to have because education should be important to every parent and they should express that importance upon their children. I also think that students have found ways to avoid telling their parents about their grades and therefore, the parents stop asking. After a while, parents just give up because they know their child will never tell them.
Despite these issues, the American education system has positive aspects and will continue to until the end of time. The fact that America has such an established education system that is still popular to its citizens is amazing within itself. The system is also expanding and becoming more available to anyone that wants to take advantage of it. I foresee the issues I discussed above, and many others, to continue getting worse, but one can only hope that things will turn around and be on the rise.
Websites used:
http://www.newyorker.com/talk/comment/2010/09/27/100927taco_talk_lemann
http://www.nationalforum.com/Electronic%20Journal%20Volumes/Boyer,%20Ashley%20Problems%20Facing%20American%20Education.pdf
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