Several years ago, Groveton College adopted an honor code, which calls for students to agree not to cheat in their academic endeavors and to notify a faculty member if they suspect that others have cheated. Groveton's honor code replaced a system in which teachers closely monitored students. Under that system, teachers reported an average of thirty cases of cheating per year. The honor code has proven far more successful: in the first year it was in place, students reported twenty-one cases of cheating; five years later, this figure had dropped to fourteen. Moreover, in a recent survey, a majority of Groveton students said that they would be less likely to cheat with an honor code in place than without. Such evidence suggests that all colleges and universities should adopt honor codes similar to Groveton's. This change is sure to result in a dramatic decline in cheating among college students.
Write a response in which you discuss what questions would need to be answered in order to decide whether the recommendation is likely to have the predicted result. Be sure to explain how the answers to these questions would help to evaluate the recommendation.
The author of the article avers that an honor code introduced in Groveton College has been successful and other institutions have to adopt this code so that the number of cheating students decreases. While the writing makes this argument based on some observations, they include unwarranted assumptions and logical fallacies. Therefore, it is not reasonable to follow the main idea of this article without the scrutiny of the evidence presented by the writer.
To begin with, it is not possible to conclude that the honor code has resulted in a decrease in cheating just because the reported cases have declined. While the author mentions that the number of reported cheating has dropped from twenty-one to fourteen in five years, there is no reason to believe that the real amount of cheating was actually reflected in the students' reports. In contrast, it is likely that many Groveton students have chosen to be silent about cheating by other students because of their personal relationships or mere reluctance. In this situation, it should be considered that there have been omitted reports of cheating.
Furthermore, the survey regarding the attitude of the students cannot be cited as a cogent supporting point for the main argument of the article. The writer merely states that most Groveton students remarked that they would be less willing to cheat with an honor code compared to the past. However, this statement itself cannot prove that the actual decline in cheating has happened. In contrast, the students might make a lip-service. It is also possible that some of them might pretend that they were influenced by the honor code despite their inclination to cheating. Thus, that sort of single question cannot guarantee any real effect of the honor code.
Besides, it should also be noted that hectic generalization is made by the author. Although it becomes clear that the honor code of Groveton College has been successful, it is not logical to confirm that other universities or colleges can get the same outcome. It is probable that Groveton College has specific variables related to the decline in cheating. For instance, the number of students can be low and it is easy for students to detect other students' behaviors. There is also a possibility that a myriad of courses offered by Groveton College do not require exams but other tasks for appraisal, such as writing essays and team projects. Given the aforementioned considerations, it would be hard for other institutions to take the same measure and expect the same result.
Finally, it has to be questioned if the honor code fully replaced the previous system. Whereas the author confirms that it substituted for the past system where teachers monitored students, there is no clue about this observation. It is possible that the previous system has coexisted with the new honor code and that system has influenced the behaviors of students. In this circumstance, the purported decline in cheating cannot be a result of the honor code on its own.
In conclusion, it is not reasonable to say that the argument of this article is cogent unless more concrete data and evidence are presented. For example, the author may mention a comprehensive investigation of the reported cases of cheating.
Comments
e-rater score report
Attribute Value Ideal
Final score: 3.5 out of 6
Category: Satisfactory Excellent
No. of Grammatical Errors: 4 2
No. of Spelling Errors: 4 2
No. of Sentences: 25 15
No. of Words: 537 350
No. of Characters: 2674 1500
No. of Different Words: 232 200
Fourth Root of Number of Words: 4.814 4.7
Average Word Length: 4.98 4.6
Word Length SD: 2.689 2.4
No. of Words greater than 5 chars: 201 100
No. of Words greater than 6 chars: 158 80
No. of Words greater than 7 chars: 117 40
No. of Words greater than 8 chars: 49 20
Use of Passive Voice (%): 0 0
Avg. Sentence Length: 21.48 21.0
Sentence Length SD: 6.859 7.5
Use of Discourse Markers (%): 0.72 0.12
Sentence-Text Coherence: 0.309 0.35
Sentence-Para Coherence: 0.523 0.50
Sentence-Sentence Coherence: 0.053 0.07
Number of Paragraphs: 6 5
Grammar and spelling errors:
Line 1, column 1, Rule ID: WHITESPACE_RULE
Message: Possible typo: you repeated a whitespace
Suggestion:
The author of the article avers that an ...
^^
Line 2, column 1, Rule ID: WHITESPACE_RULE
Message: Possible typo: you repeated a whitespace
Suggestion:
... the evidence presented by the writer. To begin with, it is not possible to con...
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Line 3, column 1, Rule ID: WHITESPACE_RULE
Message: Possible typo: you repeated a whitespace
Suggestion:
...ave been omitted reports of cheating. Furthermore, the survey regarding the at...
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Line 4, column 1, Rule ID: WHITESPACE_RULE
Message: Possible typo: you repeated a whitespace
Suggestion:
...tee any real effect of the honor code. Besides, it should also be noted that he...
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Line 5, column 1, Rule ID: WHITESPACE_RULE
Message: Possible typo: you repeated a whitespace
Suggestion:
...me measure and expect the same result. Finally, it has to be questioned if the ...
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Line 6, column 1, Rule ID: WHITESPACE_RULE
Message: Possible typo: you repeated a whitespace
Suggestion:
...a result of the honor code on its own. In conclusion, it is not reasonable to s...
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Transition Words or Phrases used:
actually, also, besides, but, finally, furthermore, however, if, may, regarding, so, therefore, thus, whereas, while, as to, for example, for instance, in conclusion, in contrast, of course, sort of, such as, to begin with
Attributes: Values AverageValues Percentages(Values/AverageValues)% => Comments
Performance on Part of Speech:
To be verbs : 29.0 19.6327345309 148% => OK
Auxiliary verbs: 13.0 12.9520958084 100% => OK
Conjunction : 10.0 11.1786427146 89% => OK
Relative clauses : 23.0 13.6137724551 169% => OK
Pronoun: 53.0 28.8173652695 184% => Less pronouns wanted
Preposition: 68.0 55.5748502994 122% => OK
Nominalization: 16.0 16.3942115768 98% => OK
Performance on vocabulary words:
No of characters: 2729.0 2260.96107784 121% => OK
No of words: 537.0 441.139720559 122% => OK
Chars per words: 5.08193668529 5.12650576532 99% => OK
Fourth root words length: 4.81386128306 4.56307096286 105% => OK
Word Length SD: 2.79326381111 2.78398813304 100% => OK
Unique words: 241.0 204.123752495 118% => OK
Unique words percentage: 0.448789571695 0.468620217663 96% => OK
syllable_count: 863.1 705.55239521 122% => OK
avg_syllables_per_word: 1.6 1.59920159681 100% => OK
A sentence (or a clause, phrase) starts by:
Pronoun: 15.0 4.96107784431 302% => Less pronouns wanted as sentence beginning.
Article: 7.0 8.76447105788 80% => OK
Subordination: 3.0 2.70958083832 111% => OK
Conjunction: 0.0 1.67365269461 0% => OK
Preposition: 6.0 4.22255489022 142% => OK
Performance on sentences:
How many sentences: 25.0 19.7664670659 126% => OK
Sentence length: 21.0 22.8473053892 92% => OK
Sentence length SD: 39.8780942373 57.8364921388 69% => OK
Chars per sentence: 109.16 119.503703932 91% => OK
Words per sentence: 21.48 23.324526521 92% => OK
Discourse Markers: 8.88 5.70786347227 156% => OK
Paragraphs: 6.0 5.15768463074 116% => OK
Language errors: 6.0 5.25449101796 114% => OK
Sentences with positive sentiment : 8.0 8.20758483034 97% => OK
Sentences with negative sentiment : 13.0 6.88822355289 189% => OK
Sentences with neutral sentiment: 4.0 4.67664670659 86% => OK
What are sentences with positive/Negative/neutral sentiment?
Coherence and Cohesion:
Essay topic to essay body coherence: 0.352327598088 0.218282227539 161% => OK
Sentence topic coherence: 0.100538629596 0.0743258471296 135% => OK
Sentence topic coherence SD: 0.0841725483851 0.0701772020484 120% => OK
Paragraph topic coherence: 0.183766314763 0.128457276422 143% => OK
Paragraph topic coherence SD: 0.0760394170042 0.0628817314937 121% => OK
Essay readability:
automated_readability_index: 13.2 14.3799401198 92% => Automated_readability_index is low.
flesch_reading_ease: 50.16 48.3550499002 104% => OK
smog_index: 3.1 7.1628742515 43% => Smog_index is low.
flesch_kincaid_grade: 11.5 12.197005988 94% => OK
coleman_liau_index: 12.18 12.5979740519 97% => OK
dale_chall_readability_score: 8.56 8.32208582834 103% => OK
difficult_words: 132.0 98.500998004 134% => OK
linsear_write_formula: 14.0 12.3882235529 113% => OK
gunning_fog: 10.4 11.1389221557 93% => OK
text_standard: 14.0 11.9071856287 118% => OK
What are above readability scores?
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Rates: 66.67 out of 100
Scores by essay e-grader: 4.0 Out of 6
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Note: the e-grader does NOT examine the meaning of words and ideas. VIP users will receive further evaluations by advanced module of e-grader and human graders.