To the Editor:
I found Ben Mathew's column, "Rethinking the Honor Code" [August 8, The Dartmouth], to be quite thought provoking. In particular, I am intrigued by the notion that violations of the honor code are bad primarily because they place honest students at a disadvantage relative to dishonest students (paragraphs 5 and 11). I infer from this that learning is viewed principally from a competitive frame of reference. If so, this leaves out consideration of cooperative learning. I wonder if it wouldn't be useful to think of the honor code in relationship with a learning code which embraces both competitive and cooperative learning.
First, if the honor code were linked with a learning code, it would have to be acknowledged that cheating is anti-learning. Thus, loss of learning would be added to breakdown of trust as a penalty for cheating. Second, with the inclusion of cooperative learning as a goal, the rewards of cheating (that only accrue in a competitive frame of reference) would be reduced in importance. The more superficial rewards of cheating in the competitive mode would have to be balanced against the more substantial rewards gained through cooperative learning.
Third, emphasizing a code of learning (i.e., placing a value on learning) which includes cooperative learning will provide a pragmatic basis for honor which is described by Ben Mathew as being insufficiently tangible for some people (paragraphs 7, 8, and 10). I can provide testimony, as somebody who has been in the work-force for several decades, that professionals who have a well-integrated code of cooperative learning are prized in most high-performance organizations.
Simply put, cheating may provide a short term advantage when considered within only the relatively abstract and intangible frame of honor and the relatively limited frame of competitive learning. Cheating becomes a much less attractive proposition when considered from within a code of learning that features the sustainable advantages of cooperative achievement. Perhaps reframing our learning values will assist our effort to rethink the honor code.