Chapter 3: Civility in the Classroom

IN SEARCH OF CIVILITY                                                                                                         1        

                                                                     
                                                                 In Search of Civility
                                                                 Bre'Anna Wyche
                                                                 Hampton University
                                                                 Section H-5

                                                                    Summary

              The Search of Civility made a very important point especially with chapter three. Civility in the classroom talks about what students go through all the time at college. Students go through pressure to cheat, dealing with plagiarism, uncivil professors, and uncivil students. Chapter three opens the eyes of readers to show how to avoid such situations and how to make the right decisions.
               In college students are being pressure to cheat. College is a major adjustment to face. The classes can be challenge especially when students are trying to keep their or in a lot of social activities. Once a short cut is presented it's hard to not think about different scenarios. If the student is busy it could really lighten their load, get a better grade, and help them to maintain scholarship and social life. However, cheating whether big or small is still cheating. Cheating takes away the knowledge a student could use later in life, a short cut that can only take them so far, and pressure to not feel stupid to use it especially if everyone is using it.
              In college students are being caught by plagiarism everyday. The amount of resources for assignments are unlimited. However, its the way the assignment is worded and cited. Students will copy and paste and incorrectly cite the resources. This is all a form of plagiarism. Plagiarism is dangerous to play with because it can cost the student scholarships and even kicked out of the school. However, teachers fail to inform students on how they see plagiarism. This lack of communication can misinterpret what the student thought was plagiarism. This could put the student in a bad situation because the teacher now sees the student as a cheater and has the right to report the student for cheating.
            In college students will find out that its possible to have an uncivil professor. Uncivil professors will believe that they are always right. Uncivil professors may not know to separate their personal life with their job. Some teachers could hold grudges on students which causes them to have bad grades. Students notice when the teacher is being unfair to them. However, students feel as if they are a target they would hate put other people grades in jeopardy. However, if the group doesn't assign roles or communicate with each member then the targeted student that distant themselves could be placed in a difficult situation.
           In college people forget that students can be uncivil. Uncivil students can bully teachers and make the teacher job more stressful than what it already is. This unwanted stress from the students can make the teacher patience go away. The teacher tries not to be nice because she knows how college is. Uncivil students also approach other students in a harsh manner. Everyone has an opinion but the way how its said can make the person uncomfortable and feel attacked. Uncivil students feel as if their opinion is right and doesn't take into consideration how they approached the situation. If ever feeling bullied or threatened report the uncivil students.
         At Hampton University many students come from all over the United States and even different countries. There are adjustments to make when learning how to approach someone. There will be touch teachers to get a long with. Also, cheating will come up in the equation just to get out the class. Plus people will pay for old notes and money is something all college students need.
         The advice that I can give is to make sure that you think before what you say because you can insult, threaten, or come off the wrong way with people with out knowing, make sure go to the teachers office hours one on one time is very helpful and it might be beneficial to where you won't need to cheat. Also, ask is cheating worth leaving the university or your scholarship.
         In conclusion, chapter three contains four main points to help students understand what to do and how to avoid situations. Chapter three tells how to cheating and plagiarism can get scholarships taken away and even kicked out of school and how uncivil professors and students are being unfair on they way they treat other students. Chapter three is an important chapter because every college student will face at least one of these four different scenarios in college.