I'm asian, and my method of studying is the similar to the one in the article. But a couple of months ago, to my horror, my own father advised me to use that tactic. (trying to figure out the exam answers in advance using previous exams)

I still keep to my method, but I don't think any discrimination was intended from the grandparent post. It's fairly common for non-passionate people to try to achieve good results without putting in effort to learn the subject. It's a question of whether you value time or learning more.

There is nothing wrong with using previous exams to study for an exam. They are a source of good questions. In fact the article mentions using a test exam! It's the teacher's fault for being lazy about reusing test questions. Many student societies keep a filing cabinet of old exams and I've seen books of old exams published. How about all those SAT prep courses???

"trying to figure out the exam answers in advance using previous exams"

What is wrong with this? My university provides the last six years worth of final exams for every subject, and sometimes the lecturers give you worked solutions for one or two of them. We will often work in groups to come up with solutions so we can practice with them and make sure we've got methods right.

The questions on the exam you take are often completely new (or altered versions of past questions, depending on the lecturer), so it's not cheating at all. But old exams are great practice to make sure you know enough of the formulas and equations to be able to solve the type of questions you will be asked.

His description fits what I saw in computer science: Westerners worked as individuals, Chinese and Indian students formed groups that coded as teams, a method which, at the time, was clearly considered cheating by the faculty. Perhaps today it is more acceptable.

A former roommate who graduated from one of the best, if not the best, Indian school opened my eyes to the rampant cheating that goes on in those hallowed halls. His class was apparently legendary for their cheating. Nonetheless he was a charming and extremely competent individual who, in an alien environment, when the chips were down and there were no Indian classmates to "cooperate" with, hit the books hard and earned his Masters degree admirably.