Did half of Harvard class cheat in exam?
Evidence suggest that some students worked together on answers
BAD PRESS: Students outside the Widener Library at Harvad University.
PICTURE: REUTERS
EXAM cheats are every where - perhaps even in a hallowed seat of learning such as Harvard University.
Harvard Crimson, the college's daily newspaper, reported that the college's disciplinary board was investigating nearly half of the 279 students in a class for allegedly plagiarising answers or inappropriately collaborating on the class's final take-home exam last spring. No names have been released, AP reported.
"These allegations, if proven, represent totally unacceptable behaviour that betrays the trust upon which intellectual inquiry at Harvard depends," President Drew Faust said.
A Harvard spokesman said he knows of no incidents in recent memory of possible cheating at the university on this scale.
Harvard Crimson reported that the final exam in "Introduction to Congress," came with the instruction: "The exam is completely open book, open note, open Internet, etc.
"However, in all other regards, this should fall under similar guidelines that apply to in-class exams. More specifically, students may not discuss the exam with others - this includes resident tutors, writing centres, etc."
Ms Teresa Fishman of the International Center for Academic Integrity at Clemson University, South Carolina, said it is not surprising that Harvard is not immune to possible cheating.
She said 20 years of data shows that a quarter to a third of students across all levels of collegiate education admitted cheating on tests.
Each student whose work is in question has been called to appear before a subcommittee of the Harward College Administrative Board, which reviews issues of academic integrity, said Mr Jay M Harris, dean of undergraduate education.
He emphasised that none of the allegations has been proven and said there's no evidence of widespread cheating at Harvard.
A teaching assistant noticed some possible problems on the tests, included evidence that students collaborated on answers or used the same long, identical strings of words.
The assistant notified the professor, who referred the case in May to the administrative board.
Depending on the offence, the punishments range from an admonition, a sort of warning for a first offence, to being forced to withdraw from Harvard for a year.
News, The New Paper, Saturday, September 1 2012, Pg 27
"Harvard Crimson reported that the final exam in "Introduction to Congress," came with the instruction: "The exam is completely open book, open note, open Internet, etc."
With these instructions the institution should not complain.
Rather they should assess the answers and determine if the student has the appropriate merits.
One rule should be uncompromising strict. Plagiarise and collectively you will be dead.