Cheating at University.

[Bagor]

Wanted to get people's thoughts here.

Students cheating at University and getting caught (exam, not plagiarism).

Do you think the prof should deal with the matter between the prof and the student or should the matter be reported officially to higher levels?

Consider that the prof will probably talk to other profs who would be considering taking the individual on as a post-grad.

[Frank the Tank]

They should get a zero on the exam. If it happened again I'd be inclined to go to the higher-ups.

[KTrain]

If you're a first year student I think it could be kept between the prof and the students involved. They should definitely fail the class. First year students typically still have a high school mentality because their high school teachers couldn't be hard enough on them (mostly because the teacher's hands were tied with what they could do to them).

If you're not a first year student it should be taken it to a higher level. You should be smart enough to know you shouldn't cheat by the 2nd year and if you're not you shouldn't be in post-secondary education. During the first year of University profs will tell you time and time again that plagiarism and cheating will not be tolerating. You should probably listen to them.

[Bagor]

Thanks. Yeah, they're getting a zero.

Fair enough to deal with it between Profs so at least colleagues that are considering said individual as a post-doc are aware that marks might not be all what they seem?

K-Train. 4th year student.

[The Ditch]

There was a ton of cheating when I was in engineering at the U of C. We eventually had the dean come and give us a lecture but that didn't stop it. I don't recall anyone getting into any serious trouble from it but I also don't really remember anyone getting caught red handed.

[nfotiu]

I think the level of pre-meditation should impact the punishment. Was it an opportunistic reading of someone elses exam? Or a well orchestrated cheating scheme?

[Frank the Tank]

Just an aside on the whole cheating thing -- my brother caught a student of his stealing his Masters thesis. Went onto my brothers computer and uploaded it to some website. My brother was months away from being finished and published and this punk stole 3+ years of work in 3 minutes. My brother caught him and kept it between the profs and himself and this kid. I would have crucified him.

[Bagor]

Originally Posted by nfotiu

I think the level of pre-meditation should impact the punishment. Was it an opportunistic reading of someone elses exam? Or a well orchestrated cheating scheme?

It was an A4 folded in 4 full of notes. Pre-meditated.

Frank, I'd have done the same.

Another profs story. He/she caught someone in a similar situation and did nothing (gave 1/2 marks). Student finished up getting an award at the end of the degree program for best marks or something like that. He/she (the prof) felt sick as they had an honest student that narrowly lost out.

FTR it's in science that this (1st post) occurred.

[Table 5]

When I was in school at ACAD, we used to display our design work on the walls of the hallways after every project, so the younger students could see the work. One day somebody sneaked in and took ALL the work from the wall......and a few days later, apparently people started presenting it as their own projects at the UofC.

[Dan02]

Originally Posted by Bagor

It was an A4 folded in 4 full of notes. Pre-meditated.

Isn't something like that grounds for getting the boot from the university? Minimum should be auto fail the entire course.

A case of wandering eyes could be forgiven but thats some pretty agregeous cheating.

[Rathji]

If I was a prof and I caught someone cheating in an exam by bringing in notes, I would give them a zero in the course. At that point I would consider the severity of the case and possibly turn it over to the department for consideration. Especially if it is a 4th year student, I mean if they are doing it in 4th year, how many times did they do it before then?

If I ever caught someone submitting someone elses work (in its entirety) on an assignment, I would do everything in my power to ensure they never got a degree. If you can't do an assignment with all the resources in the world available to you, how are you going to hack it in the real world?

Edit: Keep in mind this is coming from a Computer Science prospective. We can discuss (almost) any part of our assignment with anyone in great depth as long as we don't walk away with anything in writing, we are pretty much safe. Discussion is encouraged, but only to increase understanding, not to reduce the need to formulate your own response (code or theory) to the assignment.

[GreenLantern]

I don't think the year really matters, should be a zero and reported. Make sure everyone in all of your classes knows what is happening. As a fourth year student who has worked his ass off, and watched others cheat their way through it is VERY frustrating to see kids get a slap on the wrist.

[Swervin]

I would say make an example and at the same time keep the students confidentiality. People judge others to fast before knowing all the details. It would be good to research the kids past before passing the verdict. I had an example like that at UofC back in the day, all yeah the prof gives assignments saying use the internet, don't need to give proper citation .... one time he does not say it and still half the students use the internet as a main source, half the class gets a warning of suspension.

In the exam case, a whole new bag of chips. I would spread the word to other profs and see if he reoffends. Dishonest people usually do, then he or she can be made an example of.

[VANFLAMESFAN]

If you're not cheating, you're not trying.

All you guys are such sticklers.

[Cowboy89]

You guys are pretty lenient. Post-Secondary education isn't a right, even if you're a snot nosed 18 year old fresh out of high school. Expulsion and black-listed from similar insitutions seems to be in order for that crime. In order to be reinstated there should be a cooling off period of two years and than a reinstatement hearing where you would have to prove how after two or more years you've reformed your ethics.

[metallicat]

I failed at cheating. Accounting course at Grant Macewan. We were using laptops, and I had saved a spreadsheet to use during the exam as a template, and I failed to even bring the spreadsheet up.

Shows why I'm not an accountant.

[mykalberta]

Any Student found cheating should be kicked out of the University. It shows a lack of common morales and a complete lack of class to cheat on an exam at a place where you are competing with others for job positions.

[Bertuzzied]

Originally Posted by Table 5

and took ALL the work from the wall......and a few days later, apparently people started presenting it as their own projects at the UofC.

How stupid can you get? In the same city? come on.

[Dan02]

Originally Posted by VANFLAMESFAN

If you're not cheating, you're not trying.

All you guys are such sticklers.

Nah, I'm all for cheating, as long as you are smart enough to do it in away in which you won't get caught. If you get caught you pay the piper, that simple IMO.

[troutman]

I often thought students should not be allowed to campaign profs in their office for better marks.