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