<p>I attended Harvard for one year as an undergraduate and there were many study and exam practices that clearly bordered on cheating. In my experience, many students there have no qualms about cheating in order to mitigate the academic stress, although in most instances it’s a case where many can’t differentiate the fine boundary between collaborating and overstepping academic proprieties. I had a similar thing happen in an introductory genetics class I took. </p>
<p>Moreover, I found the cases of incompetent teaching fellows and exam material not matching what was taught in class or in the readings to be relevant in more than one class. Ultimately, it led me to choose to continue my education elsewhere.</p>
<p>I was surprised that the office hours (TF’s and Professor’s) seemed to be such a big deal. Doesn’t the class have its own website and online forum? I thought that was pretty standard. With a large crowd in the TF’s office asking for clarification, and the TF struggling to understand the question, how could they possibly NOT discuss the exam? This can’t be why they were investigated.</p>
<p>During a take-home exam, especially given the rules in this case, there shouldn’t be any office hour at all. How would the information conveyed in that office be equally transmitted to the whole class?</p>
Me too. I find it difficult to believe that so many students in a single class would take the risk of cheating. It sets off my “wait and see what comes out” alarm. What if (for example) the TF gave the 15 students a definition to use, and they e-mailed it to the rest of the class? I question if that would be cheating at all. </p>
<p>If this really was blatant cheating, though, then Harvard (and probably every school) has a huge cheating problem. If half the people in this class were willing to cheat, I would expect it to be the same, more or less, in every class. I’d really hate to think that half the students at Harvard are cheaters.</p>
<p>I would say that cheating on an exam certainly qualifies as academic dishonesty. In fact it is academic dishonesty in its purest and simplest form. All the students who are found beyond a reasonable doubt to have cheated should be kicked out. And reforms on testing procedures should be put in place to prevent future similar episodes.</p>
<p>“That cheating was made easier through a final exam that was unproctored.”</p>
<p>Oh for Gods sake! Students at HARVARD need a babysitter to keep them from cheating on a test?? Really? REALLY??
Any student , especially a student at a college like Harvard, which supposedly has the pick of the top students in the world, who doesn’t comprehend that a final exam is meant to test what each student has learned- individually- should be booted out. No excuses. If a student or students have a problem with the exam , then that can and should be addressed afterward. Not while taking the test.
Unbelievable…</p>
<p>Students don’t always just do “first degree cheating…” One student may have really good answers and decides to share it with someone to help them out–it’s only being nice. It might as well end up in the hands of all from one source. They may be pressured to go along and do what everyone else is doing and it is a chain reaction. At first the thought of course is that they’ll never find out, so why not…
This has happened in high school courses of mine where you’re not supposed to collaborate but people do it anyways.</p>
<p>To everyone saying that all 125 should be expelled, a number of the students accused had answers that were simply “close for comfort”. It’s surely possible that some of these students had similar ideas but didn’t actually cheat? It’d be really unfair to ruin some of these students’ lives just to make a statement about cheating and strictly punish the true cheaters. I’m not sure how Harvard could fairly distinguish the cheaters from the non-cheaters especially for an exam which was all free response.</p>
<p>It does sounds like the parameters were not clear. Fr 125 students to be suspected of " cheating" is a large number, and apparently they were encouraged to collaborate on the exam, but exactly where the boundaries were was not understood by the students.</p>
<p>A take-home exam with the same questions for such a large class is an indication of poor teaching.</p>
<p>Take-home exams work best in small advanced classes, where the professor knows the students and their abilities and general ideas on the subject from interacting with them during the semester. And then usually the take-home exam will be a lengthy essay where each student is writing about something different.</p>
<p>Sorg, I agree. The entire situation smacks of poor teaching. Along with the investigation of cheating, I would hope the school to look into why this happened. But I doubt that will happen.</p>
<p>Taken by some upperclassmen- i believe it said somewhere in the article that a few seniors graduated this year and there was a discussion on whether their degrees should be revoked.</p>
<p>It is so sad to see someone attempt to turn a character defect into a virtue.</p>
<p>There is nothing nice about being either the provider or receiver of exam answers, risking the students’ grades and their ability to continue at that college.</p>
<p>This response shows how important a message will be sent by Harvard’s response to this situation.</p>
<p>Based on looking at the syllabus, it looks like an intro-level 100-200 level course taken by aspiring majors and non-majors seeking to fulfill a core/distribution requirement. </p>
<p>Doesn’t seem like a course that would be difficult enough to even think of cheating…though I speak as someone who was a politics minor.</p>
<p>“To everyone saying that all 125 should be expelled, a number of the students accused had answers that were simply “close for comfort”. It’s surely possible that some of these students had similar ideas but didn’t actually cheat? It’d be really unfair to ruin some of these students’ lives just to make a statement about cheating and strictly punish the true cheaters.”</p>
<p>I don’t think anyone is saying that every possible suspect should be expelled. I think that we all realize that very few of the actual cheaters will get punished, and the punishment will probably be light. They are not going to punish anyone for being “close to comfort.” </p>
<p>It’s silly to assume that this big deal is being made out of some papers being “too close for comfort.” IMO, cheating is generally very easy to determine. There were probably many word for word/ sentence for sentence similarities between exams.</p>
<p>“They may be pressured to go along and do what everyone else is doing and it is a chain reaction.”</p>
<p>So these supposedly “smart” college students are nothing more than unthinking lemmings? “pressured” to go along with everyone else? All jumping off the same cliff because everyone else does??
Ye gods, how did they get into Harvard in the first place if they cant even think for themselves???</p>
<p>What struck me as odd was that the question was a very straightforward, easy essay question - could argue it very convincingly either way. Why would such capable students cheat on such a straightforward essay question?? It does cross my mind that perhaps the answers were so similar because there are really only two or maybe three ways to approach and answer this question. If they were all working from the same course materials then it is logical that their answers would be similar. I am sure at least one targeted student has argued that “great minds think alike”!!</p>
<p>“So these supposedly “smart” college students are nothing more than unthinking lemmings? “pressured” to go along with everyone else? All jumping off the same cliff because everyone else does??
Ye gods, how did they get into Harvard in the first place if they cant even think for themselves???”</p>
<p>If you think for yourself you are less likely to get into Harvard because you are unlikely to engage in the types of activities and preparations necessary to get into Harvard.</p>
<p>They’re people pleasers. </p>
<p>They do what they’re told to do to achieve what they’re told to achieve.</p>
<p>“It does cross my mind that perhaps the answers were so similar because there are really only two or maybe three ways to approach and answer this question. If they were all working from the same course materials then it is logical that their answers would be similar.”</p>
<p>I don’t think the administrators or professor would launch an investigation and declare that it looks cheating occured for just similar answers on an essay test. :). That is to be expected. Clearly there is much more going on. My guess: word for word answers AND students verifying through the beforementioned interviews that collaboration took place. </p>
<p>It’s odd that you are defending the students by using this argument. </p>
<p>You’d be suprised at how stupid students are when it comes to cheating. Speaking as a former TA, its usually pretty freakin obvious. Usually professors/TA’s/administrators don’t do anything about it because it is such a hassle & a negative experience. Many of these students have probably blatantly cheated before and gotten away with it. </p>
<p>Furthermore, widespread dissatisfaction with the professor, lack of office hours, tough questions will create an environment where not only are students more likely to cheat due to the perceived “unfairness” but also work together.</p>