<p>I'm a senior in hs and just visited UVA for the first time. Out of all the other tours/info sessions UVA seemed to stress its honor code... the admissions officer said that when she went there professors allowed student to take exams wherever they wanted (dorms, library, etc.), but it was on their honor that they didn't go above time limit or cheat. Does it actually work like this? (does everyone follow this)? it just seemed surprising that they would put THAT much trust in the student body and if so that is awesome!</p>
<p>While I was at UVA (past 5 years doing BA/MT program) I experienced the ups and downs of the honor system. Practically every exam I took was take home with either a reasonable time limit or no time limit. The class time is better spent doing other things. Compare this to my friend at UIllinois who has to show her ID to turn in her test in a large lecture. There are also benefits in the community, like how you can take a taxi and charge it on your honor if you do not have any cash late at night for example and pay back the office of the dean of students later.</p>
<p>For the downsides, there is a large amount of cheating in certain classes. I had the unfortunate experience of bringing honor charges against two students. You’ll find that there is practically no enforcement for regular cheating, and the only kids who get kicked out are ones who make a political statement, such as a 4th year who was kicked out for cheating in a class run by the honor society. There are rules about what constitutes as non-trivial cheating, and it basically means that unless the thing you’re cheating on is at least 1/3 of your final grade it is deemed “trivial.” Anyways there’s no real solution to cheating but the prevalence rate at UVA is so much lower than comparable publics and privates that I think the system is at least doing a decent job.</p>
<p>Hazel- is the 1/3 grade standard for what is deemed “trivial” a fairly recent development? I took the Honor LASE class back in '07 and they were very non-descript about defining “trivial”.</p>
<p>I had a unique situation where we could prove about 1/10 of the class I was working with was cheating. I asked them what they wanted to about the sheer number of cases this would present. They told me that essential evidence to submit would be a syllabus showing the assignment was worth a significant portion of their grade, like a midterm or major test. They basically told me one question on a quiz that worked out to 1-3% of their final grade was going to be deemed trivial.</p>
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<p>Honeypot. An interesting technique.</p>
<p>If I ever become a professor I should remember that one.</p>
<p>One professor (a few years ago) said screw it I am bringing charges against ALL OF THEM (Bloomfield, the guy who runs Lou’s List). You can search on the cavalier daily about how many kids he got kicked out (good for him).</p>
<p>Whoa that was back in 2001. Well it was 122 cases; 51 got brought to trial, and 15 resulted in a decision to “leave the community”.</p>
<p>Actually there were 158 charges. Fifty-nine cases were referred to trial.</p>
<p>[Honor</a> completes Bloomfield investigations | The Cavalier Daily](<a href=“http://www.cavalierdaily.com/2002/03/07/honor-completes-bloomfield-investigations/]Honor”>http://www.cavalierdaily.com/2002/03/07/honor-completes-bloomfield-investigations/)</p>
<p>The professor in CS 1111 made a loud honor threat in class once – apparently a “significant number” had cheated in a take-home coding exam or something (I can’t remember exactly) and he said those involved could either withdraw from the class or face honor charges.</p>
<p>The next class session, the class was indeed, noticeably thinner.</p>
<p>The issue with the Bloomfield class was that a number of frats saved their members’ old tests and essays, which they shared with their newer brothers. When Mr. Bloomfield created a computer program that analyzed all the papers turned in with the ones from the past several years, he was able to figure out who copied from whom. There were even alumni who had their degrees revoked. (Haha, I love how UVa will take away your degree if you’re found guilty of cheating after you’ve graduated.)</p>
<p>That is how we also determined who was cheating in the CS course (it is a large database that has every program ever submitted in the past 5 or so years). Unfortunately the jury members did not understand how identical code down to the irregular spacing is the same as plagiarizing an essay even with multiple explanations in plain English/analogies/etc. I can’t really discuss trials but I figure that is generic enough.</p>
<p>@Born a tarheel,</p>
<p>The most important thing about UVA’s honor code is that it inculcates a sense of honor/ethics within the UVa student body. Of course, there are those who don’t care (which is a small minority) and will cheat anyway, but I believe if taken to heart, this emphasis on honor will follow you for the rest of your life. At UVa, honor is not just a word that involves a series of punitive actions taken against those who transgress against our rules, but it is way of thinking, I might even dare say a way of life where you trust (and hope) your fellow Wahoos will do the right thing. When I meet fellow UVa alums, I immediately open up to them, because I know where they come from…and if they do something wrong or shady, I can pull the honor card on them.</p>
<p>The University is not really “single sanction” for cheating. Even if an honor conviction does not occur, the prof can give you a F for the course.</p>
<p>I’d like to see a prof give out a multiple choice test that looks exactly like last year’s test, but has a few words changed towards the end of each question to result in a different answer. As a result, some people relying upon last year’s text would get an absolute zero. </p>
<p>“Please tell me, how was it statistically possible that you got every single question wrong? If you just guessed, you would have gotten a 25%?”</p>