Colleges Aim to Cut Cheating by Outwitting Students

Taking anti-cheating measures very seriously, several universities implemented high and low tech improvements to thwart students attempting to get an unfair advantage on assignments and tests ("To Stop Cheats, Colleges Learn Their Trickery"- The New York Times July 5, 2010). The University of Central Florida's testing center recessed their computer monitors to prevent photography of test questions on the screen and uses cameras to monitor student activities. Turnitin.com reports that students try various tricks to outwit the plagiarism identification tool, but schemes such as substituting foreign letters similar to English letters don't work. The story notes that academic integrity tutorials do seem to help cut plagiarism, since they help students understand the acceptable use and citation of information.

Discussion Questions:

1. Do you think campuses should use cameras to monitor testing centers? Why or why not?
   
2. Do you think the high tech measures some colleges use to prevent cheating are worth the cost? Why or why not?
3. Should professors only assign papers to be completed in class to prevent plagiarism? Why or why not?
   

Push to Publish Spurs Fabricated Research in China

Because the status and pay of Chinese scholars is based on the amount of published research, unethical practices have been exposed by Western experts. (Rampant Cheating Could Degrade China's Research Ambitions - Austin American-Statesman from Associated Press, April 20, 2010). But plagiarism, faked research, and related misdeeds are not considered to be serious problems by all Chinese academics. Lu Keqian, a former teacher freely admits that he receives $45 to write papers, saying that "great leaders Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping needed help writing." Some 70 papers from Jinggangshan University were found to be "fabricated" by a British journal in December.

Discussion Questions:

1. If there is rampant academic misconduct, do you think the results of all research studies conducted in China should be reviewed?
   
2. Why do you think the writer mentioned in the article thinks that writing for others isn't wrong?
   

Cheating Reports at Stanford Increase Dramatically

Even though Stanford University is one of the few colleges in the U.S. that has an honor code where students pledge to be academically honest, the campus is seeing a surge in cheating cases ("Stanford Finds Cheating — Especially among Computer Science Students — on the Rise" - San Jose Mercury News, February 7, 2010). "Although computer science students represent 6.5 percent of Stanford's student body, last year those students accounted for 23 percent of the university's honor code violators." A combination of increased reporting and a rise in dishonest acts fueled the spike among undergraduates. Many of the computer science cases involved homework assignments that employed unauthorized collaboration or altering another student's code. Beyond the computer science department, most of Stanford honor code infractions centered on unsanctioned group work.

Discussion Questions:

1. Do you find it surprising that Stanford students, who should be very intellectually capable since they were accepted into a prestigious school, are committing these dishonest acts? Why or why not?
2. Should collaboration be allowed in all assignments but not on tests? Why or why not?

Yale Sees Jump in Plagiarism Cases

Yale University instituted a new plagiarism policy in 2007, but greater attention to the issue has accompanied an increase in reported plagiarism cases ("Despite Policy Change, Plagiarism Cases Up" - Yale Daily News, December 4, 2009). The policy change mandates that when professors request new course approvals in undergraduate studies, they must state how they will cover the topic of plagiarism and the correct way to cite sources. Coincidentally, the number of reported academic dishonesty incidents rose from 23 in 2006-07 to 29 in 2007-08. To prevent plagiarism, one professor limits her students to source material from a particular Yale archive for an assignment. However, most professors know that the Internet makes copy-and-paste plagiarism easy to do, but electronic anti-plagiarism tools just as quickly catch such unacceptable uses of online information.

Discussion Questions:

1. Do you think many students know what constitutes plagiarism, but engage in it anyway? Or do you think plagiarism is not understood by most students, so they accidentally plagiarize?
2. Take a look at the seven examples of plagiarism on the Academic Integrity and Student Success brochure (PDF). Did you already know that those actions would be considered plagiarism by Lone Star College?
3. What steps do you take to prevent yourself from committing plagiarism when you prepare coursework?
   

University Repays $600K Grant Due to Plagiarism

Central Michigan University must return National Science Foundation (NSF) grant funds after research showed that "two math faculty allegedly copied and pasted uncited information" in an NSF-sponsored report ("University Officials Expect to Find Source of Money to Return NSF Grant within Two Weeks" - Central Michigan Life, November 4, 2009). University officials voted to repay $619,489 to the NSF, but at least one faculty member questioned the effects of the university losing this amount of money. Two of the seven math professors who worked on the grant secured employment at other universities. Central Michigan officials would not divulge if any punitive action was taken against math grant faculty that remain on staff.

Discussion Questions:

1. Should faculty be punished for plagiarism, especially when external funding must be repaid as a result of academic dishonesty? Why or why not?
   
2. Should the math grant faculty be required to contribute toward repayment of the grant? Why or why not?
3. Do you think universities put too much pressure on faculty to secure grants instead of teaching students? (See Redefining Research from Michigan State University State News for a snapshot of the urgency to qualify for research funding.) Does this push for external funding cause faculty members to commit plagiarism because they are pressed for time to complete grant reports?
   

Save Your Soul at a Tennessee University by Not Cheating

A business professor who thought cheating occurred in his MBA class at Middle Tennessee State had students sign an honor code stating they would go to hell if they cheated ("Pledge Condemns Cheaters to Hell, MTSU Students Asked to Sign," WKRN.com (Nashville, TN), November 4, 2009). Some of Thomas Tang's students reported the incident to the department chair. In the video that accompanied the story, it was mentioned that the first part of the honor code included a listing of the 10 Commandments followed by the paragraph about going to hell if students cheated. The professor stated that he was "trying to raise standards" and that he was concerned about the suspected cheating especially since the class recently completed a chapter on ethics.

Discussion Questions:

1. Would you sign a document pledging to not cheat in class? Why or why not?
   
2. If a professor suspected an individual cheated in class, what would be the best way to handle the situation?
3. Have you ever reported other people you saw cheating in class? Why or why not?
4. Does it matter to you if other people cheat or plagiarize in a class you're taking? Why or why not?
   

Illegal Pay Practices Surface for Minimum Wage Workers

Results of a recent study of low-income workers exposed a widespread disregard by their employers for federal labor laws related to overtime pay and minimum wage standards ("Low-Wage Workers Are Often Cheated, Study Says" - The New York Times, September 1, 2009). The study found that of the 4,387 employees studied, 68 percent received an average of 15% less income than they actually earned. Legal immigrants and American-born workers comprised 61% of the workers studied. Workers also reported that 57% were not given "mandatory pay documents the previous week" and 12% said that some tips were withheld. Employees in Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York City took part in the study, “Broken Laws, Unprotected Workers" sponsored by the Ford Foundation, the John Randolph Haynes and Dora Haynes Foundation, the Joyce Foundation and the Russell Sage Foundation.

Discussion Questions:

1. Workers for this study were questioned about wages in early 2008 before the economic downturn hit its peak. In 2009, do you think workers likely experience more illegal wage practices as a result of worsening economic conditions for employers? Why or why not?
2. Do you know someone who has received less pay and tips than they expected due to an employer illegally withholding wages? Do they have an estimate on how much income they lost as a result?
3. Does the government need to hire more people to check on employers pay practices? Or do business groups need to take more action to encourage employers to pay workers fair wages?