Cheating At Dartmouth Medical School

Plus, US News on cheating consequences. Plus, students at a California high school write about "The Cheating Epidemic."

Issue 18

Dartmouth’s Would-Be Doctors Accused of Cheating

Local reporting (April 7) says “several students” at Dartmouth University’s medical school have been accused of inappropriately accessing course materials during an exam.

The paper cites sources saying about 20 students may be implicated, which is something considering the school admits just 92 students a year. The article further quotes the school’s Dean saying

“I recognize a great amount of distrust from the students with respect to the administration and I feel the need to take steps to restore that trust,” he said.

Wait, 20% of your annual college class may have cheated and the students do not trust the administration?

The Dean did say that, as a result of the incident, they began to use remote exam proctoring but continued,

“I still have faith in the honor code. Most of our students are actually doing things appropriately.”

When it comes to medicine especially, maybe having “faith” and saying that “most” people “are actually doing things appropriately” is not quite a high enough standard.

Carlmont High School Students on “The Cheating Epidemic”

Students at Carlmont High School (CA), wrote a solid, long piece in their school paper entitled, “The Cheating Epidemic.”

It’s worth a review for its directness, news and highlighting two of the most prevalent cheating rationalizations - it’s not my fault other people put so much emphasis on grades and if my teachers aren’t trying, why should I?

The directness:

the amount of academic dishonesty has risen like never before

And

In the modern age, resources like Quizlet and class notes are available for the mass of students to use at ease. 

The news:

After taking an anonymous survey of various Carlmont students, 94.1% said that they had seen an increase in cheating with their peers during online school.

Eighty-two percent of students admitted to cheating during distance learning.

The rationalizations. Quoting a student

My definition of cheating is blurred, and there’s a lot more pressure from parents and college nowadays to succeed. Sometimes, if I can find worksheet answers online, I feel like my teachers aren’t putting in the work to create an assignment, and I won’t put in the work to do the assignment.

The article is worth a read, keeping in mind that this is in high school, where habits and mindsets crystalize.

US News & World Report on How Cheating Can Hurt Students

Adding to the deluge of welcomed recent national press coverage about cheating, US News & World Report has an article on how cheating can be bad for students.

It starts by saying that cheating is, “wildly popular among many students and seemingly more accessible than ever.”

But the piece is important for the academic integrity community not because it outlines the consequences of cheating - not learning, failing courses and tests, and suspension and expulsion - but because it correctly pegs the scope of the cheating problem:

While the numbers of cheaters are reportedly spiking, most instructors underestimate just how rampant the issue is, says Eric Anderman, a professor at Ohio State University—Columbus who studies academic integrity. "We think we're underestimating it because people don't want to admit to it."

In the next “The Cheat Sheet” - a special edition on new cheating research that has spurred a top-end detection tool. Share and subscribe below.