Cheating Student Has Bluetooth Surgically Implanted in Ear

Plus, another accounting firm fined for cheating on tests. Plus, Course Hero helps me out on my midterm.

Issue 97

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US and Canada Fine Accounting Firm PwC for Exam Cheating

According to news reports, regulators in the United States and Canada have slapped accounting firm PwC with about $900,000 in fines for a “widespread cheating scandal” involving some 1,200 employees who shared answers to required accounting exams.

From the reporting:

staff in PwC’s Canadian division share[d] computer drives containing the answers to mandatory accountancy exams, on PwC’s own computer network.

In a report, Canada’s audit watchdog said the drives contained at least 46 of the answers to the 55 questions on PwC’s mandatory tests.

Individuals employed by PwC also shared answers to tests via email, in the form of hard documents, and in discussions while actually taking the tests in the presence of others.

This is becoming a pattern.

In September, a US regulator slapped a different big accounting firm - KPMG - with a $450,000 fine for essentially the same thing - cheating on compliance exams (see Issue 57).

Student in India has Bluetooth Surgically Implanted in Ear to Cheat

This one has been making the rounds as several outlets have reported that a medical student in India had a listening device surgically installed in his ear in order to cheat on exams.

This version of the story has photos, apparently.

Cheating is wild in India.

I Asked Course Hero to Answer a Question for My Midterm. They Did.

You may remember, back in Issue 92, I noted that cheating provider Course Hero was having a kind of promotion, offering free answers from their live tutors. I did one – asking whether using Course Hero to get answers was cheating. Their tutor said it was not cheating.

Anyway, I got an e-mail a day or two ago reminding me that my free Course Hero questions and answers were about to expire. So, I decided to try another – a new experiment.

I logged on to Course Hero, clicked on my “free tutor question” button and began typing. At the top of my question, I clearly said my question was for a test I was taking right then. I wrote:

Hi - I need this for my Euro Civ core course midterm which I am taking now. 

Then I asked about what the Roman Empire was called before it was an Empire and that I needed “2-3 sentences to describe the differences.”

I wanted to be extra clear this was for a test I was taking in the moment so in the section where you can add notes for your “tutor,” I wrote:

Time sensative - for important test

The typo was authentic. I decided to leave it in.

Instantly, a notice appeared on my screen saying Course Hero could not submit my question. The notice had a link to their honor policy. For a second I thought, “Their system caught that I said ‘midterm’ and ‘test’ and won’t accept the question. Good for them - the joke is on me.”

But, nope.

Course Hero flagged that I’d used the phrase “2-3 sentences” and noted that such phrasing may indicate that I planned to use the supplied answer as my own work.

Sensing it was possible I was trying to cheat, did Course Hero block my question about Rome? Did they revoke my account? Since Course Hero asks you where you go to school when you submit your question, did they alert my school that someone was submitting a question from an active midterm?

They did not.

Course Hero asked me to revise my question.

That’s right. Concerned that I may be trying to misrepresent my work, they prompted me to phrase it differently. So, I changed “2-3 sentences” to “a few.” And presto - Course Hero had no problem taking the question.

About 20 minutes later I got back the answer:

Rome was called the Roman Republic. The Roman Empire was an ancient empire centered on the city of Rome that began following the death of the Roman Republic and lasted until the ultimate eclipse of the Western empire.

The tutor helpfully gave me three bullet points outlining that the Republic differed in terms of government, religion and peace - though that’s not entirely true. But no matter. The tutor even provided a citation, in case I needed it.

So, in a question that was clearly marked as a test question - twice - Course Hero gave me the answer. And when Couse Hero thought I might possibly be trying to cheat, their solution was not to deny me the answer, it was to ask me to adjust my question.

I’d say that’s amazing but it’s not. It’s precisely what I expected.

More Ads for Academic Integrity Lawyers

As noted many times (see Issue 88 or Issue 22 or Issue 16), academic integrity incidents are becoming increasingly litigious as lawyers continue to promote their services to accused students.

Here’s a notable example. Give it a click.

It says:

it's important for students accused of academic misconduct to immediately seek an attorney. The stakes are simply too high for you not to retain legal counsel. It would also be helpful for you to completely understand how your school defines academic misconduct, the broad span of actions that constitute this violation, and the pivotal role of an attorney in your case.

Marquette Names New Academic Integrity Officer

Marquette University has named Dr. Jacob Riyeff “academic integrity director.”

See Issue 81 for more on misconduct at Marquette.