My Daughter is "cheating her way through the day"
Plus, some New Jersey Institute of Technology math classes now require two proctor cameras. And, University of Manitoba sees a 7x increase in cheating.
Issue 6, February 9, 2021
Chicago Mom Tells Local School Board That Everyone is Cheating During Online Schooling
WMMB Chicago has the story (February 2) of the mother of a high school sophomore who told her local school board that her daughter, and just about everyone else, is "cheating her way through the day."
"She's learned nothing this year, except how to cheat," she said. "Google Translate has earned her a B in Spanish, which is her highest grade ever in Spanish. When she returns to school and she does not have Google Translate, I expect she will get an F. She has lost an entire year of knowledge to build upon."
"She has achieved her highest grade point [average] this semester - none of it achieved through studying or hard work, and she is not alone"
After Cheating on Chegg, NJIT Math Classes Want Two Cameras for Exams
According to The Vector, the school newspaper at New Jersey Institute of Technology (February 3), at least some math classes at the school now require students to take tests with two cameras — one as part of the school’s remote proctoring system while
A second device, usually the student’s phone, is placed on the side and logged onto the class’s Webex meeting provided by the professor. Rather than showing the students’ faces like the computer camera does, this provides a view of the students’ two hands and computer, which must stay seen at all times.
Students are bristling at the double-up.
But NJIT has a reason for the extra security. According to a student quoted in the article, the measures
were taken into effect to “prevent cheating on exams, and after the massive cheating incident during the MATH 222 final in Spring 2020”
A massive cheating incident. Go figure.
A school spokesperson confirmed the cheating and says they’re aware of the new double-camera policy but also noted that the new, post-cheating exams were made more manageable for students in several ways. On the cheating, the school said they’d used a remote proctor provider and a lockdown browser, but still,
Unfortunately, we found instances where exam questions were posted to Chegg.
Further, the school said,
We spent considerable time trying to find a way to use watermarks to prevent Chegg “tutors” from answering our exam questions. We went as far as paying for a student account and uploading questions. Unfortunately, even when the question clearly stated that it is copyrighted material and part of an exam, the Chegg “tutors” would answer the questions.
A 700% Increase in Cheating at University of Manitoba
Academic misconduct spiked at the University of Manitoba when the campus went virtual in the springtime, with a new report indicating allegations of cheating rose by seven-fold in 2019-20.
That’s the start of a story in Winnipeg Free Press, (February 4) which has details. Here are a few.
Between Sept. 1, 2019 and Aug. 31, 2020, there were 1,137 such allegations levelled against 943 students — up from 706 incidents involving 644 students during the same period one year prior.
"This undoubtedly has a relationship to the remote delivery of courses that began in the last third of the winter term of 2020," said [Brenda] Hann, chairwoman of the discipline committee, during the video conference call.
It seems that 1,137 cases of academic misconduct in one year, out of a published enrollment of 30,000, ought to be an emergency. Especially considering that many, maybe even most, cheating incidents go unreported.
Even so, the University of Manitoba deserves immense credit for making its cheating rates public. The vast majority of American schools don’t want to talk about cheating under any circumstances.
Notes: In the last “The Cheat Sheet” I misspelled the name of Seife Dendir, professor at Radford University. That’s my error.
In the next “The Cheat Sheet,” Houston TV stations cover “massive” cheating at local K-12 schools and colleges. Plus more.