Big Cheating Scandal At Harvard

[jimmy olsen]

Flay those fuckers alive! 

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/31/education/harvard-says-125-students-may-have-cheated-on-exam.html?_r=1

Harvard Says 125 Students May Have Cheated on a Final Exam
Elise Amendola/Associated Press

An entrance to Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass.
By RICHARD PÉREZ-PEÑA and JESS BIDGOOD
Published: August 30, 2012

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Harvard University revealed Thursday what could be its largest cheating scandal in memory, saying that about 125 students might have worked in groups on a take-home final exam despite being explicitly required to work alone.

The accusations, related to a single undergraduate class in the spring semester, deal with "academic dishonesty, ranging from inappropriate collaboration to outright plagiarism," the administration said in a note sent to students.

Officials said that nearly half of the more than 250 students in the class were under investigation by the Harvard College Administrative Board and that if they were found to have cheated, they could be suspended for a year. The students have been notified that they are suspected and will be called to give their accounts in investigative hearings.

"This is unprecedented in its scope and magnitude," said Jay Harris, the dean of undergraduate education.

Administrators would not reveal the name of the class or even the department, saying that they wanted to protect the identities of the accused students. The Harvard Crimson, the university's student newspaper, reported that it was a government class, Introduction to Congress, which had 279 students, and that it was taught by Matthew B. Platt, an assistant professor.

Professor Platt did not respond to messages seeking comment.

When final exams were graded in May, similarities were noticed in the answers given by some students, officials said, and a professor brought the matter to the administration immediately. Over the summer, Harvard's administrative board conducted an initial review, going over the exams of all of the students in the class for evidence of cheating. It concluded that almost half of them showed signs of possible collaboration.

"The enabling role of technology is a big part of this picture," Mr. Harris said. "It's the ease of sharing. With that has come, I believe, a certain cavalier attitude."

The university said it planned to increase efforts to teach students about academic integrity.

"The scope of the allegations suggests that there is work to be done to ensure that every student at Harvard understands and embraces the values that are fundamental to its community of scholars," Harvard's president, Drew Gilpin Faust, told The Harvard Gazette, the university's official newspaper.

Harvard's student handbook says that students must "comply with the policy on collaboration established for each course," and notes that such policies vary from department to department, from class to class, and even from assignment to assignment within a class.

The news comes as Harvard students are returning to campus for the fall term, which begins on Tuesday.

[Ed Anger]

"flay"?

Lighten up Francis.

[Admiral Yi]

Ricans are very hot blooded.

[CountDeMoney]

Wow, rich kids with a sense of entitlement get caught cheating at a school that promotes a sense of entitlement.
I am so fucking shocked I just ejaculated.

125 students might have worked in groups on a take-home final exam
if they were found to have cheated, they could be suspended for a year.
reported that it was a government class, Introduction to Congress,

A take home exam.  For a Poli-Sci Intro course.  Possible suspension for OMG A WHOLE YEAR.

Good to see Harvard still maintains such high academic standards and curriculum strength. 
More proof that school is a fucking joke, and its degree isn't worth the gilted, embossed and raised paper it's printed on.

[HVC]

a take home exam just screams "cheat on me"

[sbr]

No shit, that was always implied afaik.

[garbon]

Does seem a little strange to get in such a huff over a take home. Why wouldn't people collaborate?

Though I do remember when I was a freshmen I had a class where we had like 48 hours to right three mini-papers where we were all given the same essay prompts.  We were told not to chat about the prompts once we got them.  I'm sure some people did but I didn't as I needed all that time to formulate my own thoughts - not list to someone else's.

[garbon]

Good to see Harvard still maintains such high academic standards and curriculum strength. 
More proof that school is a fucking joke, and its degree isn't worth the gilted, embossed and raised paper it's printed on.

Does anyone think 101 classes would be rigorous?

[CountDeMoney]

Does anyone think 101 classes would be rigorous?

Does anyone think 101 classes warrant a take home final in the first fucking place?

[MadImmortalMan]

For all the busywork bullshit students have to do on a regular basis, I'm all in favor of cheating. It's like Kirk and the Kobayashi Maru. If it saves you time, it's justified.

[garbon]

Does anyone think 101 classes would be rigorous?

Does anyone think 101 classes warrant a take home final in the first fucking place?

I don't necessarily see a problem with it. 101 classes are often a joke so why not own that?

[Caliga]

For all the busywork bullshit students have to do on a regular basis, I'm all in favor of cheating. It's like Kirk and the Kobayashi Maru. If it saves you time, it's justified.

It's not as if people in the corporate world--where a huge percentage of these students will end up--don't lie and cheat as much as they can possibly get away with.

[Josquius]

a take home exam just screams "cheat on me"

Yeah, they're usually designed so that for most of them that would be impossible though. Asking lots of questions where the taker has to think originally and apply what was learned in class to problems rather than just simply reciting what was learned in class.
I like take home exams. Never cheated on them but always do much better than in conventional exams.

[CountDeMoney]

I don't necessarily see a problem with it. 101 classes are often a joke so why not own that?

That's because you have such low standards.  101 class?  Multiple choice.  Sheesh.
Take home exams for a 101 class is just laziness on behalf of both the students and the faculty.

[Phillip V]

For all the busywork bullshit students have to do on a regular basis, I'm all in favor of cheating. It's like Kirk and the Kobayashi Maru. If it saves you time, it's justified.

It's not as if people in the corporate world--where a huge percentage of these students will end up--don't lie and cheat as much as they can possibly get away with.

I am sure a lot of them also end up in government and academia where they also get paid for worthless busy work that they then cheat on.