Cheating Issue-Is My Professor Being Unreasonable

[Icantplayspades]

So, I had my last exam today in a course I'm taking and I think I did fairly well. After getting home and taking a nap, I see an email from my professor that some students used Chegg DURING the exam and that ALL students would be receiving "0"s (unless we protest and prove we didn't cheat during office hours). The aforementioned scenario is not that outrageous, and I can prove I did not cheat, but the professor has no more office hours before grades are due. I contacted my professor but he has not responded and I'm really getting uptight about this whole situation.

TL;DR- Professor caught some jabronis cheating and is punishing everyone unless you can prove you did not cheat only the professor has no more office hours before grades post.

Is this normal?

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[Jdoxis]

Ya he's being lazy by punishing everyone for cheating instead of coming down on the specific people. Politely talk to him, but if he does not budge this is probably worthy of talking to the department head.

 

[Isoval]

Ya he's being lazy by punishing everyone for cheating instead of coming down on the specific people. Politely talk to him, but if he does not budge this is probably worthy of talking to the department head.

I agree with this. First, talk to the professor. If the professor continues to be unreasonable, go a step or two higher.

 

[Icantplayspades]

I agree with this. First, talk to the professor. If the professor continues to be unreasonable, go a step or two higher.

I tried emailing but it has not been long enough (24 hours) to take any further action. This just really sucks cause I planned on taking a practice MCAT exam tomorrow and until this is resolved, I cannot start my exam- I don't want the professor to respond and I'm not free.

Who cheats and in such a blatant way at that? I'm just dumbfounded.

 

[Isoval]

I tried emailing but it has not been long enough (24 hours) to take any further action. This just really sucks cause I planned on taking a practice MCAT exam tomorrow and until this is resolved, I cannot start my exam- I don't want the professor to respond and I'm not free.

Who cheats and in such a blatant way at that? I'm just dumbfounded.

I've seen people cheat in really stupid ways. In one class, these kids got their hands on a leaked copy of a previous year's exam (this class rarely changed the exam from semester to semester as the exams were never released) and studied the leaked exam copy in front of the classroom before the exam.

 

[Coltuna]

90% of my physics class used Chegg during their exams lol. This isn't uncommon if exams are online. Still unethical nonetheless.

 

[lancecorpsman]

Go talk to somebody higher up the echelon. Thats complete BS.

 

[TheBiologist]

just a side note about your poll, your questions contradict each other lol ("Is my professor being unreasonable" and "Is this normal")

 

[Planes2Doc]

I did my post-bacc when Chegg was still Cramster. It was great since it actually showed the work and how the problems are solved. How is this any different than a professor putting up an example problem on the board and how it should be solved?

I don't see how this is cheating, unless this is an open book exam and people were printing solutions from there. Otherwise, we were allowed cheat sheets in orgo, but they had to be approved a week in advance by the professor who would then make a photocopy so no one would cheat.

 

[Coltuna]

I did my post-bacc when Chegg was still Cramster. It was great since it actually showed the work and how the problems are solved. How is this any different than a professor putting up an example problem on the board and how it should be solved?

I don't see how this is cheating, unless this is an open book exam and people were printing solutions from there. Otherwise, we were allowed cheat sheets in orgo, but they had to be approved a week in advance by the professor who would then make a photocopy so no one would cheat.

Oh yeah our tests were on masteringphysics so my class' case was blatant cheating.

 

[Planes2Doc]

Oh yeah our tests we're on masteringphysics so my class' case was blatant cheating.

Interesting! We used Mastering Physics for homework, but that's as far as it went. The professor wrote her own exams.

 

[Coltuna]

Interesting! We used Mastering Physics for homework, but that's as far as it went. The professor wrote her own exams.

Yeah they're very fortunate they weren't caught lol.

 

[hellobigcat]

Even worse, a student flipped past the first page of the exam before the test timer started and was kicked out.

This is really unreasonable. Usually a TA gets in your face and says loudly, "PLEASE keep your exam booklets closed until you're told to open them".

 

[Terror Billy]

This is definitely not normal, complain to the department head or even your dean if your professor doesn't respond. You should not have your grade penalized when there's no evidence indicating you cheated or even did anything wrong.

 

[Goro]

Even worse, a student flipped past the first page of the exam before the test timer started and was kicked out.

This is really unreasonable. Usually a TA gets in your face and says loudly, "PLEASE keep your exam booklets closed until you're told to open them".

Some people believe that the rules don't apply to them.
And hellobigcat, adult learners do NOT need someone to tell them to follow clear instructions.

To OP: Grades can be changed after the fact.

 

[aldol16]

This is unreasonable. I don't know how he or she expects you to prove you didn't cheat, as one can easily erase browser histories (assuming one didn't use private browsing to begin with) and the level of IT knowledge required to prove that one did not access the internet beyond passive phone app access in the background is likely beyond most students. I guess you could challenge him or her to make up a question then and there for you to answer but that seems ridiculous. Usually, professors are the ones who are expected to prove cheating - your case kind of turns the "innocent until proven guilty" thing on its head.

 

[raiderette]

Why can't they just give a new test? Lazy SOB.

 

[863168]

@azolesoul Go to your academic dean and present the issue to them.

It's sad though that schools are now using online classes as measly cover fronts for Professor Google. Pearson is an inadequate replacement for any professor and it is insulting that students are paying tuition to an institution just to be taught by textbook software.

 

[Mad Jack]

So, I had my last exam today in a course I'm taking and I think I did fairly well. After getting home and taking a nap, I see an email from my professor that some students used Chegg DURING the exam and that ALL students would be receiving "0"s (unless we protest and prove we didn't cheat during office hours). The aforementioned scenario is not that outrageous, and I can prove I did not cheat, but the professor has no more office hours before grades are due. I contacted my professor but he has not responded and I'm really getting uptight about this whole situation.

TL;DR- Professor caught some jabronis cheating and is punishing everyone unless you can prove you did not cheat only the professor has no more office hours before grades post.

Is this normal?

Likely a violation of school grading standards, not normal at all.

 

[Pagan FutureDoc]

It's common enough that nearly everyone has a friend of a friend this happened to.
It should not be acceptable, be polite with everyone you talk to but if you don't get the outcome you feel you deserve keep on going over their heads.

 

[PreMedMissteps]

How are students supposed to prove that they didn't cheat?

 

[CyrilFiggis]

It's 2017. All my med school exams use Guided Access so that I can only use the exam software. While universities have honor systems, they hold the liability to prevent students from cheating.

 

[aldol16]

It's 2017. All my med school exams use Guided Access so that I can only use the exam software. While universities have honor systems, they hold the liability to prevent students from cheating.

You can then just use another device simultaneously look up answers. Students these days are super savvy when it comes to applying new tech to cheating on a test. Honor codes haven't stopped anyone from cheating in the past and it's unlikely that it'll start stopping people from cheating now.

 

[CyrilFiggis]

You can then just use another device simultaneously look up answers. Students these days are super savvy when it comes to applying new tech to cheating on a test. Honor codes haven't stopped anyone from cheating in the past and it's unlikely that it'll start stopping people from cheating now.

Right, and my school doesn't allow any other devices while taking an exam - cell phones, smart watches, etc It's obviously an easier scenario when your total enrollment per year is only 200. Still, the university/department made the conscious decision to switch to digital exams and is therefore responsible for guarding against abuse of the system. That means being dynamic in your implementation.

While it's true honor codes haven't stopped anyone from cheating anymore than speed limits have stopped people from speeding, but it does lower the total frequency by applying consequences for violations.

But to OPs specific situation, if the professor or TA saw people cheating during the exam, they should have been removed at first sight. Doing it retroactively and broadly was his mistake.

 

[aldol16]

Right, and my school doesn't allow any other devices while taking an exam - cell phones, smart watches, etc It's obviously an easier scenario when your total enrollment per year is only 200. Still, the university/department made the conscious decision to switch to digital exams and is therefore responsible for guarding against abuse of the system. That means being dynamic in your implementation.

While it's true honor codes haven't stopped anyone from cheating anymore than speed limits have stopped people from speeding, but it does lower the total frequency by applying consequences for violations.

But to OPs specific situation, if the professor or TA saw people cheating during the exam, they should have been removed at first sight. Doing it retroactively and broadly was his mistake.

Oh, you mean taking digital exams in class? I was talking more of taking digital exams online, as you would for an online class or even a lecture-based class where exams are closed book and take-home.

Honor codes aren't like speed limits because police are there to enforce speed limits. Who's there to enforce an honor code? A professor? Sure, but even if the honor code wasn't in place, the professor would still punish anybody for cheating. The TA? Same story. Honor codes typically place the burden of reporting on other students who see a student cheating but the motivation for doing that isn't that high at all unless you go to a super gunner-type pre-med school. The better analogy would be making people who see others speeding report them.