A Toronto university student was accused of cheating after he created an online study group on Facebook.
The first-year engineering student at Ryerson University escaped being expelled but received a zero on the assignments that he discussed on Facebook, or 10 percent of his final grade in the chemistry course. He was charged with 146 counts of academic misconduct for each classmate who used the Facebook forum. The student also received a “DN”, or disciplinary notice, on his student transcript and was required to be tutored on academic integrity.
At question was whether or not the student’s use of the online forum to compare notes and share homework tips and questions was cheating. The student thought it was legitimate. The student’s professor disagreed, saying that the online homework assignments were to be completed independently. The university agreed with the professor but ruled against expelling the student.
The student argued that if this was cheating, then so were all the university-sponsored tutoring and mentoring programs. One of the student’s supporters said the Facebook group was not any different than a group of students getting together in a library to work together in person, but rather than meeting face-to-face, it was all online.
This incident raises interesting questions. For example, it is pleasing to see Facebook used in an academic application, rather than just a repository for hedonistic photos and mindless applications.
The conflict lies in the professor’s instructions. It was reported that the professor stipulated the online homework questions were to be completed independently. If the professor made that clear to all students, then the student was wrong to open a discussion online.
However, using Facebook to generate discussion and find solutions to academic problems is a good thing in my opinion. It seems to me that this incident is a catalyst to begin exploring Facebook for educational purposes.
My award-winning journalist/colleague Ted Barris comments of this in his postFacing the Cheaters He raises a number of valid points. “Sharing information” is quite different from “let’s share the test results.” In any event, the Ryerson U. student wasn’t expelled and didn’t fail his course.
This is an interesting case. I agree with your assessment. I think it’s a great idea to encourage online collaboration. Google docs is a a place where users can work on a document together, and it is nice to not have multiple versions floating around between e-mails.
And there is always Blackboard, Tiffany. Funny, but most of my students hate Blackboard. What about yours? Do you use Blackboard at University of Oregon?
I am not familiar with Google docs, but I’ll check it out.
OK, Les… why shouldn’t students collaborate on everything except exams?
I will go one further… why shouldn’t students collaborate on everything, even including grade-determining exams?
Les,
I find this hard to believe, but I disagree with you that “this incident is a catalyst to begin exploring Facebook for educational purposes.” Having followed the story out of sheer curiosity, I have formed the opinion that the group was designed to find a way around having to learn, as the thinking among my peers seems to run around shirking the responsibilities and duties of higher learning. Why study for the test when you have a friend that took the class last year and said the tests are a breeze?
(This could lead onto the slightly dangerous ground of sites like RateMyProfessor.com – why do some students vie to get into one professor’s class over another? Is it slightly unethical to have reviews of teachers written by other students? Is any negative comment libelous because it has the potential to damage a professor’s reputation? However, as I said the ground is murky there, and I don’t entirely wish to tread there… just making a small point.)
In the end, the student’s intent to cheat is difficult to pin down. Did the student who began the group intend for it to become a way for students to share and compare notes and answers to tests? Only he knows for sure. I think the reason this has been viewed as a problem by the University is more what the group became. ECanadaNow reported that “University Officials… maintain there were cheats, tips, and ways to get around the online testing methods that the University uses for its classes.”
No matter how the student began the group or what he hoped it would become – the fact is, helping other students bypass testing methods is cheating to me.
Allan, you make a valid point. I think student collaboration in general is a good thing. I encourage students in many instances to work together when and where possible. However, if an instructor says clearly that work is to be independent, then so be it. There may be room to collaborate before one does the individual work, but when it is time to actually perform the duty, then the instructions should be followed.
Thanks for your thoughts, Allan.
Angie, I appreciate your disagreement and your fine points. I enjoyed reading your thoughts on this.
You state the broader truth simply and clearly — cheating is cheating. People know when they are cheating, cutting corners, getting an unfair advantage, whatever. They know. They will be found out eventually. It is so much easier to just do the work.
I am having to think about your comments on RateMyProfessor. In fact, I may post something about it for discussion.
Thanks for reading this and jumping in.
Hi Uncle Lester,
The whole idea of take-home assignments is risky for instructors and students but riskier for the student since integrity and knowledge are compromised.
I do believe in collaborations between peers especially with take-home assignments. There is nothing like taking a class that is challenging, having assignments that are also challenging and possibly not receiving the feedback you individually need from your instructor in order to make the best attempt at completing the take-home assignment. Also, I know that some instructors (who are experts in their given fields) tend to teach in a way that suggests the students and professor share the same level of basic knowledge of a course. That’s not always the case. In some instances, peers have a way of presenting information a little more logical (layman’s).
I would like to see a study performed on the number of students who were instructed to complete take-home assignments individually but went against instructions and collaborated (not cheated) with others in order to get a passing grade?
Wow. Interesting dilemma. I hadn’t heard about this until I read your post.
I am all for online collaboration. My daughter’s boyfriend used Google Docs to collaborate on a project with 3 other people (see http://docs.google.com).
Online collaboration eases the pain of needing everyone in the same room at the same time, and it saves your mailboxes from bloat. It also helps to keep tabs on which version is which.
Taking study groups online is inevitable in this day and age.
Which means you need policies. “In this case, you may do X.” “In this case, you may not do X.”
Creativity and new thinking tends to precede policy. 🙂
Marcia, take-home assignments do open a door that can challenge student integrity. It would ve difficult to study this, because if a student was to cheat and collaborate on an individual assignment, I doubt his/her honesty in answering a question about what they did.
Thank you, Marcia, for your comment. It is an honor to have Mrs. Maryland here. We miss you.
Karen in Denmark, welcome! It is spring here. What’s it like there? Dr. Tiffany Derville of University of Oregon mentioned Google Docs above. Must be a great tool. I mentioned Blackboard, which many professors here at Towson, and elsewhere, use to good effect. It is the collaboration tool of choice for many.
Karen, you point is excellent — we simply need policy to guide us. Make that policy you can monitor and enforce. True too is your point about online collaboration being inevitable. Thank you, Karen.
One perspective when you consider that college is intended to prepare students for participation in the workforce…collaboration is critical to success in the professional communications world. The online arena is becoming that central and efficient space within which to collaborate. So are we to insist on students doing everything as individual, isolated performers, or do we incorporate the reality of the work world into the way we prepare these students for eventual professional success?
Having said that, in this instance, I tend to agree with Angie. If the instructor specifically stated the work was to be done independently, and the site intentionally or otherwise provided workarounds to actually doing the work, let’s call a spade a spade. It’s cheating and I have no sympathy for the student for having been caught.
And with that in mind, I’m reminded of the admonition I give my 10-year-old when he’s trying to hide the fact that he has homework to do or he’s done something he knows he isn’t supposed to do and he knows what the punishment is…..You’re hurting yourself just as suredly as if you were stomping on your own toe. You know you won’t be learning this stuff you came to college to learn, you’re going to fail the class, and your harming your own chances at gaining employment. Worse, what about your own morals, self-esteem and pride.
This case is something completely new to me; I can’t believe that I have not heard about this case! Facebook is mainly used as a social networking site for people to post pictures and stay in touch with people that may not be in our general vicinity. I think that using the site for educational purposes in actually a much better way of interacting with people online; it gives the site a much higher purpose.
In the case that you discussed, I am very glad that the student didn’t get expelled or fail the class. I think that the student was actually showing initiative in wanting to learn and get a decent grade by creating the group on Facebook. However, I understand that since the teacher explicitly stated the work was to be completed alone, sharing the answers to the assignment was inappropriate. I did wonder if the teacher would allow the sharing of answers once the assignments had already been turned in for a grade. This way if a student got the answer wrong, they could become involved in the group and obtain the right answer to study for a test. Facebook can be very useful to help people study and exchange important information, and I don’t want this case to discourage the idea for others.
There are obviously other sites that can be used to create study and discussion groups online such as Blackboard, but students are already on Facebook so much anyway, it makes sense to bring learning to the site. In my Principles of Public Relations class, some of the other students in the class and myself formed a study group and exchanged study guides and tips on Facebook. Instead of having to remember to constantly check another site for the study guides, it was very helpful to be able to talk with my study group on a site I visited everyday anyway.
Hi Lester,
I chose this case to review because I thought it presented several interesting points, ones that are extremely pertinent to our lives today as students and professors. I had not heard about this incident before, and needed some time to think about my feelings before giving an honest opinion. After careful consideration, here are my thoughts. Facebook emerged during a generation that is highly dependent on social networking, and is therefore used by students internationally, nationally, and locally, to keep in touch, post photographs, chat, interact, and network. It seems however, that Facebook is not the bigger issue—cheating and integrity are. But how do you sub-divide these two highly regarded concepts into different types of academic safety-zones. By that I mean, how can a face-to-face study group or numerous e-mails with the professor be any more honest and academically acceptable than an open, online study group?
Basing this discussion off the information in this blog, I did not see any hard proof that directly stated the student cheated on the assignment. From my understanding, the student created an online study group to spark a discussion, share thoughtful and helpful tips, and swap ideas. If this was the case, then again I wonder, how is this any different from an in-class discussion, or in-person group study session? Professors are unafraid to ridicule a student for academic dishonesty, questionable conduct, or cheating, however they seem afraid to applause a student for encouraging open discussions such as this case. The student obviously was not trying to hide the online study group, being that it is virtually accessible to all, and in my opinion, promoted the idea that most professors advocate—work together.
So much of what we, as students, are taught and directed to do, is work in groups. Working together builds teamwork, trust and dependence on others, and leadership skills. This student took it upon himself to become a leader amongst his peers. And as a side note, I would bet that thousands of students prior to this case have collaborated (not cheated) with other students to better understand an assignment or to simply have the information presented more clearly. Furthermore, when did collaboration equal cheating? I would challenge that Toronto University professor to question his own academic history.
My final comment relates to the professional world in which collaboration is essential. The point of what we learn in college is to prepare us for the next chapter in our lives. As Michael Clendenin says, “…collaboration is critical to success in the professional communications world. The online arena is becoming that central and efficient space within which to collaborate.” Therefore, as students and professors we should encourage this new evolution of online social networks being used for educational purposes. I agree with you Les, “that using Facebook to generate discussion and find solutions to academic problems is a good thing.” I think it’s a great thing. It is another tool that can be used to get students involved, thinking, and working toward a greater successful future.
I want to add that if the student did intentionally cheat, or abuse the online study group by disregarding the professor’s strict instructions, then I do not condone or excuse his actions. Accordingly, if he was found guilty, then so should all parties involved. You should not single out one person when the effort was collaborated.