Professor Richard Quinn of University of Central Florida delivered this lecture after discovering that at least one-third of the class had cheated on a midterm exam.
The only question is the sanction. The result appears to be that everyone gets to retake the exam, including those students who cheated. Quinn intervened to prevent the students from being punished. I was with him on the whole lecture until the conclusion. The students will be required to take a four-hour ethics course if they chose to retake the exam. I am also a bit skeptical about the use of exam from “exam banks” or a publisher supplied exam. Such tests are often available publicly. You do not have these problems if you draft your own exams.
Jonathan Turley
and women, then, bloviator chauvinist…you are a pig, too…just a hunch
James M:
“Why on earth are you attacking mespo? Unless he ran over your dog sometime in the past month, you’re out of line. A good rule of thumb is “Be polite (or GTFO).”
*****************
Likely a disgruntled commentator I opposed in the past with a new pseudonym. Probably on something more substantial than this topic, too.
“You have enemies? Good. That means you’ve stood up for something, sometime in your life.”
~Winston Churchill
By the way, I always judge a man by his enemies.
Sisyphus,
Why on earth are you attacking mespo? Unless he ran over your dog sometime in the past month, you’re out of line. A good rule of thumb is “Be polite (or GTFO).”
Never “attacked” anyone…go reread the thread….and see who launced the first motar….then go reread mespo727272…he KNOWS it all…even though he knows nothing….He’s likely some 400 pound keyboard bloviator…who posts here hundreds of times and spends all day doing it….not knowing anything but opining on eveything. JMHO and if you don’t like GTFO…
James M.,
I think part of the problem in post-secondary education is the tenure system. Don’t get me wrong, I do see a certain value to it, but at any level of education you can get instructors that are bad for a variety of reasons. I had one once that was a blatant pig: he only gave good grades to the pretty women in the class (whom he practically drooled on) and he stated the first day of class stating that you should drop if you were a journalism major because he “never passes journalism students”. If they’re tenured, it can be practically impossible to get rid of them, just like that douche bag was. Fortunately when he popped me with a bad grade, my advisor was the head of his department so challenging it wasn’t as difficult as it could have been. It also didn’t hurt that my advisor thought he was a waste of space too. The professor in question has long since retired, but it’s anybody’s guess as to how many students he screwed over and got away with it because of tenure.
The more I read about this, the worse that Professor comes across. There’s another youtube video clip of him from the beginning of the semester, claiming that he writes the test questions himself http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJG7aCQtI8E If I was in that situation, I wouldn’t think using questions created by a third party was a problem at all. Especially not if it was presented as a study guide. Doing practice test questions is one of the best ways I know how to study. I’d strenuously argue that point to the Dean, if I was one of the affected students.
Sisyphus,
Why on earth are you attacking mespo? Unless he ran over your dog sometime in the past month, you’re out of line. A good rule of thumb is “Be polite (or GTFO).”
Consequences and the lack of maturity to foresee them are the golden threads running through this story.
Sisy. Ass.:
On your sage advice, I consulted the UCF handbook and agree substantial and serious violations of express policy did occur in that classroom that day:
“Academic misconduct includes but is not limited to cheating, plagiarism, assisting
another in cheating or plagiarism, and commercial use of academic materials. The violations of
student academic behavior standards on the undergraduate and graduate level are listed and
defined in the Rules of Conduct (UCF-5.008)
(4) Academic Action – Action by the instructor:
(a) When an instructor becomes aware of an alleged violation of student academic
behavior standards and before any academic action is taken, the instructor shall inform the
student of the violation, citing the information on which the allegation is based. The instructor
shall give the student the opportunity to respond in defense. If the instructor continues to believe
a violation of academic behavior has occurred, the instructor in consultation with the unit head
shall duly inform the student in writing of the academic action being taken and the reason for
such action. Reports of the initial violation and the final academic action report shall also be sent
to the Director of the Office of Student Rights and Responsibilities (OSRR) or designee. Report
forms are available at http://www.osc.sdes.ucf.edu/?id=incident_report_1.
(b) In response to an alleged violation of the student academic behavior standards, the
instructor, along with the unit head, shall take appropriate measures ranging from counseling to
an academic action (such as loss of credit in a specific assignment, examination or project;
failure of the course) to a recommendation for disciplinary action forwarded to the Director of
the OSRR or designee. If a student is found to have multiple infractions, the Director of the
OSRR may recommend additional action.
(c) Should an alleged violation of academic behavior standards arise before the
withdrawal deadline in a term, the student shall not be permitted to withdraw from the course in
question. Only a written release from the instructor, or the authorized party deciding a student
appeal, will permit withdrawal. However, if the student appeals the academic action and desires
to withdraw from the course, a withdrawal request must be initiated prior to the withdrawal
deadline, but will be held in abeyance until a ruling on the appeal is obtained. If resolved in favor
of the student, the withdrawal request will be processed at the time. The individual empowered
to rule on the student appeal shall appropriately notify both the registrar and the Director of the
OSRR or designee of the outcome. Should the student withdraw after an alleged incident, the
withdrawal will be reversed pending the resolution of the above process.
(5) Coordination of Academic and Disciplinary Action
(a) When an instructor initiates academic action as the result of the student’s alleged
violation of academic behavior standards, the academic action will be processed before any
disciplinary action is sought. At the time of the final academic action report, the instructor can
recommend, through the unit head and college dean or designee to the Director of the OSRR or
designee, that disciplinary action should be pursued by means of the Student Conduct Review
Process (UCF-5.009). If a student initiates an academic appeal regarding the grade issued, the
Office of Student Conduct will wait until the academic appeal is complete before concluding the
Student Conduct Review Process (see Regulation UCF-5.016 for information on student
academic appeals).
(b) When information concerning an alleged violation of academic behavior
standards is received by the Director of the OSRR or designee from somewhere other than
instructional sources (e.g. other students, University police, etc.), the Director or designee shall
inform the dean or designee of the college in which the violation allegedly took place. The
college dean or designee shall inform the unit head, who, in turn, will notify any affected
instructor. The instructor, in consultation with the unit head, will then determine if an academic
action is appropriate. At the time of the final academic action report, the instructor can
recommend through the unit head and college dean or designee to the Director of the OSRR or
designee, that disciplinary action should be pursued by means of the Student Conduct Review
Process.
(c) In the case of multiple or aggravated violations of academic behavior standards,
the Director of the OSRR or designee shall initiate disciplinary action based on information
contained in University records upon consultation with the college dean or designee.”
In each instance, the violator was the instructor.
Sisy. Ass.:
…”I’ll add “regular” folk perform judgmental or “judicial” (espo-speak) functions every day…they’re called jurors…”
*******************
No, they’re called jurors because they are finders of fact and sometimes dispensers of punishment. The difference — as any eighth grader can tell you — is that they are part of the judicial process and are instructed in the law of the case; are permitted to view only relevant evidence; may not be the accusers; and of course, are subject to the trial judge’s and the appellate court’s oversight who will not let them punish the entire courtroom for the actions of the defendant. Jurors are also trained and have a limited, albeit important, function to perform. They are judicial only in the sense that they may decide, but considerable thought has gone into keeping that decision reason-based and free from as much emotion or personal involvement as possible. This is decidedly not the case for our instructor from UCF.
There is a reason that jurors render verdicts but judges render judgments – sometimes confirming verdicts and sometimes not.
Regardless of where the test came from, you need to refer to the UCF Student Handbook.
UCF defines academic misconduct as: “Unauthorized assistance: Using or attempting to use unauthorized materials, information or study aids in any academic exercise unless specifically authorized by the instructor of record. The unauthorized possession of examination or course related material also constitutes cheating.”
So students using a copy of the publishers’ “stolen” test bank are guilty of academic misconduct as defined by their university.
Paleo-Dick
Oh, its the teachers fault…
…I’ll add “regular” folk perform judgmental or “judicial” (espo-speak) functions every day…they’re called jurors…
Per Espo
There’s a reason this guy is teaching at Central Florida, and why most untrained people are ill-suited to perform judicial functions.
In need of Remedial reading there, drf…
This is cheating and getting caught IMHO.
http://www.cnn.com/video/?/video/bestoftv/2010/11/24/exp.delay.guilty.verdict.cnn
Sissypuss Ass:
the teacher was a jerk and Mespo727272 is correct. If you use tests in that manner then keep them in the classroom.
But then that is the problem with education at low tier academic schools, too much multiple guess and not enough essay.
Sisyphus;
You start with insulting Mespo, then cry for calmer heads to prevail in regards to the professor by asking people to not ‘burn him at the stake’. Which is it then, personal attacks, or restraint? You can’t have both.
What I am trying to see is why people are defending the guy at all. He uses a canned test, for whatever reason, then detects cheating. He then throws a tantrum, and claims he can prove who cheated, but then instead of that, just punishes the entire class. If anything, Mespo is going easy on him. People like that teacher are, in my opinion, overpaid children. He is seeing cheaters behind every tree, but refuses to look, then cuts down all the trees. He ‘knows’ there are cheaters, why bother with something as irrelevant as proof?
I understand that teachers of any level are still just human beings, but in this case, the professor went out of his way and acted like a child. He claims to have knowledge, the identities of the cheaters, but instead of providing it, or just making the group of probable cheaters retake the test, he makes everyone retake it. Is he just an ass, or is he lying about being able to determine who cheated? These students should press the school to force him to prove his case. He is making a claim and it is therefore his responsibility to provide the evidence. If he can’t, I think he should be forced to take the stupid ethics class, and maybe take another on how to behave in public.
It is one thing to be ‘disappointed’ in the behavior of others, it is something else entirely to throw a fit, then screw everyone else over because a few put more effort into cheating that you put into preparing a test. I think this ‘teacher’ is behaving like this because he was called out for his slack, and he wants to make sure that he comes out the ‘good’ guy and put anyone that spoke out against him ‘in their place’.
He was supposed to be the adult in the room and he failed, on video.
mesp..judging from the post-recorded time intervals, and frequency here, you don’t have a life…but I digress…
the teacher justifiably was dissappointed in his students… lets not burn him at the stake…
ekeyra and chris, Thanks for those… 🙂
Ekeyra,
That was hilarious.