Sunday, October 30, 2005

Will justice be done?

The tutor has deleted the question from Cheater and her own posted response, and has replaced them with a very clear message that the course tutor cannot answer questions from online quizzes.

I don't know if there will be any disciplinary action taken. The program stipulates that a student's first instance of proven cheating will get him or her kicked out of the course and count as an attempt at the course, and that a permanent record of a reprimand will be put on the student's file; a further instance will get said student permanently kicked out of the Association entirely. But they might give Cheater some leniency; I don't know for sure.

I hope they are not lenient about it. Cheater's behaviour was so inappropriate and unethical, I just can't believe it. And I don't think there is any way to claim ignorance; it was pretty clear what she was doing. I know that one quiz question makes a difference of only half a percent toward her final grade, but when we have students gunning for scholarships, that half a percent can be the deciding factor. Not to mention the ethics involved in the Association's Code of Conduct, and the tutor's reputation to consider. It's a pretty big deal, really.

If she gets a higher grade in this course than I do, and she walks away with the Award of Excellence, I will be severely ticked! (Steal my thousand bucks, I'm gonna ... mutter, mutter, mutter.)

I will assume that she will be appropriately disciplined, and I will feel better believing this to be the case.

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