100 UBC students accused of cheating during online math exam
Posted November 24, 2020 1:56 pm.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) — About 100 students in an online introductory math course at UBC are being investigated for alleged cheating during a midterm exam.
The professor of the math 100 course sent out a note to his students expressing concern over 100 or more possible cases of misconduct, according to university spokesperson Matthew Ramsey.
About 100 students are being looked at for claims of cheating during a midterm in an introductory math course at @UBC. Speaking for the school, Matthew Ramsey says the claims are still under investigation; specifics (i.e. how the cheating happened) aren't being shared for now.
— Ria Renouf ???? (@riarenouf) November 24, 2020
There are about 1,500 students who take the course in six different classes.
With a lot of learning happening at home during the pandemic, Ramsey says the university was ready for something like this to come up.
“The university partnered with several software providers and developed methods in order to determine during exams whether there were suspected cases of academic misconduct,” he explains. “We have those platforms in place.”
The course is online. W/at-home learning during the pandemic, Ramsey said the school took precautions. “The university partnered w/severalvsoftware providers and developed methods in order to determine during exams whether there were suspected cases of academic misconduct.”
— Ria Renouf (@riarenouf) November 24, 2020
While the university is investigating, Ramsey says these are just claims at this point. He isn’t able to share how exactly the cheating happened either.
“To be frank, at this stage, we don’t really know if the allegations are founded,” he adds.
However, if the claims end up being true, penalties range from a warning to expulsion.
“We treat these types of allegations very seriously,” Ramsey says. “We are a globally-ranked university. We hold our students to a high level of conduct, and we expect them to hold themselves to a high level of conduct as well.”
The claims came up after a professor sent a note to his class about the concerns; the note was posted to reddit. “There is a process now that has begun that is in place for such allegations, and we are following that process through to determine how best to proceed.”
— Ria Renouf (@riarenouf) November 24, 2020
The professor’s email made its way to Reddit and gained a lot of traction online.
“The whole point of a university education is an education and you don’t get that by skirting the rules and taking the easy way out,” Ramsey says. “The point is to challenge yourself and respect the other people in your class who are challenging themselves.”
-With files from Hana Mae Nassar
