Dive Brief:
- Stanford is the latest university to examine increasing reports of academic dishonesty among students.
- University Provost John Etchemendy sent a letter to faculty explaining the probe, adding that as many as 20% of students in one intro course may have cheated, Bloomberg Business reports.
- Etchemendy asked faculty to remind students of the boundaries when collaborating among each other and warned that technology makes dishonest appropriation easier.
Dive Insight:
Students are often pressed for time, juggling new freedoms and responsibilities, painfully aware of how their transcripts will affect their next steps. The rise of increasingly detailed, easily accessible, online study materials has likely blurred the line for students rushing to finish a paper or prepare for a test. Etchemendy’s recommendation to faculty to re-teach academic dishonesty policies acknowledges at least a portion of the cheating could be based on ignorance — of the lines themselves or of the consequences of crossing them. Stanford is not alone in dealing with such a problem. The Bloomberg article pointed to Dartmouth College, Harvard University, and the University of North Carolina as other institutions that have dealt with cheating allegations in recent years.