Members of the Boston University community said the nature of take-home examinations may have had a part in Harvard University’s recent cheating scandal, and they work to avoid plagiarism in BU classes.
Harvard is reviewing the take-home examinations of more than 100 students in an undisclosed class after the exams had very similar answers, said Harvard spokesman Jeff Neal during a phone interview.
“It’s only natural that the students are going to collaborate when you give an assignment like [take-home examinations],” said Jay Corrin, BU chair of social science.
Corrin said in his 35 years of teaching, he cannot remember such a large scandal at BU.
“We fully expect that students will fully be exonerated,” Neal said.
College of Arts and Sciences Associate Dean for Student Academic Life Steven Jarvi said cheating cases must always be investigated.
“Even allegations or examples have to be pursued because it’s the integrity of the institution that is at stake and ultimately the quality and integrity of your degree,” he said.
Jarvi said a universal academic conduct code was adopted at BU last year to strengthen proper academic conduct.
Corrin said students often do not know what plagiarism is. Both College of General Studies freshman and sophomore syllabi of the social science courses include a reference to plagiarism, and professors will review plagiarism when assigning papers, Corrin said.
David Glick, associate professor of political science, said he gives students take home examinations on a regular basis.
“There’s not really a point in having an academic conduct code if we can’t do things like take-home exams,” Glick said.
He said take-home exams have many benefits, such as the ability to monitor time taken on the test and the convenience of typing.
Some BU officials said course syllabuses are often important tools that help define and prevent plagiarism and cheating.
“The syllabus is in many ways a contract between the faculty member who represents the university and the students,” said College of Communication Dean Tom Fiedler. “A properly drafted syllabus should not leave any questions in the student’s mind what the parameters of behavior are.”
However, Fiedler said plagiarism is more difficult to define in modern times due to the ease and speed with which information is transmitted.
“Understanding the ownership of information often is less clear than perhaps what it used to be when most information, for instance, you might get from a book or written text [with a clear author],” he said.
Fiedler said he deals with an average of four plagiarism cases a year in a school of more than 4,000 students, and penalties include a warning, suspension for one or two semesters and dismissal.
Glick said he does not mention plagiarism in his syllabus, but will go over rules in class before a test and will use bold fonts on the examinations to make it clear.
Nairu Guan, a Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences sophomore, said that when she took Writing 100, her professor went over plagiarism with the students.
“She was very strict about it,” Guan said. “I feel like it is a professor’s job to restrict the rule, so students won’t ever think about [plagiarizing].”
Devin Shepherd, a COM junior, said professors often assume students know enough about plagiarism.
“[Professors] expect you to kind of understand the level of ethicality,” Shepherd said.
Corrin said plagiarism rules are strictly enforced at BU, especially in the department of social science.
“We have come down very hard on people guilty of such infraction,” he said. “It’s emphasized as if it were the cardinal sin of academia.”