Texas A&M investigating "large scale" cheating case as universities see more academic misconduct in era of online classes
Universities across Texas and nationwide are seeing an increase in online cheating since the start of the pandemic, as students take more virtual courses and test remotely with less supervision.

BY KATE MCGEE DEC. 16, 202017 HOURS AGO

The water tower at Texas A&M University on Monday, June 15, 2020 in College Station.
The Texas A&M honor code says, "an Aggie does not lie, cheat or steal or tolerate those who do." But officials are investigating a 'large scale' cheating case in a finance class this fall as universities across the country see an increase in cheating in remote classes. Credit: Allie Goulding/The Texas Tribune
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An already unusual fall semester was wrapping up when Texas A&M University officials sent out an email in early December to the hundreds of students in an online finance class that set off a panic.

Faculty reported concerns of cheating "on a very large scale" to the Aggie Honor System Office, after they noticed some students in the class answered online test questions too quickly. Later, faculty discovered entire exams posted on a "homework help" website that has become synonymous with cheating.

University officials told guilty students to self-report by 5 p.m. on Dec. 8. If they didn't come forward but were found in violation of the academic honor code, they could face suspension or expulsion.

https://www.texastribune.org/2020/12/16/texas-am-chegg-cheating/

Please no football players!!

OP cheated on this thread

Check the dominion systems on campus

A big contributor to this is professor laziness. They recycle tests from year to year and lecture notes too. And with the online classes many professors everywhere are using it as an excuse not to teach. Lectures don't happen and many times copies of lecture notes are simply posted and the students are on their own to figure it out. What the eff are we paying these clowns for if they aren't going to teach? We could replace them with a computer/robot.

So the students get resourceful to survive and the universities are all in shock. And of course, only the students get scrutiny, not the lazy ass professors/instructors.

College students are the only consumer group that literally spend thousands of $$ and are routinely told to screw off at every turn by the professors and the university. It's amazing how this is tolerated.

"I went to a sight called homework help to get help with my homework. I thought the exam was a practice exam. I never expected that a professor qualified to teach at Texas A&M University would be dumb enough to let an exam get posted online"

That's a good post

FIDO*98* said:

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"I went to a sight called homework help to get help with my homework. I thought the exam was a practice exam. I never expected that a professor qualified to teach at Texas A&M University would be dumb enough to let an exam get posted online"

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Deserve to be kicked out of you can't don't proof read your response ...

who here took the safety engineering class where everybody's grade was based on one report that EVERYBODY copied year-in and year-out? i went to class once or twice. I helped re-write some of the report. Everybody got an A.

somebody told me to take the class as an elective if i didn't want to do much my last semester. it was a waste of money but i also did the 100-beer tour at bennigans that semester..insane resume booster..

Texasclipper said:

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A big contributor to this is professor laziness. They recycle tests from year to year and lecture notes too. And with the online classes many professors everywhere are using it as an excuse not to teach. Lectures don't happen and many times copies of lecture notes are simply posted and the students are on their own to figure it out. What the eff are we paying these clowns for if they aren't going to teach? We could replace them with a computer/robot.

So the students get resourceful to survive and the universities are all in shock. And of course, only the students get scutiny, not the lazy ass professors/instructors.

College students are the only consumer group that literally spend thousands of $$ and are routinely told to screw off at every turn by the professors and the university. It's amazing how this is tolerated.

---

Universities could save a TON of money by collaborating / sharing professors online or by simply recording lectures and having a TA answer questions...

I mean, whether it's finance, physics, calc - at the core / basic level ; it could be the same course at every university in every time period... not much changes year to year - and the science is - as they say - settled.

It's only in the upper levels and degree specific programs that you might need actual professors in classrooms teaching...

BuaaahahahahahH

Texasclipper said:

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A big contributor to this is professor laziness. They recycle tests from year to year and lecture notes too. And with the online classes many professors everywhere are using it as an excuse not to teach. Lectures don't happen and many times copies of lecture notes are simply posted and the students are on their own to figure it out. What the eff are we paying these clowns for if they aren't going to teach? We could replace them with a computer/robot.

So the students get resourceful to survive and the universities are all in shock. And of course, only the students get scutiny, not the lazy ass professors/instructors.

College students are the only consumer group that literally spend thousands of $$ and are routinely told to screw off at every turn by the professors and the university. It's amazing how this is tolerated.

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In 1990 you could walk into copy shop and buy class notes, quizzes, and possibly tests for most courses offered at A&M for multiple past semesters. If you were a meticulous note taker, you could make a few bucks selling them too.

Agreed.

Canvas classes are often times a joke. No real lecturing or offering of expertise from instructors. It's "read this material, watch these videos, take this quiz, take this test."

If you want to make sure people know the material and don't cheat here's what you do:

1) Actually lecture. Have stuff in your lectures that will be on the test, stuff that isn't in the other materials. This makes sure students actually pay attention to lectures. Alter this material every semester.

2) Write your own tests.

3) Have many similarly worded questions (with different answers) which require thought instead of regurgitation. This accomplishes two things: Makes memorization/sharing more difficult and adequately tests real understanding of the material.

4) Have a large test bank and have questions randomly assigned to each tester. You can test the same material this way but have differently-worded questions/numbers assigned to each student.

5) Use a proctor service to record people as they test and to prevent copy/paste, web browsing, screenshots, etc. The University should be doing this already.

They made me buy it, so I read the manual and learned lots of tricks.

ShaggySLC said:

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Please no football players!!

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It stated that it was a Finance course. Honestly, that rules out probably 95% of the football team. That's not to sound like a dick, it's just the truth.

I thought the lazy teachers were just at middle and high school levels. Had no idea it's that bad at college.

https://texags.com/forums/16/topics/3166535/1#discussion

WestAustinAg said:

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I thought the lazy teachers were just at middle and high school levels. Had no idea it's that bad at college.

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Without going into details, i know 2 people at different universities that had profs that didin't lecture at all for on line classes. They just posted their lecture notes. The students were on their own to figure it out, so they are killing themselves trying to self teach. This is BS and I don't think uncommon.

Honestly, the days of the prof being totally in control of everything should end. Think of all the BS we all put up with from idiot professors in school. Yes, we had great ones too, but the bad ones were really bad! And nothing is ever done about it. The student shells out big $$ and is told that's just how it is. Why?

ShaggySLC said:

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Please no football players!!

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No chance, the athletic department provides people to take tests, I mean tutor our athletes

...and the universities are cheating the students out of their fees without giving them the full educational experience they are purchasing.

Quote:

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One Aggie senior who said he self-reported and received an F in the class said he's relieved he wasn't expelled. He also asked not to be named for fear of repercussions for speaking out against the university. He thinks the university should reflect on the way the course is offered for future semesters.

"I'm not going to agree with what we did, but at the same time the way they handled it wasn't entirely fair," he said, arguing the professors should have caught this earlier if it was such a widespread issue. "I think they should really question the professors because of the fact that so many people did this in such a large class. There's something questionable there."

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Yes, we cheated, but its their fault for not catching us earlier. God help us.

Online learning? WHAT THE HELL COULD GO WRONG?

Combine this with the stupid notion that everyone should get an A with minimal effort and the gross grade inflation and meaningless classes and BS majors and its a recipe for student laziness and cheating.

God help us as these lazy ass kids become the engineers in charge of designing buildings and bridges.

Wait so using past tests is now "cheating "? We had a test bank at my fraternity in college.

Texasclipper said:

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A big contributor to this is professor laziness. They recycle tests from year to year and lecture notes too. And with the online classes many professors everywhere are using it as an excuse not to teach. Lectures don't happen and many times copies of lecture notes are simply posted and the students are on their own to figure it out. What the eff are we paying these clowns for if they aren't going to teach? We could replace them with a computer/robot.

So the students get resourceful to survive and the universities are all in shock. And of course, only the students get scrutiny, not the lazy ass professors/instructors.

College students are the only consumer group that literally spend thousands of $$ and are routinely told to screw off at every turn by the professors and the university. It's amazing how this is tolerated.

---

This x 1,000

How about A&M leaders and profs be held to the honor code? Shelling out the same amount of money and hearing that most of the classes aren't even taught live, just watch pre-recorded lectures or simply get emails on what to study is simply Highway robbery.

I hope the parents of the kids involved in this lawyer up and tell A&M to shove it.

To those profs afraid to teach in person, quit and let the school find a better replacement. If I read the story correctly, it's TA's teaching anyway.

Ags4DaWin said:

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Online learning? WHAT THE HELL COULD GO WRONG?

Combine this with the stupid notion that everyone should get an A with minimal effort and the gross grade inflation and meaningless classes and BS majors and its a recipe for student laziness and cheating.

God help us as these lazy ass kids become the engineers in charge of designing buildings and bridges.

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Looks like lazy ass professors are setting up the students to be lazy ass engineers.

Otherwise just get a free degree and watch lectures on YouTube and you'll learn more.

tylercsbn9 said:

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Wait so using past tests is now "cheating "? We had a test bank at my fraternity in college.

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Revamping a research paper you did in one class for use in a different class if now "cheating" too. Even though it's your work. If this was cheating back in the 80's when i was in school I sure didn't know it. But it is now.

SpreadsheetAg said:

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Texasclipper said:

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A big contributor to this is professor laziness. They recycle tests from year to year and lecture notes too. And with the online classes many professors everywhere are using it as an excuse not to teach. Lectures don't happen and many times copies of lecture notes are simply posted and the students are on their own to figure it out. What the eff are we paying these clowns for if they aren't going to teach? We could replace them with a computer/robot.

So the students get resourceful to survive and the universities are all in shock. And of course, only the students get scutiny, not the lazy ass professors/instructors.

College students are the only consumer group that literally spend thousands of $$ and are routinely told to screw off at every turn by the professors and the university. It's amazing how this is tolerated.

---

Universities could save a TON of money by collaborating / sharing professors online or by simply recording lectures and having a TA answer questions...

I mean, whether it's finance, physics, calc - at the core / basic level ; it could be the same course at every university in every time period... not much changes year to year - and the science is - as they say - settled.

It's only in the upper levels and degree specific programs that you might need actual professors in classrooms teaching...

BuaaahahahahahH

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Totally this - it's not like there is teacher interaction in a 300 student lecture. Might as well be online. If it's online, why not be the same class across 300 universities. Heck - have 10 different professors for variety. Half of my fish/soph classes could have been done this way and I still would have the same value.

outofstateaggie said:

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Quote:

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One Aggie senior who said he self-reported and received an F in the class said he's relieved he wasn't expelled. He also asked not to be named for fear of repercussions for speaking out against the university. He thinks the university should reflect on the way the course is offered for future semesters.

"I'm not going to agree with what we did, but at the same time the way they handled it wasn't entirely fair," he said, arguing the professors should have caught this earlier if it was such a widespread issue. "I think they should really question the professors because of the fact that so many people did this in such a large class. There's something questionable there."

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Yes, we cheated, but its their fault for not catching us earlier. God help us.

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This. Sure the depts and faculty need to step it up , but great googly moogly! Does personal responsibility not register with the students who cheated? Liberal Arts I could see, but hopefully none of it was in engineering.

FIDO*98* said:

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"I went to a sight called homework help to get help with my homework. I thought the exam was a practice exam. I never expected that a professor qualified to teach at Texas A&M University would be dumb enough to let an exam get posted online"

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Literally happened to me in first semester accounting in the 90s. Guy who did business tutoring with Mr Bill. I knew I was going to fail the test - they gave a practice test the night before. Pulled an all nighter with a group of 4 reviewing every question.

Test ended up being exactly the same. Down to question 4 was B. They handed out the test and the 4 of us just got big smiles on our faces.

Muy said:

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Texasclipper said:

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A big contributor to this is professor laziness. They recycle tests from year to year and lecture notes too. And with the online classes many professors everywhere are using it as an excuse not to teach. Lectures don't happen and many times copies of lecture notes are simply posted and the students are on their own to figure it out. What the eff are we paying these clowns for if they aren't going to teach? We could replace them with a computer/robot.

So the students get resourceful to survive and the universities are all in shock. And of course, only the students get scrutiny, not the lazy ass professors/instructors.

College students are the only consumer group that literally spend thousands of $$ and are routinely told to screw off at every turn by the professors and the university. It's amazing how this is tolerated.

---

This x 1,000

How about A&M leaders and profs be held to the honor code? Shelling out the same amount of money and hearing that most of the classes aren't even taught live, just watch pre-recorded lectures or simply get emails on what to study is simply Highway robbery.

I hope the parents of the kids involved in this lawyer up and tell A&M to shove it.

To those profs afraid to teach in person, quit and let the school find a better replacement. If I read the story correctly, it's TA's teaching anyway.

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Calling out TAMU for the quality versus cost of current courses and methods is certainly justified. But paying a lawyer out of pocket to defend your kid who cheated? You're not just throwing more money away, but you're teaching your kid that there are no consequences for their actions.

80% of the professors on our campus should be fine with. They participated in cheating so their candidate could win.

tylercsbn9 said:

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Wait so using past tests is now "cheating "? We had a test bank at my fraternity in college.

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Frats, dorms, the Corps, student orgs, networking with people who already took the class... not at all uncommon and not cheating unless you somehow bring it in with you IMO.

Our current state of education from K to undergrad is such a joke here in the states. A stats class I took just this semester was infuriating. Our lecture was a quick 3 minute sign in online. Our course was a series of recorded lectures on YouTube. If we had questions during our "lecture" the prof would just be exasperated and half the time flat out refuse to help and just keep repeating "go back and watch the videos". Oh, and we had no option. It was a 100% online only.

Boom. $700 please for the that class and privilege of attending a tier one research school. Which the tax payers funded since I'm using GI Bill.

Creativity is largely dead in the undergrad stage. Rote repetition and regurgitation of the exact same material for years is what is rewarded these days with degrees and jobs. And yes, that is in engineering as well.

Cheating has been normalized. See Democrats and Biden

Eliminatus said:

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. A stats class I took just this semester was infuriating. Our lecture was a quick 3 minute sign in online. Our course was a series of recorded lectures on YouTube. If we had questions during our "lecture" the prof would just be exasperated and half the time flat out refuse to help and just keep repeating "go back and watch the videos". Oh, and we had no option. It was a 100% online only.

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This same thing happened to someone i know in a stats class at another university. The prof didn't teach at all, was not open to questions, and was generally useless. So this person spent all semester searching out You Tube videos in order to figure things out and limped alond with a D most of the semester. They eeked out a C in the course in the end and can go on with life.

What's happening to the usesless prof? Not a thing. Was the prof followig the university "honor code". No and no one at the university cares,. They got their money though, which they do care about.