The Mechanics of Cheating: How the New Technology
Threatens Academic Integrity
Wednesday, November 14 (3:15-4:30 pm), Buntrock 142
Steve McKelvey, Mathematics and Associate Dean of Students
Karen Cherewatuk, English
Terri Greenslade, Romance Languages (Spanish)
David Lesniaski, Library
Karen Sawyer, English
Co-sponsored with the Dean of Students Office
Most of the time easy communication is a wonderful thing. However, recent changes in telecommunication technology pose serious threats to academic integrity on campuses across the nation. St. Olaf is not immune. It is an easy thing for a student to buy one or more research papers from internet paper mills and present them, either directly or after minimal editing, as personal work. It is even easier for a student to load textual information in a mathematical calculator, carrying it undetected into a classroom exam. Personal digital assistants (Palm Pilots, etc.) are now available with wireless communications capacity, allowing students in distant corners of a classroom, or even outside the room or building, to surreptitiously communicate during an exam--not to mention the text messaging capabilities of cellular telephones.
We will discuss these and other technologies in order to further our understanding of the means of cheating available to contemporary students. It is important for us to help our students understand what is permissible in this world of new technologies and what is not. It is also wise for us to find ways todetect and frustrate the cheating made possible by the new technology. A survey of some ideas will be presented.
