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I once worked as a part-time visiting lecturer in CS.

I routinely got assignments handed-in that students had evidently copied from one-another. More than half of the students were handing in copied work. In at least one case, they hadn't even botherd to change the name at the top. Usually they had the sense to change variable- and function-names, but not always.

As a newbie lecturer, I asked my colleagues what to do. They said: "You can fail them. You'll be accused of racism (most of the students were brown-skinned). They will appeal; you'll then have to sit on exam boards through the summer, which is unpaid for a visting P/T lecturer. There's a good chance the school will overrule you, because these are paying overseas students."

"Or you can tell them that you've noticed the 'sharing' that's been going on; that collaboration and sharing is encouraged, but that they must never do it in marked assignments."

I adopted the latter course of action.

Being a part-time visiting lecturer is a crap job.



I remember when I was taking software development classes in 2003/4, when I was finishing my computer science degree.

I helped a buddy of mine out on one of the projects by basically writing it for him. I re-wrote my project in a completely different style.

We both got 100%.

If you are going to cheat, do it right and actually show some imagination and creativity.


Once AI starts grading papers you'll have to be more clever than that.

Like re-code your project in another language and then back again.


The linked article and this entire discussion is addressing the ethical issues that surround grading, originality, and plagiarism. How is AI going to be able to apply the "correct" ethical code when all of us can't seem to agree?


Honestly if people are working together to do assignments that's not the end of the world. IMO you probably learn more doing it that way.

If people are selling answers that's a different story, but that's what in person exams are for.




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