Student Faces Expulsion Over Facebook Study Group
Using a Facebook group is not the same as face to face collaboration on schoolwork, according to administrators at Toronto's Ryerson University.
Case in point: a freshman student faces expulsion for setting up an online study group via Facebook last semester. The professor for the class claims this lead to cheating and not just normal study group help. The student, Chris Avenir, says the online activity is no different than a group of students gathering in person to give each other advice on how to complete their chemistry homework assignments.
Avenir faces 146 counts of academic misconduct, one for each of the classmates who signed up for the Facebook group he set up last term, plus one additional count for setting up the group in the first place.
Oddly enough, students are permitted to meet in person to help each other with assignments. The name of the group itself -- Dungeons/Mastering Chemistry Solutions – is based on the actual room in an academic building where his classmates would typically meet for study sessions.
Is this simply a case of scale, where the numbers and accessibility of the online activity gives students an unfair advantage, or were they really cheating?
The professor seems to think the latter, having changed Avenir's grade from a B to an F after learning of the Facebook activity and recommending the student's expulsion. Avenir will have a chance to defend the group, which he says is simply the modern version of study hall for the "wired generation."
That argument may be more readily received by a computer science professor than a chemistry professor, it seems.
Students at other schools have previously been disciplined or expelled for Web sites or Facebook pages that criticize or threaten other students and their schools, but the is the first time we've heard of a student being punished for encouraging fellow classmates to study more.
From The Toronto Star.
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Case in point: a freshman student faces expulsion for setting up an online study group via Facebook last semester. The professor for the class claims this lead to cheating and not just normal study group help. The student, Chris Avenir, says the online activity is no different than a group of students gathering in person to give each other advice on how to complete their chemistry homework assignments.Avenir faces 146 counts of academic misconduct, one for each of the classmates who signed up for the Facebook group he set up last term, plus one additional count for setting up the group in the first place.
Oddly enough, students are permitted to meet in person to help each other with assignments. The name of the group itself -- Dungeons/Mastering Chemistry Solutions – is based on the actual room in an academic building where his classmates would typically meet for study sessions.
Is this simply a case of scale, where the numbers and accessibility of the online activity gives students an unfair advantage, or were they really cheating?
The professor seems to think the latter, having changed Avenir's grade from a B to an F after learning of the Facebook activity and recommending the student's expulsion. Avenir will have a chance to defend the group, which he says is simply the modern version of study hall for the "wired generation."
That argument may be more readily received by a computer science professor than a chemistry professor, it seems.
Students at other schools have previously been disciplined or expelled for Web sites or Facebook pages that criticize or threaten other students and their schools, but the is the first time we've heard of a student being punished for encouraging fellow classmates to study more.
From The Toronto Star.
Related Links:
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
ARKdeEREH said 9:11PM on 3-07-2008
At my school there is an online program called Blackboard that is DESIGNED for students to collaborate online. It was set-up by the school and is actively promoted by many professors. Not very many students actually use it though, but to call such conversations cheating is frankly absurd.
The student in the article should sue that professor back to the stone age and maybe the teacher should get fired.
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ARKdeEREH said 9:11PM on 3-07-2008
At my school there is an online program called Blackboard that is DESIGNED for students to collaborate online. It was set-up by the school and is actively promoted by many professors. Not very many students actually use it though, but to call such conversations cheating is frankly absurd.
The student in the article should sue that professor back to the stone age and maybe the teacher should get fired.
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ARKdeEREH said 9:12PM on 3-07-2008
Sorry, I didn't mean to post that twice. I thought that it hadn't posted the first time.
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Roger Waugh said 9:37PM on 3-07-2008
This crap has gone to farr it is my knowledge of computers supply to colleges was for studies for the people who could not afford their own then tell me why this study area and use is being apply towards my space or face book by others that cheat the students that really need it use take note this must be controled
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MGR_Acctg_IT said 10:22AM on 3-28-2009
Roger, where did you get the idea that the computers belonged to the college? That is possible, but when my children attended college they each had their own computers. The majority of their classmates had their own computers as well. This is not a case of college property being used in a fashion other than what the college intended. The question being debated is whether students meeting face to face in a study group, which is specifically allowed and encouraged, is fundamentally different than them exchanging information in writing online.
As to that, I believe since the college did not put a limiting definition as to what consitutes a study group, they need to update their rules and thoughts to reflect the modern age. Presumably one would think they would desire their students to employ the best strategies to obtaining information and learning.
Robert said 2:07AM on 3-08-2008
The professor is old society. He's just pissed because he didn't think of it himself. He needs to take early retirement.
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Robert said 2:10AM on 3-08-2008
Roger, you can't even spell using spell check. Your diction is terrible so get off the computer ya redneck!
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The StarThrower said 2:44AM on 3-08-2008
Methinks the good Professor is reacting to something he doesn't understand. Unless online collaboration had been specifically prohibited in advance, I can't see any justification for changing the student's grade from a B to an F.
This isn't high school we're talking about, this is college, and unique solutions to problems are generally lauded. College students today are doing all sorts of things online that weren't available in their parents' generation.
The Professor (or even better, the university) needs to have policies in place to deal with situations like this. In the absence of them, penalizing the first student to think of it is, IMHO, grossly unfair and possibly illegal.
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Jauharah said 10:50AM on 3-08-2008
There is no difference between using on-line research to complete a project/assignment and setting up an on-line study group. If the use of technology is a problem, then all students at all levels should be required to do research the old school method since that would level the playing field and stop leaving students without ready computer access at a huge disadvantage and instead really reflect who is actually intelligent and who is nothing more than a cheater.
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De said 11:24AM on 3-08-2008
I don't see it as being any different than the use of Blackboard. As long as it cannot be accessed during an actual test, meaning that cell phones and text messaging should be off, then it isn't cheating. I loved what study groups I could be involved in during my college career! It should be encouraged at a high school level as well. Geez...
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Rachel said 10:26PM on 3-08-2008
The student even admits that the professor explicitly said to work independently.... guilty - case closed.
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Abbadon said 1:14PM on 3-08-2008
The thing taht bothers me about this is that there are 145 other members of the group and they are not charged with anything.
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Deanna said 1:00PM on 3-08-2008
No where in the article does it say that the student said that the professor said students had to work independently. In fact, "students are permitted to meet in person to help each other with assignments." I see no difference between meeting in person or talking online about it. I've done it myself, and it is much less of a hassle because you don't have to figure out where/when to actually meet. Which is an absolute God send, because no two students have the same exact schedule or time available to meet. The professor needs to suck it up, and if he can prove the students were actually cheating with the group, then let the pieces fall where they may.
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Greg said 1:36PM on 3-08-2008
Man, Roger, your post is difficult to read! A little sentence structure and punctuation might help. I have to guess at your meaning, which leaves you open to misinterpretation. Perhaps that is what you intend, but what's the point?
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Greg said 1:47PM on 3-08-2008
Thirty years of quality control work compells me to observe that, if the class rules do not specifically exclude on-line study groups, then the class rules share responsibility in any actual or perceived violation. If study activities did not take the ethical form or function of cheating, then the only complaint can be that students took an initiative, and that should be commendable, not condemable.
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northerngreen said 11:57PM on 3-08-2008
another typical dumbass college professor
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Michael said 12:28AM on 3-09-2008
ARKdeERAH's lawsuit comment is an example of why the current presidential administration wants to limit frivilous lawsuits and their awards... ...there are much better ways the university might deal with this. I can see the student/group being easily vindicated and the professor being censured,fined, publicly humbled, etc, but gimme a break with the lawsuit...!
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greg said 4:40PM on 3-09-2008
The prof. should go play in traffic.
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Benjamin Wright said 12:36PM on 3-10-2008
If people like this Ryerson student want privacy on their social networking sites, they should consider posting legal terms of service to that effect. See http://hack-igations.blogspot.com/2007/11/privacy-advocates-such-as-nyu-professor.html The idea is not legal advice for anyone (or a substitute for counsel by a lawyer), just something to think about. --Ben
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VJCMAJD said 8:44AM on 3-11-2008
If you can't ultimately complete the work on your own and think for yourself, you fail. Losers rely on others to get the job done.
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