Editorial: Professors should clarify open-book policies for exams

Recently, Harvard University announced its investigation of a cheating incident that occurred…Recently, Harvard University announced its investigation of a cheating incident that occurred last spring. The grades of students in the class in question, Introduction to Congress, were based on four take-home, “open-book, open-note, open-Internet” exams. Many of the students struggled with the take-home exams, which apparently contained unfamiliar vocabulary and confusing questions, and the class’s teaching assistants all had different policies concerning grading and assisting students who asked for help on their take-home exams.

Because of the differences in helpfulness and grading policies of teaching assistants, students regularly shared notes from lectures, discussion sessions, etc. As a result, 125 students now might be suspended from the university for a year, and those who have graduated might have their degrees revoked.

We believe that the students involved in this incident should not be subject to these sanctions, and that universities should rethink cheating and plagiarism policies.

For the most part, we think that it’s unrealistic to give students take-home tests that allow such liberal use of notes and online materials and expect the students to neither share nor discuss them. Notes and books aside, the Internet is defined by sharing, open discussion and easy access to information, so a fundamental contradiction exists between allowing students to use online sources but banning discussion.

A possible solution could be to allow students to discuss and work in small groups on certain take-home exams, but to require them to turn in papers with their own answers, and to submit a list of who they worked with. In that way, professors and teaching assistants could prevent cheating by monitoring collaboration and discussion, rather than by banning it outright. We believe that to prevent allegations of cheating when giving take-home exams, professors should make them essay-format when possible.

Professors have a responsibility to clearly define terms such as “open-note” and “open-book” for their classes. While every professor tells students to read their school’s plagiarism policy and ask questions, in our experience, this dialogue never really takes place. Because of this, there’s potential for students to be caught in a cheating scandal over an ambiguous situation, like at Harvard, where students were cited for sharing lecture notes for use on the take-home exams. A more open discussion on what defines plagiarism and what its consequences are could be beneficial to university communities.

Despite the cheating scandal surrounding take-home tests, we believe that take-home tests and essays still have some value. Despite the possibility for plagiarism, such procedures allow professors to give more in-depth exams, like essay exams, that might really test comprehension. Also, allowing students to use resources like their textbooks can allow professors to test how students use and apply knowledge.

Hopefully a more open dialogue about what constitutes plagiarism and how to prevent it can create a better academic atmosphere.