- Jurisdiction
- North Carolina
I need some help/advice about an issue with college class and accusations being made. The first thing Monday morning the instructor announced she was disappointed in the entire class for academic dishonesty during online quizzes. She said names have been noted and the dean has been informed. That was all she said. No details were given as to what that even meant. It has created stress and paranoia, and has divided the class.
One student that came in late did have a personal conversation with the instructor and it came out that the issue was students taking the quiz together.
We are a small cohort in a specialized program. More than half the class took the quizzes together, BECAUSE on the first day of class, when discussing the syllabus and online quizzes we asked about using notes and taking quizzes together. This is allowed in some classes and it was not specified in the syllabus. She replied something to the effect of doing what we have to do. It was also brought up again after the first quiz and she was aware we were using notes and working together.
None of us would purposefully cheat or be dishonest. We understood that using notes and working together was acceptable. Otherwise none of us would have ever taken the quizzes together.
It didn't seem to become an issue until after anonymous class evaluations. She is a difficult, condescending instructor that teaches by fear and intimidation. Several students gave her scathing reviews. She has had a week and a half since our last quiz and hasn't said anything about it. It didn't seem to become an issue until after evaluations.
Now many of us are scared. There hasn't been any transparency in process or allegations. We don't know if our names are sitting on a list somewhere in the deans office, but we feel we've at least been marked. Her demeanor is different towards several of us.
I have heard, she doesn't have any solid proof. I would have liked to think if she thought that nearly the entire class was doing this, she would have a discussion with us. Maybe recognize any errors in communication and make an effort to move forward with concrete expectations. Several of us found it very unprofessional and reactive how she accused the entire class of cheating without even discussing what that meant. Am I wrong? She jumped to the worst conclusion without even having solid evidence. Just presumption without explanation.
We're stressed,paranoid, and divided. And apparently marked. At this point we are all just keeping our mouths shut. We don't really know what else to do. Advice is appreciated.
One student that came in late did have a personal conversation with the instructor and it came out that the issue was students taking the quiz together.
We are a small cohort in a specialized program. More than half the class took the quizzes together, BECAUSE on the first day of class, when discussing the syllabus and online quizzes we asked about using notes and taking quizzes together. This is allowed in some classes and it was not specified in the syllabus. She replied something to the effect of doing what we have to do. It was also brought up again after the first quiz and she was aware we were using notes and working together.
None of us would purposefully cheat or be dishonest. We understood that using notes and working together was acceptable. Otherwise none of us would have ever taken the quizzes together.
It didn't seem to become an issue until after anonymous class evaluations. She is a difficult, condescending instructor that teaches by fear and intimidation. Several students gave her scathing reviews. She has had a week and a half since our last quiz and hasn't said anything about it. It didn't seem to become an issue until after evaluations.
Now many of us are scared. There hasn't been any transparency in process or allegations. We don't know if our names are sitting on a list somewhere in the deans office, but we feel we've at least been marked. Her demeanor is different towards several of us.
I have heard, she doesn't have any solid proof. I would have liked to think if she thought that nearly the entire class was doing this, she would have a discussion with us. Maybe recognize any errors in communication and make an effort to move forward with concrete expectations. Several of us found it very unprofessional and reactive how she accused the entire class of cheating without even discussing what that meant. Am I wrong? She jumped to the worst conclusion without even having solid evidence. Just presumption without explanation.
We're stressed,paranoid, and divided. And apparently marked. At this point we are all just keeping our mouths shut. We don't really know what else to do. Advice is appreciated.
