The implications of an investigation into as many as 40 alleged incidents of cheating in Computer Science 4 will be extremely complex as the department begins its examination of the allegations this week.
Students allegedly accessed solutions to a homework assignment on a portion of the class' website that was previously protected from unauthorized use but had been left unprotected following an in class demonstration.
While visiting Computer Science Professor Rex Dwyer, who teaches the class, told The Dartmouth that he is shocked by the incident, several students in the introductory CS class said they were never told not to access the page. Some claimed they even received the solutions from teaching assistants and graders.
The professor's reaction
Students became aware that Dwyer was concerned about the alleged incidents when he assigned an essay last Thursday requiring his class to explain the incident to his colleagues at North Carolina State University where he is an assistant professor.
"It's really disappointing to me," Dwyer said in an interview with The Dartmouth last night from his home in North Carolina. "This is exactly the kind of thing I hoped to escape at Dartmouth."
Dwyer said that while he has had students at N.C. State who cheated, he has "never had anyone try to steal an assignment," which is what he believes to have taken place in this incident.
Dwyer added that he believes the number of cheating incidents in CS 4 this term is likely greater than the entire number he has dealt with in 10 years at N.C. State.
He said that the alleged incidents change his opinions of Dartmouth as an institution, describing the differences between his perceptions of the school before he came and the way he feels about the College now.
"I frankly came with maybe a somewhat nave notion of students who were very committed to their studies and I looked forward to working with that," he said. "To have this happen was very disheartening for me."
Computer science department chair Scot Drysdale said that Dwyer had been invited to stay for both the Winter and Spring terms, but Dwyer recently told him that he does not plan to stay another term. Drysdale added that Dwyer told his CS 4 class that the cheating incident was a large part of the reason.
Dwyer told The Dartmouth that it is highly likely he will not return next term.
He added that "other factors also played a part, but [the cheating] was definitely the straw that broke the camel's back -- or the log that broke it, really."
Student concerns
Some students, however, expressed concerns that the incident has been mishandled by Dwyer and that the structure of the class may make it appear that many more students cheated than actually did.
The homework assignment in question has been described by students as overly difficult, with many telling The Dartmouth they had spent several hours on the assignments before giving up in frustration or seeking help from teaching assistants.
"The problem with the whole situation is that some people are worried that they are going to be Parkhursted just for working with TAs," said one student who wished to remain anonymous.
The student added that he believed Dwyer had never met with the TAs to explain to them how the programs actually worked, despite numerous suggestions that he do such. "The response to [the suggestions] was to blitz the solution script," he added.
According to the student this caused many to have lines in their programs that appeared exactly the same as those in the professor's solutions as TAs simply showed students the lines of code they had received from the professor.
Dwyer was also criticized for not immediately telling the class that he believed people had cheated and for not acknowledging that he had forgotten to reprotect the site.
"The professor should not want cheating to occur in his class," the anonymous student said, "but he had the opportunity to prevent it ... by his own account he sat festering in his office [for a few days] before telling the class."
Other students agreed, saying that Dwyer should have thrown out the "tainted" assignment as soon as he knew of the dishonesty of some class members, though the students that spoke with The Dartmouth did not want their names printed for fear of association with the cheating scandal.
Honor code implications
According to Undergraduate Judicial Affairs Officer Marcia Kelly the incident has not yet been under official consideration by her office because the CS department must first figure out more accurately the size and scope of what actually happened with the assignment.
Kelly said that if the CS professors decide the case is worthy of administrative review she will gather the evidence and submit it along with recommendations to either Dean of the College James Larimore or Senior Associate Dean of the College Dan Nelson.
Larimore and Nelson will make the final decision of whether the issue merits a hearing in front of the Committee on Standards, the College body ultimately responsible for adjudicating and potentially punishing honor code violations.
Both Kelly and Larimore would not comment on the likelihood of the issue coming before the COS, though both agreed that if such a hearing does happen every effort will be made to hold it before the end of the term.
Citing the potentially large number of people involved, Larimore said that "it would be a logistical challenge to arrange the hearing, but I think there would be every good faith effort to do so."
