Professor Identifies 14 Students Who Cheated By Including A Fake Question In Exam

Cheating in exams is a strict no-no. But students often find creative means to do it. In Gujarat, 959 students were caught in a mass-copying incident during the Class 12 board exams. Which is why educational institutions and teachers sometimes find their own unique ways to identify these cheaters.

Reddit user u/Mwxh recently narrated one such “diabolical plan to catch cheaters” executed by his engineering professor by saying, “I took the final for an engineering class this morning. Usually, 1 or 2 people will go to the bathroom during class, however for totally unknown reasons, about half of the class needed to use the restroom during the exam.”

He further revealed, “There was one particular problem that was only barely related to the stuff we went over in class where part A was fairly easy but I had no idea how to do part B. I didn’t fret over it too much though since that part was only 5 points out of 100.”

This question was actually a trap and this is how it was expertly laid out.

“Many of the students in this class use ‘Chegg’ (a website that has answers to lots of homework questions if you’re not familiar). He was tired of people going to the bathroom and looking up answers on their phones so he made the question I mentioned earlier as a trap. He purposely made part B impossible to solve and about a month before the final, he got a TA with a Chegg account to ask the exact question, which was distinctly worded to be unique. He then created his own Chegg account and answered the question with a bullshit solution that seems right at first glance but is actually fundamentally flawed.”

Needless to say, his plan worked which he disclosed to everyone in an email later. 14 out of 99 students had the wrong answer and were given a 0 while everyone else got full marks for it. People applauded the professor for his genius plan but some also questioned it on ethical grounds.

Do you think the professor was right in using technology to beat students at their own game or should he have just banned phones and breaks during the exam?

Cover Image Source