It’s Saturday, and I’m trying hard to wrap my head around this story about a Ryerson University student who’s facing academic misconduct charges for starting a Facebook study group. His professor, it seems, calls it cheating.
A Facebook study group is like any other study group, he argues, and he’s right. The problem isn’t that he and his fellow students were cheating, it’s that the higher-ups don’t understand the technology of social networking and are making knee-jerk reactions.
The student, Chris Avenir, will have a hearing next week that we hope he wins, for if he doesn’t, he’s looking at likely expulsion.
Student faces academic misconduct charges for running Facebook study group [Tech Digest]
this is insane.
Well, according to the primary source;
http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/309855
“While Neale admits the professor stipulated the online homework questions were to be done independently, she said it has long been a tradition for students to brainstorm homework in groups, particularly in heavy programs such as law, engineering and medicine.”
Yeah, tradition, that’ll help him out.
“But Neale admitted the invitation to the Facebook group may have been what landed them in trouble. It read: “If you request to join, please use the forms to discuss/post solutions to the chemistry assignments. Please input your solutions if they are not already posted.”