For those of you hoping for some awesome
1980s music, please amuse yourself with the video below (yes, a tractor duel between Justin Trudeau and Kevin Bacon was high-quality entertainment in the 1980s…).
Now for the rest of you, let’s talk about
Course Hero. Course Hero is a website that allow students to upload
assignments, quizzes, exams and other materials. If you upload enough of your
stuff (or just send the cash), you can then access the material (so-called “study
aids”) uploaded by others.
Reviewing the work of others can certainly
seem like a quick way to complete assignments. Alas, it is also an easy way to
run afoul of the university’s Student Academic Misconduct Policy, which
requires you to do your own course work.
But it is not just downloaders who are in
peril: uploading materials is also likely a violation of Section 2.5 which
prohibits the distribution of assignments and other course material.
One of my jobs right now is academic
integrity officer for the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences (basically I’m
the plagiarism guy). Over the past few months, my workload has risen
dramatically because faculty are complaining about uploaders. Year-long
suspensions and notations of misconduct on transcripts are pretty common for first-time
offenders.
Course Hero is not the only such website,
but its recent popularity has pushed the university to speak out against all websitesthat offer “study aids”. You’d be wise to heed the university’s advice about
these websites and remove any of your materials from them.
-- Bob Barnetson
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