A 2010 video of a business professor from the University of Central Florida speaking out against cheating in the classroom has resurfaced on Instagram, and it’s worth sharing for those who haven’t heard the tale. The professor’s harsh warning to pupils about the perils of cheating is so memorable that it has been included in the American Rhetoric historic speech archive. It’s also renowned for its innovative strategy to expose cheaters: come out and say you cheated, or face serious repercussions if we find out.
In a filmed lecture in November 2010, Professor Richard Quinn informed his students that the exam scores “were a grade and a half higher than [they had] ever run before.” This led him to suspect that someone had distributed the test to his 600 students. “This is, as some of you out there know, because some of you out there are also in possession of this, the complete test bank for the midterm exam,” Quinn informed us.
A test bank is a collection of questions developed by a textbook publisher that teachers may use to generate quizzes, examinations, and assessments.
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What is the University of Central Florida’s cheating scandal?
In his address to the class, Quinn puts it very simply: “During the course of Monday, the lab instructors basically took a look at the data and started receiving emails from students who were concerned and upset that classmates had been bragging to them that they had advanced copies of the exam and that they aced the exam because they had all the answers ahead of time.”
Quinn then informed the students that he knew approximately one-third, or 200, of them had cheated and handed over a list to the dean’s office, claiming to be 95% confident. He also threw out all of the scores, and a retest will be given. “To say I’m disappointed is beyond comprehension,” the man said. “Physically ill, absolutely disgusted, disillusioned, trying to figure out what the last 20 years were all about.”
Quinn offered the cheaters two alternatives.
“Well, here’s the thing. If you took part in this, you have an option. You may either sit back in silence and hope your name does not get caught in the net that is rapidly closing around the participants, or you can identify yourself to your lab instructor individually, quietly, one-by-one, anonymously if you choose, in front of the rest of your students,” Quinn explained. “And, if you take the four-hour ethics course given by Academic Affairs, any permanent record of this will be removed from your transcripts. There will be no additional action taken. However, individuals who do not turn themselves in and are caught face consequences, including expulsion from Academic Affairs.
Some students stated that they had no idea they were cheating until fellow students told them. “If the professor did not send or mention it, and it went to only some of the students—not the entire class list (and not from the professor or a teaching assistant), I would think they should have questioned its legitimacy,” Teddi Fishman, director of the International Center for Academic Integrity at Clemson University, told UCF.
How did the kids respond to Quinn’s ultimatum?
What did the students do when Quinn issued the ultimatum? According to the University of Central Florida, around 200 students from Quinn’s class brought themselves in and admitted to cheating on the test—the exact amount that he expected. Fifteen students who were suspected of cheating refused to turn themselves in and were subjected to disciplinary action by the Academic Affairs office.
The video is gaining popularity again due to Quinn’s excellent presentation of his argument to his pupils. It’s similar to a procedural crime drama on television, in which a detective slowly determines who the perpetrator is while staring them in the face. But on a deeper level, you can feel the sorrow in his heart, the betrayal he felt from the people he was attempting to assist: his pupils. The movie demonstrates that he is an educator who is sincerely concerned not only with how his students do academically but also with who they become as humans.