Evidence Submitted:
-Letter of Accusation
-Written statements of the 2 students involved
-Addendums to the written statements
-Course syllabus
-Correspondence e-mails between the professor of the class and his
co-professor
-Exam
-Student A's answers to the exam
-Student B's answers to the exam
-Professor's examination of the similarities between the 2 exams
-Professor's solutions to the exam
-Professor's attempted execution of Student B's exam answers
-Status of the exams of other students in the class
-Solutions to several homework assignments for the class
-Other students' exams
-Textbooks for the class
-A homework assignment of Student A
Plea:
Both Student A and Student B plead Not In Violation
Testimony:
Student A began by reading her written statement to the Council which
explained that she had had no interaction with Student B after the class
ended and that she had done her own work and had not provided any aid to
B. B also claimed that she had not seen A after the end of classes and
that she had used her notes as an aid on the exam. She explained that
she and A had worked on the homeworks together and that this accounted
for the similarities between the two exams.
The Council took time to look over the evidence and then called in
Witness #1, the professor of the class in question. Witness #1 claimed
that she had graded Student A's exam first and noticed some odd
extraneous information. After reading through Student B's exam, the
professor noticed the same odd information. She then compared the two
exams for similarities and discovered that they were identical with the
exception of a few lines of blank space and the ordering of a few pieces
of information. Student B's exam was incorrect in that the student had
placed her data in the wrong order - leading to an incorrect solution.
A's solution turned out correctly. The professor mentioned that Student
A had left her test in an accessible place where B could have found it
and copied it. The professor admitted that she should have been more
clear with the students about the fact that the tests should have been
in a secure place.
Student B claimed that she used several different ways to do the first
problem and may have inadvertently left in some of the wrong information
in the problem - leading to the incorrect solution.
Witness #2, the co-professor of the class, testified next. After
reviewing the evidence she claimed that the students should have known
to keep their tests in a secure place and she presumed that the students
would know where to go to obtain another student's test. The
co-professor claimed that he did not notice any problems with the 2
students' answers to problem #3, which he had graded. He added that with
the first two problems the similarities between the 2 exams were
unusual.
The Council discussed the exam with the students further, asking about
the comments made by the witnesses. In the closing statements, Student A
stated that she had done the same things in the exam that she had always
done of her homework. Student B reiterated that she felt that she was
not in violation and that this was purely a coincidence.
Deliberation:
The Council chose to divide up the exams from other students in the
class, including some of the students who had worked with A and B
throughout the semester, and compared these to the exams in question. It
was noted that all of the other exams used different techniques to
arrive at their answers from those used by A and B. The similarities in
the two problems and the fact that B's solutions did not work and her
information was the same as A's but included more spaces was noted. A
straw poll was taken to decide whether a violation had occurred:
Straw Poll #1
In Violation: 4
Not In Violation: 0
Abstentions: 5
Discussion continued and the Council continued to look at the other
tests and homeworks.
Straw Poll #2
In Violation: 9
Not In Violation: 0
Abstentions: 0
The Council then ruled out A copying off B based on the evidence
discussed earlier.
Straw Poll #3 - Student A
In Violation: 0
Not In Violation: 9
Abstentions: 0
Straw Poll #4 - Student B
In Violation: 9
Not In Violation: 0
Abstentions: 0
The Council then decided that there was no clear and convincing evidence
that the two had collaborated based on the times that the two had
finished their exams and the physical evidence as seen on the exams. The
exam was worth 30% of the grade in the class. The Council discussed
mitigating circumstances and decided that the only one that was
applicable was severity, since only 2 of the 3 exam questions were in
question.
Straw Poll #5 - Penalty
F + 2 (consensus): 1
F + 1:
8
F:
0
Abstentions: 0
Straw Polls 2, 3, 4, and 5 were made binding.
Student A is found not In Violation.
Thus, the Honor Council finds Student B In Violation of the Honor
System, and recommend that she receive and F in the course and a 1
semester suspension. Additionally, a suspension clause will be attached
to her record.
Time of trial and deliberation: 3 hours and 30 minutes.
Respectfully Submitted,
Kelly Bolen
Trial Clerk
Last modified Thursday, March 02, 2000 08:03 AM
Reach the Honor Council at honor-council@rice.edu