52 psychology students copied from Google

More than half of a total of 103 students in the Psychology Career of the University of Comahue (UNCo) “copy and paste”, by taking the answers directly from the pages found in Google, during an exam of the chair of human biology with the virtual modality.

Authorities announced that freshmen who had copied and pasted the responses have been disapproved but will not receive sanctions. In addition, they will be able to appear at the new examination table, reported by the university.

The situation generated surprise and scandal within the study center, because there is no history of an event of these dimensions.

The examination in question was carried out in the virtual modality in accordance with the new health measures due to the coronavirus. So that despite the control through the camera carried out by the teachers, the pupils realized google answers without being detected.

The fact that 52 students out of 103 did not hesitate to go to the famous search engine to answer it is mentioned in a circular prepared by the academic secretary of the Faculty of Education of UNCo, Fabiola Etchemaite .

“211 students registered at the exam table on March 11, but only 103 showed up. It was a two-hour synchronous written exam with an open camera, scheduled with the delivery of tasks via the Pedco platform (in reference to the virtual platform used by the university) ”, indicates Etchemaite’s note.

“During the evaluation, the teachers detected that 52 writings had serious copying or plagiarism situations easily discoverable via Google, ”he adds.

In the following statements, Etchemaite has detailed the modality. “They appear full paragraphs taken without any kind of citation or reference on the internet pages, “said the academic official on CALF University radio.” It is not difficult to detect a teacher who knows the biography. When you meet your students, you quickly realize that it is not a stand-alone writing that they present, ”he continued.

The president chose to suspend the next table, which was supposed to be the 26th, which will have a new designated date in the coming weeks. There will be no punishment either for those who have used “copy paste”. “To disapprove and to have been put into public discussion seems to me that it is enough to learn”, underlined the academic secretary.

“The students who cheated were frowned upon, and the rest succeeded,” Etchemaite explained.

“There are nine people in charge of the chair and it is a complex situation to control the mass examinations, where they have to be observed hundreds of cameras simultaneously. The teachers are overworked, ”Etchemaite told La Mañana de Cipolletti.

NS