Thursday, January 31, 2013

Can Coursera Control Cheating?


After signing up for this course several months ago, which took a total of thirty seconds, I pretty much forgot about it.  A few days ago, I had an email in my inbox that the course had begun and I received a link to connect me to the course content.  Before allowing me into the content though, I had to agree to abide the following honor code:
  1. I will register for only one account.
  2. My answers to homework, quizzes and exams will be my own work (except for assignments that explicitly permit collaboration).
  3. I will not make solutions to homework, quizzes or exams available to anyone else. This includes both solutions written by me, as well as any official solutions provided by the course staff.
  4. I will not engage in any other activities that will dishonestly improve my results or dishonestly improve/hurt the results of others.
I appreciate Coursera’s attempt to promote honorable standards, but why would it matter if I cheated?  Coursera either believes that the honor code will set a standard of ethics or that it will add validity to the course as a credential. For MOOC's to be valid credentials, organizations like Coursera will have to move past having students agree to follow the honor code to a system that ensures that the student who completes a course is the one who do the work.
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1 comment:

  1. AnonymousJanuary 31, 2013 at 3:07 PM

    I guess the question is, is the point of education to provide credentials? What if a MOOC simply operated under the guiding principle that anyone who completes the course has learned from it and gained a benefit or cheated and not gained a benefit? As for folks who add coursework to their resume after cheating, it's up to employers to assess who can do the job. The one who actually learned from their educational experiences (MOOC, etc.) will likely distinguish her/himself.

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