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Or sign-in if you have an account.Western University (Free Press file photo)A Western University professor says he believes “a large number” of nearly 300 students cheated on their final exam in a course he taught and is refusing to count it toward their final mark. Enjoy the latest local, national and international news.Exclusive articles by Conrad Black, Barbara Kay and others. Plus, special edition NP Platformed and First Reading newsletters and virtual events.Unlimited online access to National Post.National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword.Support local journalism.Enjoy the latest local, national and international news.Exclusive articles by Conrad Black, Barbara Kay and others. Plus, special edition NP Platformed and First Reading newsletters and virtual events.Unlimited online access to National Post.National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword.Support local journalism.Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one account.Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments.Enjoy additional articles per month.Get email updates from your favourite authors.Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one accountShare your thoughts and join the conversation in the commentsEnjoy additional articles per monthGet email updates from your favourite authorsSign In or Create an AccountorAssociate professor Jacob Shelley also says Western University is “wilfully blind” to the extent of cheating by students using artificial intelligence.“It is overwhelmingly clear to me that my students cheated,” he said in an interview, referring to a class of 288 law and health sciences undergraduates who took his course called 3101 health-care law. Shelley is a professor in Western’s faculty of law and school of health studies. Get a dash of perspective along with the trending news of the day in a very readable format.By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc.A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder.The next issue of NP Posted will soon be in your inbox.We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try againHe sent an email to students in the class on May 8 saying he believes “the exam has been compromised” and that their grade mark would be calculated without it. “You were aware that the exam was a closed-book, independent, exercise with no use of external sources,” Shelley wrote. In the email, he explained he decided not to use proctoring software for the exam because he believes it’s too easy for students to get around and therefore doesn’t prevent cheating. Shelley said he was counting on the students to abide by the university’s code of conduct and not use resources for the exam.“You were left to act with honour, integrity, and in accordance with the student code of conduct you’ve committed to – which includes not committing scholastic offences.” He added in the email: “Unfortunately, it appears that many did not adhere to the instructions.” Shelley said Western administration has advised him to mark the exams and try to weed out those who committed the scholastic offences. So far he has refused and submitted grades without including the final exam. “I’ve informed them that I do (not) think I can sufficiently identify all who have cheated on the multiple-choice, and I feel that this is profoundly unfair to students that didn’t cheat,” Shelley wrote in the email to his class. “The inevitable outcome of this approach would be that students who did cheat will receive higher marks than those that did not – and a number of students that didn’t adhere to the instructions will inevitably succeed in circumventing the rules.” Western University provided a statement from Alison Springate, director of stakeholder relations for Western communications, in response to questions from The Free Press about the exam and Shelley’s response to it.“Academic integrity is the cornerstone of Western University,” she said“Western takes all measures to promote academic integrity and investigates all suspected instances of academic dishonesty in accordance with established procedures,” Springate said. “We also have policies and procedures in place to support the integrity of our assessments.“To protect the integrity of our investigation process, and the privacy of students, we do not confirm if an investigation into suspected or actual individual scholastic offences is taking place.”Shelley said in the email to students he believes some of them didn’t cheat. “To be fair to those students that did not cheat, I did not feel I could include the exam mark in the final grade,” he wrote in his email to students. “To be very clear: I know you didn’t all cheat, but I am extremely confident that a large number of you did not adhere to the instructions and cheated.” The exam was held on Friday, April 24, Shelley said. It was an online un-proctored exam that included multiple-choice questions and a written assignment. Shelley said 55 per cent of his students received 90 per cent or above on the multiple-choice portion of the exam. Nearly 10 per cent got 100 per cent. But when it came to providing written answers “many floundered,” Shelley said in his email to students.“The incongruity in levels of knowledge between the two sections is telling,” he wrote. Though it’s difficult to prove individually a student cheated, the results of the exam paint a much larger picture, he said in the interview.“I have never seen these kinds of results in 20 years of teaching,” Shelley said. “I know they cheated because I have never seen the marks this high.” In the written portion of the exam many students had written answers that were not from the class material which is “a dead giveaway,” Shelley said. “If I didn’t teach it, how did you know it?” he said. Other telltale signs were written answers with no spelling or medical terms errors and perfect structure, as well as multiple written answers by different students that were nearly identical in structure, sentences and wording, Shelley said. “It’s not possible,” he said.Shelley said he spoke explicitly to his class about the use of “AI, cheating, ethics and integrity all year.” “Instructions sent out a week prior to the exam, (explained) yes it’s online, it’s closed book, no proctoring,” he said. “But we still have rules and expectations, a code of conduct. “I would never have thought as a student to cheat in my lifetime.” In the academic world cheating is “widely known, widely accepted and widely admitted by students,” Shelley said. “The response you get from students when you ask them is ’define cheating’ because it has become so normalized across the university,” he said. “I have lots of students who talk about this and feel compelled to cheat – to remain competitive.” Shelley said his big concern is that Western doesn’t have adequate policies to prevent cheating. “There is no real attempt to address this – we’re not doing anything about it. We’re accepting it,” he said. “We’re wilfully blind to it.” Shelley also said this year he saw the poorest attendance in his classroom he has ever seen. “Students are just not coming to class . . . in my class of 288, one week I had 104 (attend),” he said. “They just don’t care anymore, I think it has to do with the cultural changes of AI, the economy, lack of jobs, nevertheless they are not coming.” With files from Free Press reporter Norm De BonoThis website uses cookies to personalize your content (including ads), and allows us to analyze our traffic. Read more about cookies here. By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.