Student alleges widespread cheating in university exams
Students are using anonymous chat services, calls and messaging apps to cheat on exams, a University of Auckland student claims.
The university is investigating the allegation.
The student, who Stuff has agreed not to name, said cheating was ‘‘widespread and organised’’.
End-of-semester exams were moved online in case of another lockdown, but the system is unmonitored and ‘‘entirely trustbased’’, they said.
The student said when a classmate alerted a tutor to the behaviour, nothing was done, however the university said tutors were ‘‘warned to be extra vigilant regarding academic misconduct’’.
University spokeswoman Lisa Finucane said the university had mechanisms to detect cheating and would follow up and penalise students found cheating.
The cheating is mostly happening on Discord, an anonymous messaging app, the student said. They said an hour before a science paper last week, they received an invite to a Discord channel where 38 other students were on a group call waiting for the exam to begin.
In a screenshot of the Discord channel, seen by Stuff, an anonymous student asks how others answered one of the questions.
Three people give variations on an answer, with another asking if anyone used Google to help.
The student said people were also meeting up to take the exams in groups, and one student sent their answers to a group chat during an exam in case anyone wanted to copy them.
The student provided Stuff with audio of a phone conversation with a classmate where they were discussing the cheating.
The classmate, who was on Discord during the exam, said the notifications were so prolific they had to mute the chat.
The student said they had tried to convince the friend to take the exam honestly, but with so many people sharing answers they risked being at a disadvantage if they didn’t cheat.
A final exam was due to take place yesterday afternoon and another Discord channel had been set up.
On Monday night, the university sent a message to students about the importance of academic integrity, but the student said it did not directly address the allegations of cheating.
Finucane said while the university was not aware of cheating, it will investigate. ‘‘We will follow normal process with regard to alleged academic misconduct cases, which involves interviews, consideration of any evidence and recommendations on further actions to be taken.’’