KnowledgeWorks Foundation Blog

Freshman Expelled for Forming Facebook Study Group

March 7th, 2008 by Eric Grant

This article in Thursday’s Toronto Star tells a disturbing story:

First-year student Chris Avenir is fighting charges of academic misconduct for helping run an online chemistry study group via Facebook last term, where 146 classmates swapped tips on homework questions that counted for 10 per cent of their mark.

Pending any comments or further explanation from Ryerson University, I give them an F in understanding the ways in which today’s students learn and work.

03/20/2008 Update: Andy Carvin reports that Chris has dodged the bullet. Congratulations, Chris!

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This entry was posted on Friday, March 7th, 2008 at 2:55 am and is filed under Smart Networking, Strong Opinions Strongly Held. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

2 Responses to “Freshman Expelled for Forming Facebook Study Group”

  1. Chris L Says:
    March 7th, 2008 at 10:24 am

    If the study group were swapping tips, I think the university was wrong. However, if they were swapping the answers, then that’s just plain cheating.

    Yes, I know that students frequently give each other answers. I did that. But not with 145 other students. At once.

    Either way, right now it appears Ryerson made quite a knee-jerk reaction. Let’s hope their explanation is sensible and/or they make things right.

  2. Eva Saphir Says:
    March 17th, 2008 at 3:38 pm

    Knee jerk reactions are automatic responses to stimuli. Thought is by-passed. In fact, thought interferes with the knee jerk reaction. Ironic for a university. Are we loosing the ability to think?
    If Chris A was giving out the answers, then he either worked it out and was sharing this process, or he got the answers somewhere else. In the latter case, no one was learning anything.
    It could be assumed that he was sharing homework strategies for problem solving with his group. I believe that the instructor specified that the homework should have been done individually. Well, if the goal is for the student to LEARN, then those that don’t get the subject matter will not be able to complete the homework. Those in the study group have a better chance of completing it. If the goal is learning, the study group helped more than the instructor.

    In a democracy, and Canada is supposed to be one, the presumption is innocence.
    There should have been an investigation BEFORE the suspension. Oh well….

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