I’d be pissed if I was accused of cheating for being in a groupme I never participated in.” “I’m in multiple class groupme’s and we only use them to ask questions and coordinate study groups,” one user wrote. Some Reddit users who responded to a tweet with screenshots of Kappelman’s email described how they had used GroupMe in their classes. The app allows users to add people to a group without sharing the added people’s contact details with the group as a whole - a welcome perk for students who don’t want their phone numbers to become public. GroupMe, a messaging app that allows users to create group messages of as many as 500 members, has become a popular way for students to connect with new classmates or with collaborators on group projects.
PROFESSOR FAILING CLASS CHEGG REDDIT FREE
More broadly, the scandal highlights the difficult issue of expanding technology in the classroom, students in the Google generation who view the free exchange of information without citation as not problematic, and faculty members who are wary of the use - and perceived abuse - of new digital tools. The decision to extend punishment to every student in the chat raises questions of fairness for those who had it muted or never checked it.
Kappelman declined to comment as the investigation continues. “Faculty have the ability to set expectations for their classes, including what, if any, collaboration or information-sharing is acceptable,” Sara Kennedy, a spokeswoman for the dean wrote in a statement. “Students are not permitted to ask about, discuss, or share information related to exams and labs.”īecause every student had “signed and submitted a course honesty agreement,” according to Kappelman’s email, he recommended that every student in the GroupMe chat receive an F, and he referred the case to the dean of students. “My disappointment arises from the fact that the rules for the class are clear,” wrote Kappelman, a professor in the departments of anthropology and geological sciences at the University of Texas at Austin. The reason: More than 70 had participated in a class GroupMe, in which information regarding lab and exam answers had been shared. John Kappelman alerted about half of the students in his online anthropology course to their “terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day” last Thursday. Monkeybusinessimages/iStock As students look to enter a more collaborative world, encouraged by new technological platforms, colleges try to draw lines around the sharing.