Canadian university criticized for lax approach to tackle cheating using AI

Cheating has become increasingly common at some Canadian universities due to the misuse of AI, with students reportedly using it during closed-book exams and assignments — particularly at one university’s Calgary campus, where certain practices are raising concerns, according to a source.A source familiar with the campus who spoke on conditions of anonymity told the Western Standard Monday that cheating is rampant at universities, some more than others, citing cultures and constrained budgets.“If you talk to anybody in academia, they will have their own horror stories or their own anecdotes. For me, the worst cheating that I’ve seen is (at) the University of Lethbridge, and in particular, their Calgary campus,” the source said.“But I think even if you’re looking for names of universities where it’s the worst, I think it’s important to note that it’s (the culture is) changing.”The source pointed out the University of Lethbridge for its lax approach, and the high number of international students, especially South Asians..According to the source, the university has been heavily relying on foreign students to fill its classes. The source added that in 15 years, the makeup of the classes at the Calgary campus has gone up from predominantly Canadian, mostly Albertan, to overwhelmingly South Asian.“The vast majority of the students have the same two last names, Singh and Kaur. So now, of course, India has a different naming convention, but this would suggest to me that it's not just that they're all coming from the same country, it's that they're all coming from the same region, even that there's some form of recruitment that's going on, probably students with students that word is going back, that hey apply here, whether it's easy entry, whether it's familiarity with the system, whether it's, again that institutional culture, but no, it's, it's overwhelmingly South Asian, and it has accelerated since COVID-19," said the source.The path to the University of Lethbridge is a college called University Lethbridge International College Calgary (UICC) and it is located at the University of Lethbridge’s Calgary campus.“UICC is your path to a degree at ULethbridge. Our students receive the advantage of one-on-one support and guidance from faculty and staff, strong peer connections and the opportunity to study at one of Canada’s best universities,” reads the UICC’s website.At the University of Lethbridge, exams for online courses are offered online, despite calls to move to in-person to maintain the integrity of the education system, according to the source..“Those that do things honestly have a harder time succeeding because most universities have policies on grade distributions, such as can’t give everybody an A,” the source said.Dean and vice-provost Kerry B. Godfrey sent an internal email to Calgary campus faculty urging them to uphold academic standards and address poor behaviour and cheating firmly.“I’ve been having a few conversations with folks about academic integrity, classroom behaviour, and academic standards related to some (not all) current students in our programs particularly in Calgary,” reads the email.“I wanted to say to you all that I know you have faced some challenges, and for some this might be an unfortunate understatement. I am working on ways to address these challenges, but there will be no simple fix I’m afraid and will take some time to work through.”“As the Dean of the School, I have your back and will support you. If you want to talk about this, my door is always open (metaphorically of course). I have recently recommended the suspension of one student, and am prepared to do it as often as necessary. Please ask for extra invigilators for your exams so we are better placed to address academic integrity, maintain standards and address the poor behaviour of the ‘some’.”.Using AI to help with assignments and exams is an increasing problem, Lori Williams, political science professor at Mount Royal University said in an interview. She stressed the importance of doing exams in-person. She said using it as a tool to write assignments can be considered plagiarism.“For me it’s been written assignments that I’ve seen it on,” she said. “We have a policy for dealing with it. But of course it’s becoming more challenging because it seems like students are resorting to it more often.”The Western Standard tried to speak to some students at the University of Lethbridge, but most said they have exams and were not able to talk.The Western Standard has also reached out to the University of Lethbridge for comments and hasn’t received a response yet.

Canadian university criticized for lax approach to tackle cheating using AI

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