BAD STUDENTS CUT MORE THAN ONE CORNER.

As students return to campus, so too do the plagiarizers to the term papers.  "Knowing a student used AI is not the same as being able to prove it, Leonard Steinhorn writes."

Well, yes, academic misconduct is a serious charge to bring, and you'd better have a case that goes beyond a reasonable doubt.

I couldn’t definitively prove it, but I knew it.

If you’ve taught in a college classroom these last two years, you no doubt know exactly the dilemma I’m describing. The rabbit hole of makeshift detective work that resulted may feel familiar, too.

Well, yes, and demonstrating that somebody has lifted it from the textbook or a common source is a lot easier than finding the algorithm the corner-cutting student used. "AI evolves second by second, and there are now multiple sites that with a simple click produce papers and essays, I could not find any exact examples of plagiarism."

Professor Steinhorn's column continues with the saga of one egregiously disengaged and entitled student.  It's good to know, I suppose, that goldbricking and slacking is as it always was.  As was the end of the story.

With no provable evidence of plagiarism, I had no grounds to fail him or even raise this with administrators. After all, he could claim that he’s a student, that students make sourcing mistakes, that he’ll be better the next time, and that much of what he “wrote” reflects the history of the ’60s, which in a general sense it did. So I simply graded him based on his problematic citations, apparent fake bibliography and lack of examples from the readings and class. He didn’t do as well as I suspect he hoped.

I will use this case in future classes as an object lesson and a warning. But I’ve also come to terms with the fact that some students come to college for an education, and others simply for a credential. The former will learn how to research, think critically, identify patterns in culture and history, and synthesize large amounts of material—which is exactly the type of mindset that will enrich our society and help them succeed. As for the latter, I have confidence that their truth will come out—that they will flatline in their careers because life in the real world will expose their reliance on shortcuts, cunning and cheating.

So mote it be.  Let us close this meditation with a passage from Charlie Sykes's Prof Scam.  Please turn your missals to page 45.  "Old hands tell you to fail a paper for its comma faults, not for obvious plagiarism, because you don't want to risk a student's challenge."  Recall, dear reader, that was 1988, and there wasn't anywhere near the student success bureaucracy there now is to keep up the pretense that the Distressed Material is just fine.