Open Source Students V. Proprietary Professors
Last month, nearly 10% of the Class of 2008 at Duke University's business school were caught cheating on a take-home final exam. But is it really cheating to collaborate on projects anymore? How dumb would you have to be to work that way in the real world?
Still, many believe
that a rethinking of the assessment process is in store. The Stanford
University Design School, for example, is so collaborative that "it
would be impossible to cheat," says D-school professor Robert I.
Sutton. "If you found somebody to help you write an exam, in our view
that's a sign of an inventive person who gets stuff done. If you found
someone to do work for free who was committed to open source, we'd say,
'Wow, that was smart.' One group of students got the police to help
them with a school project to build a roundabout where there were a lot
of bike accidents. Is that cheating?"
Are You Cheating Or Having A Wiki? Who works alone anymore? If I was hiring, I'd ask my prospective hires: "Are you smart enough to cheat?" Tell us what you think in the comments.
