Latest news with #academicmisconduct
South China Morning Post
3 days ago
- South China Morning Post
Do universities need a rethink on AI use for students? Singapore's NTU case causes a stir
A case at Singapore 's Nanyang Technological University (NTU) involving three students accused of academic misconduct over the use of generative AI (Gen AI) has prompted observers to question if tertiary institutions need clearer processes to deal with disputes. The students were told by their teacher in a briefing for a module on health, disease outbreaks and politics at the School of Social Sciences that the use of ChatGPT and AI tools was not allowed in the 'development or generation' of their essay proposal and long essay, according to pictures of the slide that were published online. One student's appeal was being processed before a review panel that would include AI experts, while the other two scored zero for the assignment, local media reported. The students used online tools to organise their citations. The two who have been punished used ChatGPT in their research but said they did not use it to write their essays, according to local media outlet CNA. Fong Wei Li, a lawyer at Forward Legal who specialises in internet and social media law, told This Week in Asia that the saga showed the gaps in processes among universities in dealing with such disputes between teachers and students. 'Most universities acknowledge that Gen AI is part of our lives, but what universities don't go further in doing is consistent framework about processes for grievances; if a faculty accuses a student of using Gen AI and the student disputes it,' Fong said. 'There has not been a critical mass for these kinds of disputes, but do we want to wait for something to happen like it did at NTU before there is a process if a student disputes?'
The Guardian
6 days ago
- Science
- The Guardian
There's no simple solution to universities' AI worries
I enjoyed the letter from Dr Craig Reeves (17 June) in which he argues that higher education institutions are consciously choosing not to address widespread cheating using generative AI so as not to sacrifice revenues from international students. He is right that international students are propping up the UK's universities, of which more than two-fifths will be in deficit by the end of this academic year. But it is untrue that universities could simply spot AI cheating if they wanted to. Dr Reeves says that they should use AI detectors, but the studies that he quotes rebut this argument. The last study he cites (Perkins et al, 2024) shows that AI detectors were accurate in fewer than 40% of cases, and that this fell to just 22% of 'adversarial' cases – when the use of AI was deliberately obscured. In other words, AI detectors failed to spot that AI had been used three‑quarters of the time. That is why it is wrong to say there is a simple solution to the generative AI problem. Some universities are pursuing academic misconduct cases with verve against students who use AI. But because AI leaves no trace, it is almost impossible to definitively show that a student used AI, unless they admit it. In the meantime, institutions are switching to 'secure' assessments, such as the in-person exams he celebrates. Others are designing assessments assuming students will use AI. No one is saying universities have got everything right. But we shouldn't assume conspiracy when confusion is the simpler FreemanPolicy manager, Higher Education Policy Institute; author, Student Generative AI Survey 2025 The use of AI to 'write' things in higher education has prompted significant research and discussion in institutions, and the accurate reporting of that research is obviously important. Craig Reeves mentions three papers in support of the Turnitin AI checker, claiming that universities opted out of this function without testing it because of fears over false positive flagging of human-written texts as AI generated. One of those papers says: 'The researchers conclude that the available detection tools are neither accurate nor reliable and have a main bias towards classifying the output as human-written rather than detecting AI-generated text' (Weber-Wulff et al); and a second found Turnitin to be the second worst of the seven AI detectors tested for flagging AI generated texts, with 84% undetected (Perkins et al). An AI detector can easily avoid false positives by not flagging any texts. We need to think carefully about how we are going to assess work, when at a click almost limitless superficially plausible text can be Paul JohnsonUniversity of Chester In an otherwise well thought out critique of the apparent (and possibly convenient) blind spot higher education has for the use of AI, Craig Reeves appears to be encouraging a return to traditional examinations as a means of rooting out the issue. While I sympathise (and believe strongly that something should be done), I hope that this return to older practices will not happen in a 'one size fits all' manner. I have marked examinations for well over 30 years. During that period I have regularly been impressed by students' understanding of a topic; I can remember only enjoying reading one examination essay. The others, no matter how good, read like paranoid streams of consciousness. A central transferable skill that degrees in the humanities offer is the ability to write well and cogently about any given topic after research. Examinations don't – can't – offer that. I would call for a move towards more analytical assessment, where students are faced with new material that must be considered in a brief period. I think that the move away from traditional essays as the sole form of assessment might help to lessen (not, of course, halt) the impact of external input. From experience, this focus also helps students move towards application of new understanding, rather than a passive digestion of Robert McColl MillarChair in linguistics and Scottish language, University of Aberdeen Have an opinion on anything you've read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section.
Daily Mail
29-05-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Harvard professor fired for allegedly fabricating research earned $1M
Disgraced Harvard professor Francesca Gino was paid more than $1 million a year at the height of her career, it was revealed, even as she allegedly manipulated data in research papers about honesty. Gino, a former Harvard Business School professor, once hailed as a rising star in behavioral science, was the fifth-highest paid employee at Harvard in both 2018 and 2019, according to records obtained by The Harvard Crimson. Her once-celebrated career imploded after she was accused of falsifying data in a series of behavioral science studies - including papers on honesty itself. The university revoked Gino's tenure and terminated her employment, marking the first time in decades that such a step has been taken against a tenured faculty member. Her ouster came after a lengthy internal investigation found evidence of academic misconduct in research spanning more than a decade. The revelation fueled fresh outrage as the Ivy League institution reels from a rapidly escalating political showdown with the Trump administration, which has moved to cancel $100 million in federal contracts and slash billions more in grants. In a separate conflict, the Trump administration has moved to cancel roughly $100 million in federal contracts with Harvard and is threatening to divert another $3 billion in grants. Trump has accused the school of promoting antisemitism, resisting oversight, and harboring 'radicalized lunatics' among its foreign student population. Taken together, the Gino scandal and the funding fight have thrown the university into turmoil - exposing deep tensions over accountability, integrity, and power at one of America's most elite institutions. Gino's fall from grace began quietly in 2021, when anonymous researchers and the whistleblower blog Data Colada published explosive allegations that Gino had falsified data in several published studies - including one ironically focused on dishonesty. The blog's meticulous analysis and documentation sparked alarm throughout the academic world. 'In 2021, we and a team of anonymous researchers examined a number of studies co-authored by Gino, because we had concerns that they contained fraudulent data,' Data Colada wrote. 'We discovered evidence of fraud in papers spanning over a decade, including papers published quite recently (in 2020).' Harvard Business School responded with an 18-month internal investigation, eventually concluding that Gino had engaged in academic misconduct. By mid-2023, she was placed on unpaid administrative leave, stripped of her named professorship, and barred from campus. But what stunned even longtime faculty members was what came next with the formal revocation of her tenure, a punishment so rare that it had not occurred at Harvard since at least the 1940s. Gino has strenuously denied the allegations. In September 2023, she launched a $25 million lawsuit against Harvard, its business school dean Srikant Datar, and the Data Colada bloggers, Leif D. Nelson, Uri Simonsohn, and Joseph P. Simmons, accusing them of conspiracy, defamation, and violating her contractual rights. In a defiant post on her personal website Gino wrote: 'I did not commit academic fraud. I did not manipulate data to produce a particular result. I did not falsify data to bolster any result. I did not commit the offense I am accused of. Period.' Though a federal judge dismissed parts of her suit in September 2024, he allowed claims of contract violations and discrimination to move forward. Gino has since added Title VII claims to her case, accusing the university of targeting her unfairly with policies that were, she alleges, crafted specifically to punish her. 'It has been shattering to watch my career being decimated and my reputation completely destroyed,' she wrote in October. 'I am fighting not only for my name but for fairness in academia.' As Gino's saga unfolded, it collided with a much larger storm - a full-blown assault on Harvard by President Donald Trump, who returned to the White House in January 2025 and immediately began targeting the Ivy League school as 'a nest of left-wing extremism, antisemitism, and corruption.' Earlier this week, the Trump administration took aim at $100 million in federal contracts awarded to Harvard, instructing agencies to cancel all agreements and seek 'alternate vendors.' The move follows the administration's earlier decision to cancel more than $2.6 billion in federal research grants to the university. 'We are still waiting for the Foreign Student Lists from Harvard so that we can determine, after a ridiculous expenditure of BILLIONS OF DOLLARS, how many radicalized lunatics, troublemakers all, should not be let back into our Country,' Trump posted on Truth Social on Sunday morning. 'Harvard is very slow in the presentation of these documents, and probably for good reason! The best thing Harvard has going for it is that they have shopped around and found the absolute best Judge (for them!) - But have no fear, the Government will, in the end, WIN!', he added. Although Harvard has complied with some requests from the Department of Homeland Security, the administration said the school's response was insufficient and attempted to revoke its ability to enroll foreign students - a move that was temporarily blocked in federal court after Harvard filed suit. International students are now caught in a kind of legal purgatory, unsure whether they'll be allowed to return in the fall. 'What the international students are caught in right now is just a limbo,' said Leo Gerdén, a graduating senior from Sweden. 'It's terrifying.' The Gino scandal has only fueled the administration's argument that Harvard is mismanaged, elitist, and ethically compromised. Harvard has long positioned itself as the gold standard in American higher education, a beacon of integrity and academic rigor. The simultaneous collapse of one of its star professors and the unraveling of its federal funding agreements has left the institution reeling. At a rally outside Harvard Yard this week, math and economics student Jacob Miller - former president of Harvard Hillel - condemned the administration's pressure campaign.
Daily Mail
28-05-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Outrageous salary of Harvard 'dishonesty' professor revealed as university risks losing billions
Disgraced Harvard professor Francesca Gino was paid more than $1 million a year at the height of her career, it was revealed, even as she allegedly manipulated data in research papers about honesty. Gino, a former Harvard Business School professor, once hailed as a rising star in behavioral science, was the fifth-highest paid employee at Harvard in both 2018 and 2019, according to records obtained by The Harvard Crimson. Her once-celebrated career imploded after she was accused of falsifying data in a series of behavioral science studies - including papers on honesty itself. The university revoked Gino's tenure and terminated her employment, marking the first time in decades that such a step has been taken against a tenured faculty member. Her ouster came after a lengthy internal investigation found evidence of academic misconduct in research spanning more than a decade. The revelation fueled fresh outrage as the Ivy League institution reels from a rapidly escalating political showdown with the Trump administration, which has moved to cancel $100 million in federal contracts and slash billions more in grants. In a separate conflict, the Trump administration has moved to cancel roughly $100 million in federal contracts with Harvard and is threatening to divert another $3 billion in grants. Trump has accused the school of promoting antisemitism, resisting oversight, and harboring 'radicalized lunatics' among its foreign student population. Taken together, the Gino scandal and the funding fight have thrown the university into turmoil - exposing deep tensions over accountability, integrity, and power at one of America's most elite institutions. Gino's fall from grace began quietly in 2021, when anonymous researchers and the whistleblower blog Data Colada published explosive allegations that Gino had falsified data in several published studies - including one ironically focused on dishonesty. The blog's meticulous analysis and documentation sparked alarm throughout the academic world. 'In 2021, we and a team of anonymous researchers examined a number of studies co-authored by Gino, because we had concerns that they contained fraudulent data,' Data Colada wrote. 'We discovered evidence of fraud in papers spanning over a decade, including papers published quite recently (in 2020).' Harvard Business School responded with an 18-month internal investigation, eventually concluding that Gino had engaged in academic misconduct. By mid-2023, she was placed on unpaid administrative leave, stripped of her named professorship, and barred from campus. But what stunned even longtime faculty members was what came next with the formal revocation of her tenure, a punishment so rare that it had not occurred at Harvard since at least the 1940s. Gino has strenuously denied the allegations. In September 2023, she launched a $25 million lawsuit against Harvard, its business school dean Srikant Datar, and the Data Colada bloggers, Leif D. Nelson, Uri Simonsohn, and Joseph P. Simmons, accusing them of conspiracy, defamation, and violating her contractual rights. In a defiant post on her personal website Gino wrote: 'I did not commit academic fraud. I did not manipulate data to produce a particular result. I did not falsify data to bolster any result. I did not commit the offense I am accused of. Period.' Though a federal judge dismissed parts of her suit in September 2024, he allowed claims of contract violations and discrimination to move forward. Gino has since added Title VII claims to her case, accusing the university of targeting her unfairly with policies that were, she alleges, crafted specifically to punish her. 'It has been shattering to watch my career being decimated and my reputation completely destroyed,' she wrote in October. 'I am fighting not only for my name but for fairness in academia.' As Gino's saga unfolded, it collided with a much larger storm - a full-blown assault on Harvard by President Donald Trump, who returned to the White House in January 2025 and immediately began targeting the Ivy League school as 'a nest of left-wing extremism, antisemitism, and corruption.' Earlier this week, the Trump administration took aim at $100 million in federal contracts awarded to Harvard, instructing agencies to cancel all agreements and seek 'alternate vendors.' The move follows the administration's earlier decision to cancel more than $2.6 billion in federal research grants to the university. 'We are still waiting for the Foreign Student Lists from Harvard so that we can determine, after a ridiculous expenditure of BILLIONS OF DOLLARS, how many radicalized lunatics, troublemakers all, should not be let back into our Country,' Trump posted on Truth Social on Sunday morning. 'Harvard is very slow in the presentation of these documents, and probably for good reason! The best thing Harvard has going for it is that they have shopped around and found the absolute best Judge (for them!) - But have no fear, the Government will, in the end, WIN!', he added. Although Harvard has complied with some requests from the Department of Homeland Security, the administration said the school's response was insufficient and attempted to revoke its ability to enroll foreign students - a move that was temporarily blocked in federal court after Harvard filed suit. International students are now caught in a kind of legal purgatory, unsure whether they'll be allowed to return in the fall. 'What the international students are caught in right now is just a limbo,' said Leo Gerdén, a graduating senior from Sweden. 'It's terrifying.' The Gino scandal has only fueled the administration's argument that Harvard is mismanaged, elitist, and ethically compromised. Harvard has long positioned itself as the gold standard in American higher education, a beacon of integrity and academic rigor. The simultaneous collapse of one of its star professors and the unraveling of its federal funding agreements has left the institution reeling. At a rally outside Harvard Yard this week, math and economics student Jacob Miller - former president of Harvard Hillel - condemned the administration's pressure campaign. 'Antisemitism is a real problem,' he said. 'But these policies will do nothing to solve it. They're about control, not protection.' The chaos has also triggered an international response. Japan's education minister, Toshiko Abe, said her government is working to help displaced Harvard students, and Tokyo University is exploring whether it can temporarily absorb some of them. Universities in Hong Kong and across Europe have also offered refuge.
