Yes, I am thinking.

I am reading this article with trepidation mixed with relief: What One College Did to Crack Down on Shoddy Transfer Credits – Athletics – The Chronicle of Higher Education. This comes together with another article about the gory details of the widespread schemes to “help” athletes meet the NCAA requirements.

My thoughts?

  1. Good for you, Mt. San Antonio! They did their homework, they compared courses, and they took a stance. In my position as course lead for a GenEd biology course I have received occasional request for course transfers, and trust me it takes its time and effort.
  2. I am so glad that I am not responsible for math courses.
  3. Feeling good that I put my foot down and implemented randomized questions in online exams.
  4. Hm. Is this something I should worry about?

While these articles are more focused on schemes related to athletes, for me it is another warning sign. I have been aware for quite a while that one can buy complete assignments online. As others, I was also shocked by the Chronicle article about the shadow scholar (and here he is coming out). In that update (more than 2 years ago) many in the comment thread talked about the “industry trend.”

A little while ago I was referred to the website Fiverr as a place to get technical stuff done (for example, a website design etc). Poking around I found a number of references to “I will do your CS homework for you” and with a premonition, typed in “biology.”

Well check out for yourself: the results of the search.

Not good.