Concerning the problem of of double-dipping, I had written:
>> However, having said all of that, I'm not sure what is the best way to
>> approach this. If you go to your colleague and say "so-and-so turned in a
>> paper to me that I think he may also have turned in to you," you may
>> technically be violating the student's rights to confidentiality.
And Stephen Black replied:
> Interesting point. Is a term paper handed in to an instructor a
> confidential document? Is showing the paper to a colleague a
> breech of that confidentiality? Or is consulting with a colleague
> concerning a submission analogous to a doctor consulting with another
> doctor about the appropriate treatment for a patient?
>
> In any case, John thinks that the violation might be "technical" and
> if this is intended to mean "not serious", then I agree. How else are
> we going to determine whether double-dipping has occurred without
> consulting with other instructors?
I'm not sure the analogy holds--does the doctor identify the patient when
consulting with a colleague? But in any case, I should have just left out
that word "technically" as it implies more than I had intended; I don't know
the technicalities of the laws. What I actually was thinking of was the
possibility of violating a school's stated policies. For example,
Georgetown's web pages say the following concerning their honor code:
"All information about the case is considered confidential and should not be
released to anyone. It is permissible to discuss aspects of the case with
your colleagues provided the identity of the accused is not revealed and may
not be deduced from your statements."
I think this is good advice, and even in the case of double-dipping, it can
be done: Show a copy of the paper (with all identification removed) to the
colleague, and simply ask whether he's seen it or something very similar in
his class. If he hasn't, the student's privacy is preserved. If he has, the
student's identity is now known, but that's no problem because the student
also cheated in the colleague's class.
> If the inquiry
> results in discovering that the student was dishonest, let him/her
> sue. Isn't this why we have university lawyers?
And I agree with that sentiment. If it really came down to it, I would place
greater priority on my responsibility to deal with cheating than on my fears
about violating confidentiality. Again, I'm not advocating letting students
get away with double-dipping, I'm just advising caution on how we deal with
it.
John
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John Serafin
Professor of Psychology
Saint Vincent College
300 Fraser Purchase Rd.
Latrobe, PA 15650
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
