NUS Students Who Cheated on Home-Based Exams Due to COVID-19 Get Zero Marks

Here’s some good ole’ advice for those thinking about cheating for an exam:

It’s a very effective life hack, I know.

Once, classmate 69LayZBao96 sneaked a paper note to me during an exam asking for answers, and I sneaked back the paper saying “You can do it!”

Which left the teacher very confused by 69LayZBao96’s answer of “You can do it!” to a math question, but at least Bao had some marks.

Which can’t be said for the NUS students who cheated way back in March 2020.

That’s right. If you’re an NUS student in the same course but didn’t cheat, breathe a sigh of relief since you don’t have to retake the exam, unlike the SIM-RMIT students.

But although the title says the cheaters get zero marks, they do actually have one.

Plagiarism Offence Will Be Marked Down On Educational Records

Needless to say, they can’t S/U either one of those.

(S/U stands for Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory, which is the option to change grades to S/U instead of the standard ABC grading. Because of COVID-19, NUS students were given an option to write off grades for up to 10 modular credits for any module taken last semester.)

The students had cheated on a practical exam for CS1010E programming methodology, and according to a spokesman for the NUS School of Computing speaking to The New Paper, they have also been scolded.

CS1010E module is a compulsory module for engineering students and had 680 students last semester. The exam was worth 15% of the final grade. (FYI, the SIM-RMIT one was worth 50%.)

Anti-plagiarism software and manual verification allowed course instructors to figure out who cheated. The spokesman declined to say how many students were caught but did say that they comprised of engineering students.

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Lecturer Had Sent Out E-mail Calling For Cheaters To Confess

According to an anonymous student who also took the exam, very few students confessed to his knowledge.

He also said, “Those who were caught got what they deserved.

“It would have been unfair if people who put in less effort than me achieved a better score. It is like laughing right into my face for all the effort I put in.”

But a student who admitted to cheating said the penalties were fair. Previously, he talked to some friends on video-call to discuss how the difficult the exam was.

When Mr Prabawa Adi Yoga Sidi, the lecturer sent out the e-mails urging people to confess, the first-year chemical engineering student, 21, said, “I remember feeling absolutely terrified as I didn’t know what to do.

“I talked to some seniors and they said not to confess because it was just a scare tactic. But I was scared and worried that if I didn’t confess, it would be worse later on.

“I’ll never cheat again, that is for sure.”

Very… interesting seniors you have there.

Measures To Be Put In Place

NUS (both the School of Computing and the whole Uni) have put in place online proctoring, or online invigilation, which allows them to monitor students via a webcam, to preserve the integrity of online assessments.

Remember kids, cheating may give you a stress-free environment resulting in zero pimples, but it will also result in zero marks.

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