Princeton Will Supervise Exams For First Time In 133 Years Because of AI (the-independent.com)
- Reference: 0183216759
- News link: https://news.slashdot.org/story/26/05/14/1734202/princeton-will-supervise-exams-for-first-time-in-133-years-because-of-ai
- Source link: https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/princeton-proctor-exams-ai-b2976111.html
> Princeton University will soon [1]require exams to be supervised for the first time in 100 years -- all thanks to students using artificial intelligence to cheat. For 133 years, the Ivy League school's honor code allowed students to take exams without a professor present, but on Monday, faculty voted to require proctoring for all in-person exams starting this summer. A "significant" number of undergraduate students and faculty requested the change, "given their perception that cheating on in-class exams has become widespread," the college's dean, Michael Gordin, wrote in a letter, according to [2]The Wall Street Journal .
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> Princeton's honor system dates back to 1893, when students petitioned to eliminate proctors -- or an impartial person to supervise students -- during examinations, according to the school's newspaper, [3]The Daily Princetonian . The honor code has long been a point of pride for Princeton. However, artificial intelligence and cellphones have made it easier for students to cheat -- and even harder for others to spot, Gordin wrote. Despite the changes to the policy, Princeton will still require students to state: "I pledge my honor that I have not violated the Honor Code during this examination," according to the Journal.
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> Students are also more reluctant to report cheating, according to the policy proposal. Students are more likely now to anonymously report cheating due to fears of "doxxing or shaming among their peer groups" online, the proposal says, according to the school newspaper. Under the new guidelines, instructors will be present during exams to act "as a witness to what happens," but are instructed not to interfere with students. If a suspected honor code infraction occurs, they will report it to a student-run honor committee for adjudication.
[1] https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/princeton-proctor-exams-ai-b2976111.html
[2] https://www.wsj.com/us-news/education/princeton-cheating-ai-proctors-2a1cf62e?mod=hp_lead_pos4&AID=15734583&PID=9043291&SID=mp5rksj62j03tlhs0023y&subid=Sovrn+Inc&cjevent=947a94384fba11f1813300040a1eba8e&tier_1=affiliate&tier_2=moa&tier_3=Sovrn+Inc&tier_4=2470763&tier_5=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.wsj.com%2Fus-news%2Feducation%2Fprinceton-cheating-ai-proctors-2a1cf62e%3Fmod%3Dhp_lead_pos4
[3] https://www.dailyprincetonian.com/article/2026/05/princeton-news-adpol-proctoring-in-person-examinations-passed-faculty-133-years-precedent
Cheat sheets (Score:2)
The best protection against cheating is to test for application of knowledge, not for knowledge. Give them an LLM. Give them Wikipedia. Give them all the resources they'll have in the wild, then judge the output on quality. This does enormously increase the difficulty of grading and make it somewhat more subjective, but that's the tradeoff and it's necessary.
The second best protection is to allow students to prepare an index card ahead of time and put whatever they want on it. It really works for getting t
Re: (Score:2)
Yes. With companies declaring that they're going to replace most jobs with LLMs it seems weird that universities would be telling students they can't use them.
The entire university system is broken and they haven't yet come to terms with that.
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It is more like that people teaching at universities know what their responsibilities are and can see a hype for what it is. Example: To competently review code written by an LLM (which is absolutely critical), you need to be on a level above the complexity level of the task and the solution you review. Code review is harder than writing that code. But if you do not educate anybody that can do it or will eventually be able to, then there will be nobody that can review it in 10 or 20 years. The whole thing i
Re: (Score:2)
I do not give my students LLMs or Internet search. But I give them "as much paper as you want with whatever you want on it". I have gotten feedback from students quite often now, that preparing that paper was really good exam preparation and also made them actually revisit and really understand the subjects. So very much not just exam preparation but actual learning and understanding of things. In addition, if somebody finds some exam question not to clear, I answer questions about the exam questions during
Professor present? (Score:5, Funny)
How are they going to get a professor present as a proctor? It's hard enough to get one to show up for class.
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There isn't even an optometrist in the office when I go to get new glasses... it's telehealth crap. (they say it's because not enough people want to be optometrists)
This sounds like what school used to be like... at best, we had a TI-83+ in math class, the other classes were what we learned from the teacher and book.
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> How are they going to get a professor present as a proctor? It's hard enough to get one to show up for class.
Depends on the course, of course, but TA's are still a thing in many larger courses that could be used to supply the proctoring staff.
Only takes a few to mess things up (Score:2)
A relatively small number of dishonorable and dishonest egoists is all to takes to mess things up. Same as in basically every aspect of life.
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> A relatively small number of dishonorable and dishonest egoists is all to takes to mess things up. Same as in basically every aspect of life.
Summarize to: "And this is why we can't have nice things".
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It used to be a few, now it is nearing majority.
If you expect honor and integrity you are in the wrong century.
We used to be in a society where people smiled or acknowledged people they walk past. Now it's little ants treating everyone else as obstacles in the way as they walk down the path with a phone stuck to their nose.
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I spoke to a college intern who said that "everybody" cheated in his classes. He also tripped up on a sentence and suggested that he did the same.
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Eventually, cheaters get caught. It may take years, but it happens.
And it doesn't work out well for them. Unless, apparently, they run for public office.
Whew (Score:3)
Class of '26, in before proctors!
This is a temporary adaptation (Score:2)
It is trying to make the old system work in the new technological world
Education needs major reform
Imagine an AI tutor perfectly matched to a student's talents and learning speed, supplemented by a human teacher.
There would be no need for exams as the AI tutor would constantly assess the student's progress and adjust the teaching as necessary
Imagine learning physics from a virtual Einstein or Feynman
What the.... ?? (Score:2)
Every exam I took in university was supervised. And while I did graduate quite a while ago, it wasn't 133 years ago.
Funny (Score:4, Funny)
Jokes on them, the students have been cheating for 133 years.
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> Jokes on them, the students have been cheating for 133 years.
Cheating used to take skill. :-)
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I don't think they are under any illusions that there hasn't been any prior cheating. But doesn't change that it takes a lot less effort today, which makes it enough of a problem that they need to protect their reputation.
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Laughs in "Ill just google it"
Re:Funny (Score:5, Insightful)
People used to care about their reputation. A person's given word was more than a joke.