Harvard CS50 Team: We ‘Feel More Comfortable’ About Harshly Punishing Cheaters

theodp writes: In Teaching Academic Honesty in CS50, a new paper scheduled to be presented at SIGCSE 2020, educators behind Harvard’s fabled CS50 introductory computer science course report on an unexpected benefit of the introduction of a “regret clause” that gives students who cheat 72 hours to self-report their misdeeds in return for a lesser punishment: It’s made the CS50 team lose less sleep over referring “unregretful” cheaters for harsh punishment. From the SIGCSE paper: “Invocations of that [regret] clause have led to heart-to-heart talks, referrals for mental health, and, ultimately, teachable moments for an otherwise not-previously-reached demographic. But that same clause has also contributed to an uptick in the number of cases referred to the university’s honor council for disciplinary action [which may result in required withdrawal from the university], in part because we now feel more comfortable referring cases after students have had an opportunity to take ownership themselves but have chosen not to do so.” Bet you didn’t see that one coming, kids!