International students who failed their school programs are protesting for “fair results” after being accused of cheating in an online course.
As study permits are about to expire, international students from Algoma University in Brampton protest over failed grades.
Protesters chanted and held signs that said, “Education is not for sale” and “Fix your system, don’t blame us” outside of Algoma University’s Brampton campus Wednesday morning.
Protesters distributed pamphlets outlining the concerns of the protest.
“Hundreds of international students at Algoma University are facing unfair academic penalties that threaten their education, visa status and future opportunities. Despite paying high tuition, students received minimal and contradictory guidelines from their professors,” the note said.
“Unclear and conflicting instructions during exams led to unfair penalties. Contradictory statements from the professor have caused confusion and distress.”
They demanded “immediate and fair” reassessment of their work, “transparent resolution” to all of their appeals to have the grades reexamined and “accountability for the professor’s contradictory instructions and unfair penalties.”
An international student who said hours after the interview that she wanted her name excluded from the story for safety reasons spoke to True North on behalf of the protesters.
She said most of the protesters, around 55, at Algoma University took a graduate certificate in business management and were accused of cheating in an online finance and accounting course exam, resulting in a failing grade. She said the accusation was unfair and given without evidence.
“More than 50 students have failed without any clear and legitimate reason. We have been asking the university questions, but there has been no response,” the protest representative said.
The university told True North in an email that university officials have met with the students protesting their grades in the finance and accounting course and pointed to the 91.9% pass rate in the institutions’ domestic courses and its international student rate of 91.4% to reflect the university’s “commitment to excellence in learning.”
“While we provide all students with a range of resources to support their success, it is up to them to do the work and pass their exams,” it said.
The protester said the professor put a trick question in the non-proctored online exam to catch potential cheaters.
“Upon highlighting the text of the question, we (the students) are getting another question popped up. And we thought it’s a technical glitch causing the question to not show up,” she said. “We answered the hidden question, which the professor hid to accuse us of cheating. We did not know that it was just a trap or it was not to be answered.”
The protester said the test was in an LMS bright space. This software advertises various ways a professor could enable the program to detect cheating. However, True North could not confirm which method was used with a member of Algoma’s business and economics faculty.
She said that none of the protesters thought to ask the professor if the question was supposed to be answered because they did not expect to be tricked on their final exam. The protesters demand that the one question that marked them as cheating be discounted.
“If you want to accuse us that we have cheated, you just leave that one question, but at least give us the marks for the 89 questions,” she said. “We need a passing grade for this particular course.”
According to the protest representative, students were directed to a two-part appeal process, which they were told could take three months. By then, they would have overstayed their allotted time in Canada.
“Algoma University is guiding students who have failed the course through the formal processes available to all students under existing Senate-approved policies and procedures,” the university said. “Additionally, the University is continuing to meet with each student one-on-one to support them with the next steps available to them.”
According to the anonymous protester, the formal process includes meeting with the dean and professor as well. However, she said the professor had declined to meet students, saying his decision was final. She said students are also being told to re-register, though the protester noted that a single course would cost each student $3,500.
Some of the protesters at Algoma were failing other courses, too. According to the representative, around 40 protesters are failing what she thinks is a marketing course. Around 15 people from Algoma’s Sault Ste Marie campus who attended also demanded passing grades.
