Brown Professor Bans Take-Home Exams After 40 Students Scored 100
Updated
Updated · The College Fix · Jul 8
Brown Professor Bans Take-Home Exams After 40 Students Scored 100
3 articles · Updated · The College Fix · Jul 8
Summary
Roberto Serrano ended take-home exams in his Brown economics course after 40 of 86 students earned perfect 100s on a home midterm and the class average hit 96.
Those results sharply broke from prior midterms, which usually averaged 65 to 80, prompting Serrano to warn he would void the test unless the in-person final showed a similar score pattern.
The final instead deepened his suspicions: 59 students took it, 19 failed the exam and course, several turned in blank papers, and Serrano said the average was the lowest in the course's history.
Serrano told the Chronicle of Higher Education that many students who had scored 100 on the midterm dropped the class before the final, reinforcing his view that widespread cheating had occurred.
The case has become a broader warning about academic integrity, with Serrano saying easy online answers risk leaving students with grades but little lasting learning.