In this episode, David and Brian discuss CS50's experience with matters of academic dishonesty, whereby students sometimes submit work that's not entirely their own. While the course aspires each year to reduce the number of instances thereof, most educationally impactful to date has been the course's introduction of a "regret clause" to its syllabus. If students do cross some ethical line, often late at night under significant stress, they are now encouraged to reach out to the course's heads within 72 hours. The course then addresses the matter internally, without escalation to the university itself. While the work in question is usually zeroed, students are often referred to other resources on campus as well for academic support and mental health. The effect has been to transform a process that was once primarily punitive into teachable moments.
The CS50 Podcast is hosted by CS50's own David J. Malan and Brian Yu at Harvard University. Each episode focuses on (and explains!) current events and news in tech and computer science more generally.
This is the CS50 Podcast.
