The Weakest Link

The lab was done, and the data was collected. It was time to do the analysis and discussion. Colbie, Nick and Wolfie were in a study room after lab, working on their group lab report.

“Maybe we should ask the professor about the first question. I don’t want to be wrong.” Nick suggested.

“I must leave for work in an hour, so I don’t have time to ask the professor questions. Let’s just get it done, and we can ask later,” Wolfie responded.

The group worked through the data and tried to do the calculations, but they were different from the calculations they had done before. Nick was very concerned that they had not done everything correctly.

Wolfie was getting impatient, “Can we just get this finished, please. I need to leave so that I am on time for my job!”

“We’ve got you bro! Go to work and we will finish and send the calculations to you!” Colbie replied.

“I’m really worried that everything is not correct! I need it to be right. I must get an A in this class to keep my 4.0 GPA. Med schools only look at students with a 4.0 GPA,” Nick whined.

“Ok” replied Colbie, “let’s work a little longer and then I can email the professor with our questions.” So Colbie and Nick spent the next couple of hours working the analysis calculations, and compiling a list of questions that they were unsure about. At the end of the time, they agreed that Colbie would email Professor Suspicious the list of questions and see if they could verify that the calculations were correct.

The next day, Colbie did as asked. He emailed the professor. The response he got was short. “Some are ok, but the point of the calculations is to figure them out for yourself.” Colbie was a little unhappy but determined to ace the lab. “I can just use AI to figure this out, and then we will know that we are correct for sure!” Colbie thought.

So Colbie entered the experiment into an AI tool and put in the calculations. The resulting information looked like what the group had done, but some looked completely different. There were some different numbers that Colbie had never seen before, but the assumption was that AI would be correct. Colbie copied it all into the report format and sent it to the group. The source of the information was not included in the email that was sent to his lab partners.

Wolfie was so excited to have the work done that they never looked at it. Nick assumed that this was what the professor had said to do, so did not question what was in the email. Wolfie and Nick gave their OK, and the work was submitted.

When their lab was returned, they had received a zero with a caution about plagiarism.

Task:

1. Identify the person most responsible for the bad grade.
2. Describe why the person you selected is the most responsible. Identify the actions that convinced you of their fault.
3. Propose actions that each character could take to create a more productive learning experience in the following class period.