Odds are, we’ve all cheated, whether it’s handing down past exams or sharing information minutes before a quiz. Traditionally, we think of cheating as an information transaction from one person to another or a small group of people. This kind of sharing is private and low-key, making it difficult to catch. Even if a student shares the most miniscule detail about an exam or homework assignment, it is cheating. Yet these cases tend to be overlooked or not caught. But when it is, it means serious trouble for those involved.

So when questions from a lab practical were posted to a 600-plus member Facebook group for a U. Illinois human anatomy and physiology lab course, MCB 247, the cheating was not going to go unnoticed. Finally, with physical evidence, there was no way this cheating would slip under the radar.

Professor Chester Brown, who teaches the course, canceled the students’ grades for the practical and doubled the worth of the final exam upon discovering the Facebook page. The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences is currently investigating the violation, according to an email sent out to MCB 247 students.

Cheating is neither new nor condoned, but the irresponsibility of posting the questions and their answers in a public forum like Facebook is baffling. Why cheat in the first place? It only gives everyone else a chance to set the grading distributions higher, working against the cheater. But students do it in hopes someone will return the favor later. Is it worth the risk, though, when penalties for cheating can be as severe as expulsion?

In the grade-determining weeks before finals, students may be pushed to cheat out of desperation. But even when it’s hard to find a way to succeed, students shouldn’t resort to cheating.

Mitigating cheating is on the professors as well. If multiple students will be taking an exam at different times, then there should be multiple versions. This singular example is an outstanding case of extreme cheating, but it does serve as a message: The way people cheat is changing, so we need to update the way we monitor and stop it.