Grade distribution after switching from take home to in class
A Brown University professor reports that after switching from take-home to in-class exams, the grade distribution returned to normal, leading him to suspect that most of his class had previously used AI to cheat on take-home assignments.
Background
A 2026 article from Inside Higher Ed reports that a Brown University professor believes the majority of his class used AI to cheat on a take-home exam after he noticed an unusually high grade distribution. When he switched to an in-class exam, the average grade dropped sharply, leading him to suspect widespread unauthorized AI use. The incident reflects a broader tension in higher education: professors are grappling with how to assess students fairly in an era of powerful, accessible generative AI tools like ChatGPT, while students face unclear norms around what constitutes acceptable AI assistance. Brown University is an Ivy League institution in Providence, Rhode Island, known for its open curriculum and rigorous academic standards. The article is part of a larger ongoing conversation about academic integrity, grading, and the difficulty of policing AI use without reliable detection tools.