callivert - 10:23 pm on May 24, 2007 (gmt 0)

The Universities have been gamed since there were Universities, there is nothing new about it.

Yes, there have always been cheats, but the problem was never this widespread. The internet has (a) made cheating a lot easier, and (b) turned it into a multi-million dollar industry. So there has been a real change. While the problem was small, it could be ignored. When cheating becomes normal, you've got a crisis.

Change the system and there will not be incentives to plagiarize. How about decreasing class sizes, so that there is more time for instructor to devote to each student via one-to-one tutoring? Otherwise all you learn is how to write papers.

It doesn't matter how good your course is, or how well the students learn, or how much care you put into mentoring. University is hard and it is not for everyone. Therefore, there will always be a motive for cheaters. The more status accorded to degrees, the more motive for cheating. Making better courses won't stop cheating. For that matter, Google's ban won't stop it either (although I believe it will have an impact, for now).
Developing better assessment techniques is the only hope for stopping it.