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Preventing Networked Gizmo Use During Exams?
bcrowell writes "I'm a college physics professor. My students all want to use calculators during exams, and some of them whose native language isn't English also want to use electronic dictionaries. I had a Korean student who was upset and dropped the course when I told her she couldn't use her iPod during an exam — she said she used it as a dictionary. It gets tough for me to distinguish networked devices (iPhone? iTouch?) from non-networked ones (calculator? electronic dictionary? iPod?). I give open-notes exams, so it's not memory that's an issue, it's networking. Currently our classrooms have poor wireless receptivity (no Wi-Fi, possible cell, depending on your carrier), but as of spring 2011 we will have Wi-Fi everywhere. What's the best way to handle this? I'd prefer not to make them all buy the same overpriced graphing calculator. I'm thinking of buying 30 el-cheapo four-function calculators out of my pocket, but I'm afraid that less-adaptable students will be unable to handle the switch from the calculator they know to an unfamiliar (but simpler) one."
Well, I am not sure that this is the right approach but there seems to be plenty of jamming devices around that you could use during exams. Just put some signs near your exam room like "jamming devices at work" so everybody know that they have to go a little farther away in order to get connectivity and calibrate your jamming device appropriately so you do not jam the whole campus .. ;-)
http://www.netline.co.il/page/cell_phone_jammer.aspx
http://www.jammer-store.com/
http://www.chinavasion.com/product_info.php/pName/wifi-bluetooth-wireless-video-jammer-portable-wireless-block/
http://www.amazon.ca/Power-Portable-Signal-Jammer-Phone/dp/B003YFSKUU
Everything I write is lies, read between the lines.
First off -- I applaud your use of open-note exams. That is the ONLY real-world way to learn and demonstrate knowledge. There is almost never a situation in the professional world where one must solve a problem with absolutely no references (and it would be stupid to do so on a production system -- when solving a critical problem, why risk everything based on what you *think* is right, when you can verify against documentation; at least if something breaks, you can point to the incorrect docs...)
Some people can simply memorize anything they look at, while others struggle at this. A proper exam should be designed to test one's ability to demonstrate processes: exams should give you all the information you need, but the questions should be designed such that only someone who has invested prior effort in practice and learning will be able to solve the questions in the allotted time.
For less-concrete subjects such as the arts, I'm not so sure how this can be accomplished. However this is a trivial design decision for exams in maths, sciences, programming, and engineering.
Furthermore, I think any physics or math exam that requires a complex calculator really has a wrong approach. Assuming everyone at this level has already demonstrated their ability to perform arithmetic several times over, the calculator should only be there to free them from making mistakes on the menial number crunching (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, squares, squareroots, proper value of e,Pi, etc...). The exam should test for core concepts: ideas where you simply must understand the knowledge through prior practice and learning.
Sadly, I think many professors fall back on rote-memorization exams just because they can't be bothered to design proper exams each semester. These types often teach straight from the textbook-provided lesson plans, and then wonder why students cheat...
But honestly -- an exam is but one facet of demonstrating proficiency in a subject. Personally, I think projects & labs the best way: sure one can cheat, but it's easy to determine who has spent time polishing a proper unique lab report. In this respect, open-ended projects are the best, as the room for creativity limits the possibility for undetectable cheating, and lets the students show their enthusiasm for the subject. If you're really worried about cheating, a lab-practical may even be a legitimate tool: it's pretty damn hard to make stuff up as you go while you've got a one-person audience of the professor.
Short answer: let them use basic scientific calculators, the textbook, their notes, and a dictionary; design your tests so that students have all the resources they need, but don't have enough time to learn-as-they-go during the exam.
"Never memorize something that you can look up." --Albert Einstein
1. Tell the students "Tough!". You don't need a calculator!
2. The best way I've seen professors handle this is to design the questions to only require basic math knowledge, or only require answers that don't require extensive calculations. Make it so that if they are correctly arriving at the answer, the math is stupidly easy.
3. Tough about the English requirement. You are in the USA, and our language is English. And in a physics class, there shouldn't be that much to look up anyways. If you must have a dictionary, you can buy really cheap paperback ones. You think I get access to a dictionary when I take a test, or any book for that matter? NO!
No test should ever need a calculator if setup properly. It should only require basic math skills. If it must require knowledge of square roots and such, make a table available or make it so that the final calculations are ridiculously easy (like square root of 9). You are testing physics concepts, not math. And if you can't handle basic math and basic English, how did they ever get into college in the first place?
Make tests that dont require calcs. You can test knowledge without complex math. hell, use nothing but variables in the equations, if they get z=xy/r*2, then thats an answer. If they cant speak english, show them the door. This is college, not kindergarten
> Well, I am not sure that this is the right approach
Der... ya think?
Jamming cellular signals is a federal crime.
What a jackass.
s/iTouch/iPod Touch
Make each test distinct, choose a throwaway question that you know there are online resources to utilize that would answer it.
Have the network operations guys gather proxy info during the exam period. Track anybody who connects to that site (or one
of it's ilk) and match it to their distinct question. Give them an F no questions asked and refer to the ethics board for cheating.
You don't have to beat the technology, you just have to catch them when they do what they know is wrong.
The easy answer is go and get a microwave for the classroom. Make everybody their favorite microwave meal!
Batteries run out, devices inexplicably break, crash, bsod etc. If you allow electronic doodads in the testing area, are you expected to let them retake their test if their iPod touch freezes on them? Paper book dictionaries typically don't catastrophically break. I don't blame you for not allowing electronics in the testing area, I wouldn't.
moox. for a new generation.
What the hell did these students do 10 years ago? AFAIK two semesters of English and perhaps 1 semester of literature are the norm at every reputable college in the U.S. If their English is too poor for your physics exam, they probably have no hope of graduating.
If an officer ever threatens to taze you, say you have a pacemaker.
Just surround the entire classroom in a Faraday Cage. Surely that can't be _too_ expensive. ;)
Comment removed based on user account deletion
I think he's worried that you could IM a friend during an exam to work the answers out for you, as if you're a thin client, with all that computing power over in the cloud.
I once had a signature.
You can make WiFi unusable, however. Or you could alter the classroom so RF cannot enter through the walls or ceiling. And turn off the wireless AP in the room during exam time.
I suppose convincing the university to alter the classroom in this manner could be difficult, but they could also see the value in having some exam rooms that are essentially faraday cages
Depending on what level of physics you teach, 99% of students should already have a TI-83 or TI-89. Just as common as a pencil. But I'm of the engineer variety in the USA. Besides, math is a universal language (and on that note, if they can't understand the common spoken language that they've elected for... too bad). If they are not capable of understanding constants and universally applicable equations... they will fail anyways. However, at least at my university, I've yet to take a class where cellular or anything non-calculator allowed at all. You take out a cell phone or anything that's not a calculator and your booted out of the class. In many of the test questions in physics that I've taken, it's not a big stretch to deduce what the question is just based on a few key words and defined variables.
If the student is capable of getting the answers right, what difference does it make how it's obtained.
If the issue is that you're worried that the students are pulling answers off the internet then I could agree that you do indeed have an issue.
However, I will provide a different perspective on the problem. As an employer the employee who succeeds is the one who knows how to obtain the information necessary to solve a problem, and use those methods to build their skill levels up. I have seen those who are unable to do this eventually be let go. So aside from the usual arse kissers who seem to proliferate most companies, those who function the best are those who are able to compile a solution from sources built up from years of work. I could care less if it came from Google as long as it's not infringing on anyone's legal rights that could come back to haunt the company.
I honestly think you might be hobbling these young professionals in a sense. Have them show their work at least. Most free solutions to math problems never show the work, you have to shell out hundreds of dollars for that.
[rant]And please for the love of God, let them write it down on paper and scan it, equation editors add hours to large equations. I had a teacher pull that crap on me once on a refresher course. I paid to learn, not learn an equation editor, my writing is legible. I can understand if others are not, but sheesh give someone a chance![/rant]
If the kid needs an ipod/dictionary to be able to take the course, perhaps they shouldn't be there in the first place. Students should be learning the language as well as the subject. Where any of us allowed to lug dictionaries (of any sort) around during exams?
The alternative is simply to dumb down exams to the point to where everyone can pass them and feel good, and the exams no longer matter. No doubt we are a lot closer to that point these days than we were 20 years ago.
I would assume most college level students can work any 4 function calculator just fine. They will gripe about it, but to bad. As a recent MBA grad who has traveled to China, I agree...separate the Chinese student. It really is a part of their culture to share everything.
If they can't handle the switch from an expensive calculator to some simpler one, are they fit to even be studying university-level physics in the first place? Surely possessing the intuition to pick up an unfamiliar calculator and be able to use it is assumed knowledge for such a level of education?
The advantage of this is that you level the playing field and can write your exam questions in such a way that expensive, programmable calculators are not required. If your questions are short-response (as I'd hope in physics, to allow for working to be marked), the actual computation of the answer is relatively minor, almost insignificant part of the process - the marks can come from performing the working itself.
I would go with a combination of analog and whitelist, revealed in the course description / prospectus. Translation dictionaries need to be bound printed matter and are subject to your inspection. Extend the amount of time available to take the exam by 50% to accommodate the analog dictionaries. Calculators must be a model from a whitelist of known non-networked devices. Just take a look at the TI catalog and pick the ones they can use. Students can submit their devices for approval during the first week of class; after that, only approved devices are allowed.
D
Just like it's part of the USA's culture to go around shooting each other in the streets.......
Wait did I just stereotype "USA'nians" (yes there are more Americans than just the USA)....Sorry, it must have been the theme of this thread that made me do it.....
...and randomize the order of the questions, changing values subtly for the questions, and/or changing the variable names and other minutiae in order to make it a bigger waste of time for them to cheat.
Once you make it clear to them that the exams are 'unique' to each student the cheaters will likely panic and turf the exam hard anyhow.
You can make 4-10 different exams and it will be way easier to catch the cheaters.
In theory you could tailor each exam to each student but you'd have to set up a pretty good infrastructure for grading efficiently.
Well, I am not sure that this is the right approach but there seems to be plenty of jamming devices around that you could use during exams.
As long as you don't mind the possibility of spending a year in federal prison and a $10K fine for each of the several violations you'd be guilty of by using them, assuming you're in the U.S....
Please stand clear of the doors, por favor mantenganse alejado de las puertas
two words - SLIDE RULE
I'm thinking of buying 30 el-cheapo four-function calculators out of my pocket, but I'm afraid that less-adaptable students will be unable to handle the switch from the calculator they know to an unfamiliar (but simpler) one."
If they can't handle a cheapo calculator, they probably weren't going to pass the course anyway. You can offer to let them get familiar with it ahead of time but they'd be better off studying more. Calculators and computers are a crutch. If students rely on them too much they never really absorb the material. Technology should supplement but rarely should it be the focus.
I say ban the networking hardware altogether. I have a minor in applied physics and none of our tests when I was a student required anything more powerful than a scientific calculator (graphing optional) with no network capability. I think basically you should design the tests with that level of technology in mind. Let the projects and homework utilize the full capabilities of the computing hardware. Physics tests are about proving they understand concepts, not about proving they can work with a particular computer. If the problems require nothing more than a calculator that can do sine, cosine and tangent, then only allow calculators that can do that and nothing more.
The professional engineer exam is open book but if you actually need to look up a bunch of stuff you aren't going to pass anyway. Most tests should be like this. If they "need" networking during the test, they didn't really understand the material to begin with.
I was just on the other side of this situation a few years ago as a student. I worried that some other students were getting unfair advantages because of their devices. I would recommend getting some generic cheap calculators for the exam or doing away with the need for calculators at all. Consider the physics GRE doesn't allow calculators. As for translation devices it is only fair to let students use them, but you may want to work with some university accessibility office to find appropriate devices and restrict the rest. Of course you have to lay all of this out on the first day of class and remind students repeatedly before the exams.
When I took undergraduate physics, there were no calculators allowed... there were no numbers on the exams. Problems were like "If you throw a rock horizontally off a bridge at (v) m/s and it hits the ground after (t) seconds, how far away from the base of the bridge did the rock hit the ground, and how tall is the bridge?" And then the student has to understand that this problem requires the use of the projectile motion equations, and they to know what the question is actually asking and solve for it:
w = v t
h = g t^2
One particularly sadistic (but awesome) professor asked a question like this "Suppose you're stuck in the middle of a frozen pond with a perfectly smooth (frictionless) surface. Propose a way to escape the pond." My (correctly marked) proposal was throw away a shoe. Of course, I could show equations for conservation of momentum, but the point was to see if students understood what it meant to be a frictionless surface and to simply be aware of conservation of momentum.
"I'm thinking of buying 30 el-cheapo four-function calculators out of my pocket, but I'm afraid that less-adaptable students will be unable to handle the switch from the calculator they know to an unfamiliar (but simpler) one." Wait. What? College students taking physics should be able to handle a simple calculator, no matter what the make or model. If they aren't, I think they are in the wrong place.
Really, anymore if kids want to cheat they're going to. However, in math it's a wee bit difficult so long as you require them to show their work for the solution. If they're going to spend their entire time cheating, they're paying themselves to remain stupid so... Let them I guess.
Only problem there is it harms the credibility of your school. A diploma from a school that is known to ignore cheaters loses value against one from a school that fights cheating and makes their students earn their grades.
But addressing some other posts, jamming is not a perfect option. One method of wireless cheating is asking questions over IM via your cell phone, and you can't legally jam cell phone traffic. The faraday cage idea is probably the best to prevent external resourcing, but doesn't address student-to-student collaboration during the test. Savvy students could set up an ad-hoc chat room with each other during the test, breaking it up into questions each knew best, providing the group with answers, and make out like bandits. So you'd almost need a combination of the two... good faraday cage and jamming of wifi and cell within the cage. (which should be legal as long as the cage holds in the cell jamming?)
I work for the Department of Redundancy Department.
Watch your big mouth son:
Contact the FCC for permit applications and waivers.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_phone_jammer
Everything I write is lies, read between the lines.
Make them buy a cheap TI-30 and that can be the only thing they use. No programmable calculators, no smartphones, no netbooks, etc. If they can't do an open notes test with just a simple calculator, the deserve an F. And if they can afford to go to college, they can afford a $10 calculator.
First remember that foreign students pay FAR more than we do to go to US schools. Compound that with the fact that many come from poor countries. The pressure to succeed is EXTREME. Furthermore, not all cultures despise cheating as much as Western culture. The results are predictable.
Personal anecdote: I was invited to the Indian CS students' "study session" once while on a group project. I was AMAZED. They had a library of homework and test questions and answers. They passed them around casually. They also begged me for graded solutions from my previous courses to add to their collection. They were all cheating their way through and thought it was normal.
They also kept asking me how I could come up with working algorithms to programming assignments on my own (without copying from something). It was as if actually being able to program was wizardry to them. I wonder why.......
A slashdotter who didn't build his own computer is like a Jedi who didn't build his own lightsaber.
If your students are having a hard time adapting to cheap, "employer" provided calculators...how do you think they'll handle the real world?
The only flaw I can find with your plan is to pay for these out pocket, but I understand that's the norm for a lot of college supplies. Of course, given the cost of books, it's not too absurd to expect students to buy the model you specify either.
Mod me down with all of your hatred and your journey towards the dark side will be complete!
For classes where every student can be trusted:
Announce before the drop date that using networking during exams is unethical and you trust them to abide by university ethics.
For other classes:
Get the university to paint a room or two in each classroom building with WiFi- and cell-phone-blocking paint. You'll have to lay new tile and paint the ceilings as well.
Once that's done run a picocell and hotspot to the room for "normal" use but turn both off during exams and turn on a wifi-jammer.
If that's too much, then just coat the room with cell-phone-blocking paint and jam the wifi during exams.
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
Graphic calculators have no networking capability. Depending on what level of physics you're teaching though, some of TI series calculators can do an entire physics test for you...no knowledge or memory required other than memorizing what buttons to push. If you're doing into level stuff, a simple calculator should be fine. If you're doing more advanced stuff, you can allow more powerful calculators, but be aware that most common functions are built into such devices and your tests should reflect this (IE: make them apply a formula, interpret a word problem, etc rather than just solve equations or the only thing you're testing is the ability of the student to push buttons).
A good, continuous AC spark should throw random noise into just about every radio band, effective jamming any wireless signal from getting in. Problem solved, along with a nice physics demonstration. You could also line the walls with aluminum foil, creating a Faraday Cage, and squash the signals that way. Or do both!
The way I handle this is putting a lot of problems on the exam. It makes the average score tend to be low (although there are always a few percent that get them all right). But, it spreads out the remainder. I curve the exam to compensate for that.
Students that try to cheat by digging up answers or asking friends will simply run out of time and score very poorly. It is inefficient to cheat.
1) Give the students different exams. That's done frequently at several universities (at least in Canada). The questions remain the same but alter the number from say 2.5 to 7.3. Compose say 3 exams and alternate who you give them too.
2) Weigh the assignments more. Or give them enough assignments such that they don't need to cheat. Or a combo of the two. If you can't kill the material, you're doing too much.
3) Ultimately, if you want to know if a student knows a subject, you ask them things on a private interview. Now doing this for each student is time consuming, but it's ultimately the best way.
4) Just relax. Tell them they aren't allowed to network with each other or to their mainframe, and to do otherwise is cheating. Students are in the course cause they want to learn the material. Barring required courses which are dead simple anyway.
Tip: You should also photocopy all your exams when you they get turned in. Or at least photocopy the ones that complain about marks in their assignments. That eliminates the old tied and true method of changing what you wrote after the exam, and then showing the prof.
Tip: Don't leave your studens assignments outside your office to be picked up. Savey D students will pick out the A students of the next year, so that when they take the following course, they have the assignment completed already.
Tip: Give the assignment out, AND give the answer solution to them, at the same time. Yes they could copy it straight out, but students don't tend to do that, they work it out, then look at the solution if they don't know. They learn more. Even if they do just copy, they don't not do it. They learn more than not doing it, and the tudents that reallly want to learn, do it themselves anyway.
Tip: Let them network. If your in a real world engineering company and you don't know something. You had better go ask or consult something that does. To do otherwise would mean you're fired. Guessing in the real world is horrendus, people depend upon this being right.
Those jamming devices are illegal and if caught, you will get in serious trouble for using them. The trouble is that its very hard to localize the effects of a jammer - either its too weak and it doesn't cover the ends of the classroom or (more likely) its too strong and it spills over into neighboring areas. This has public safety implications, and, as such, use of wireless jamming devices is frowned upon by the FCC and law enforcement.
We all know what to do, but we don't know how to get re-elected once we have done it
Really, a very cheep basic calculator with just add, subtract, multiply, divide and maybe square root should be enough for an intro physics class. You can sometimes find them for $1 at dollar stores! If there are trig functions involved you could supply a version of a trig table with selected functions and values. I know I sure didn't have any more than that available 40+ years ago and my trusty log log duplex decitrig.
Of course if you could borrow a nice wide band spectrum analyzer you could get a base line for signal strength and then watch for a big spike during the test! A directional antenna could let you home in on the culprit too!
The student that uses her ipod as a dictionary needs to contact her support office for some better advice.
It's not that they may be doing research on the fly, but that they may not be giving answers to the exam that are not theirs.
An iPhone with camera and a confederate (TA with financial or other need) on the outside can get the whole test, an unscrupulous group with a shared network and compatible devices may as well be sitting around a single table doing the test.
I agree that having them show the work is probably the best option, but in some of the larger courses, it's not practical for the teacher to really read every derivation.
As for those who say that calculators should not be necessary for tests, when did you last take a college level physics course?
Just let them use whatever they want. However they want to do it it's up to them to get the most they can from their education. It's not educators jobs to be babysitters. Besides we'll have access to these devices on the job so why not in school? I remember teachers saying we couldn't use a calculator because we won't always have a calculator on us in real life. Yeah right - I've had an iTouch on me every day for years and before that a cellphone which had a calculator for many more years. In case of Armageddon I may be screwed but on the job I'm fine
At what price learning? At what cost wisdom? The price is a man's peace of mind, and the cost is his life.
Whatever you do, remember what happens when you try to jam electronic devices.
I would suggest first reading up on 47 USC in general, and then come back and talk to us about the "permit applications and waivers" that you saw mentioned in an uncited paragraph on Wiki. Hint: there's a distinction between "jamming" and "blocking".
Please stand clear of the doors, por favor mantenganse alejado de las puertas
In other words, it is networked.
Have you read /. before? Most of the people on here ARE your students who would use the WiFi to cheat on the exam. Not that they couldn't ace the exam on most days, but they typically stay up too late the night before reading /. and don't get the requisite amount of sleep!
My software never has bugs.
It just develops random features.
Just do what you get paid to do. You get paid to teach people physics. Everything else is just horseshit designed to distract you from your duties. Just teach people physics. That is what people are paying you to do. So just do it.
If they want to use electronic calculators, let them. Until your Korean-teaching ability is better than your physics-teaching ability, don't hassle people for using electronic dictionaries.
Institutions of higher learning put far too much emphasis on grades and ratings and far too less on what they are being paid to do: impart advanced knowledge.
If you are worried that your students are using electronic devices to 'hussle' you into getting a better grade, then you are teaching them at too low a level. Make your curriculum more advanced and go faster in your lectures. The people who are seriously interested in what you do, i.e. the ones who are actually spending time with you to learn physics, will keep up. The rest will go do something more interesting to them.
Be serious; you're a teacher, so just fucking teach and stop bitching about people's calculators.
dont they yanno....have books that do that? I think they are call dictionaries..
Look toward standardized testing practices for how to conduct tests in a rigorous and fair manner. Quite simply, the rules and expectations for the course should be clearly stated at the outset. Don't wait until the exams come around to drop the bomb. Tell them that you expect them to use a calculator that is on an approved list. No other electronic devices will be permitted. All other possessions not explicitly allowed must be placed at the front of the room, and any mobile devices must be turned OFF. No "vibrate." Watches are permitted but cannot have an alarm function. If they need translation, that's too bad; the ETS does not offer to administer mathematics tests in the language of the examinee's choosing. This is a college level course, with lectures in English. You don't provide lecture notes in twenty languages. It is the student's responsibility to become sufficiently proficient in the English language in order to continue their studies. That may put them at a disadvantage, but we don't try to equalize the playing field for someone who hasn't learned calculus.
Education necessarily requires that some students have to work harder--sometimes, much harder--than others to achieve the same proficiency level as others. That is not being unfair, that is just the way life is.
Community-college math instructor here (CUNY). The first thing I'd ask is: What's the policy (if any) at the college level? Here I'm supported by an official, clear-cut policy at the college level: all electronic communication/media devices have to be shut off and put away while in a classroom (a policy I enforce strictly during tests).
So basically that means dedicated calculators and nothing else -- square root function required minimum in my stats class. I think that's an inexpensive requirement, they're like $1 at Staples or something? Graphing calculators okay for the rare student who has one. The few students with electronic dictionaries I see are small dedicated devices for that, and that's allowed. But phones as calculators, totally prohibited; iPod media player as calculator (or anything), totally prohibited. Not absolutely foolproof, but pretty clear to me.
We know where leadership by an anti-intellectual "strongman" who scapegoats minorities and likes boisterous rallies goes
Design an exam that tests the understanding of the students instead of specific knowledge. To go a step further make the student choose some factor that will make each exam unique so they can't collaborate to solve one problem.
As my drill sergeant told me many years ago, "If you ain't cheating, you ain't trying. And if you get caught, you weren't trying hard enough."
Cheating is a part of all cultures.
THL phish sticks
I cannot believe the "english only" vibe of this crowd. Its rather harsh considering there's no official language of the US. I cant speak for private universities, but for any state and or federally funded school culture shouldnt be offended or punished.
Anyways, as far as the topic is concerned, I would consider making the method part of the correct answer. After all, if the problem is complex enough or requires the use of a particular theory of equation Its not going to come from the top of your head. Googling a question or using an online calculator might give you an answer, but I have seen very few that will break down the process for you. If there are questions for which the answers can be regurgitated, set an appropriate timeline. Students may find some of the answers through references, but they wouldnt have time to look up everything. As someone mentioned previously, I dont know many jobs that require you to have all the answers without having reference materials
You can make WiFi unusable, however.
Technically possible but not practical for economic reasons.
Or you could alter the classroom so RF cannot enter through the walls or ceiling.
VERY expensive. Colleges don't really have the funds to justify that, especially when just banning the offending devices is free.
I suppose convincing the university to alter the classroom in this manner could be difficult, but they could also see the value in having some exam rooms that are essentially faraday cages
Why not just take the figurative bullets out of the gun (no networked devices allowed) instead of building an expensive figurative bullet proof vest. If they don't need the networked device for the test, there is no reason to allow it in the room in the first place.
Baked apple i-phone pie, delicious.
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
where everybody is sitting in front of a school-owned PC with dictionaries and calculator software installed. Yank the WAN cord out of the router.
No matter how you try to block signal, you will never prevent people from creating ad-hoc networks and exchanging information. And as you mentioned in your post, it's kind of hard to keep track of all the new guizmo and their capabilities. From my point of view, it seems like you found the solution yourself. No electronic device of any sort, except the calculator you provide.
Sure, it's unfair for those with super-computer calculators, but then, isn't it unfair for those who can't afford them? As long as they know in advance what they will be using, if they feel it will be a major obstacle for them, they can always practice.
Another solution would be to ask for solution steps only, rather than an actual answer. After all, physics is all about concepts and not so much the monkey number cranking.
Any excuse is pointless... dictionary? Give me a break, it's a physics exam in an English (or whatever the language) school. You should have the basic language mastery to understand the questions, and the minimal vocabulary to explain your solution. Worse case, they can always ask for clarification, make assumptions, etc.
I am convinced that every single physics concept can be successfully tested WITHOUT a calculator (e.g.: calculators may not be used on the physics GRE)... who cares what the final *number* is... numbers are for homework!
Most of my grad exams required that I showed all work, and left the answer as a simplified expression containing the relevant variables and physical constants. If a number is critical, have them do a ballpark estimate.. instruct to round all physical constants to 1 significant figure (pi = 3, e = 3, etc.) and use scientific notation.
I hold a PHD in physics.
-A pen is enough. In physics exams students should prove they can transform formulas symbolically. Typing in number can be done by people at the cashier desk. Graphing calculators are a disease.
-Everybody who wants, can take in a standalone mp3-player - these are cheap.
-Regarding the dictionary - these exist in paper and are cheap - and faster than an ipod.
Most important: who uses sophistication to cheat and i caught should be removed from the studies immediately.
If you can't hack using a standard 4 function calculator, than you can't hack physics either.
I also hate to be rude, but most universities require that students speak and read english. While I can appreciate the fact that a Korean may not have the best grasp of written English, I also think it that individual's responsibility to learn the language or work outside of class to create notes in his or her native language. I sat through a number of situations in school where I was struggling with difficult material while foreign students were either talking during exams in their language, "sharing calculators" or similar, blatant examples of cheating that went unchallenged due to the political situation at the university.
After being written up in the campus newspaper, one professor "took a stand" by curving everyone's grade up one letter grade, essentially bribing the class into submission.
Conformity is the jailer of freedom and enemy of growth. -JFK
Basically, just make the test in a way that looking something up on the internet won't do any good. No need to jam/disable the wireless signal or restrict use of electronic devices to specific models.
I had an instructor who gave tests online and made it very difficult to cheat. For vocabulary, she either gave the definition or a contextual example, which wasn't something someone can just look up in Google. For extended response questions, I hear it is pretty easy to catch students who cheated after the fact; their work is inconsistent with what they submitted in the past and sometimes there are clues you can use to your advantage. For example, I had a Spanish teacher in high school who would call out students who used grammar structures not yet covered (such as past-subjunctive tense) in their take-home papers, a sign that someone else wrote the paper for them. He would politely ask the student a few questions about the grammar used in their paper. If they were able to explain "normally when referring to multiple subjects, you combine the last two with the conjunction 'y', but if the first letter of the word immediately following it is 'i' or 'y', you change 'y' to 'e'," but if they clearly didn't understand why it was used in their paper, it was a sign they cheated, and those students couldn't usually explain anything in their paper (in English).
Needless to say, don't make multiple choice tests identical, and if you proctor an exam at multiple times don't give the same version. If you think they're getting answers from an unethical "tutor", then I'm not really sure what you could do but I'd would be willing to bet there isn't a lot of "reasonable expectation to privacy" if you look over their shoulder for instant messages as long as you don't get the IT department to route their traffic through a squid proxy or something.
I can understand not wanting them to plop $80 on an expensive calculator but there's no reason they shouldn't be able to adapt to using a $5 cheapo calculator. They're physics students for god sakes. If they can figure out a programmable TI-89, they can figure out what the x, /, + and - signs do.
Suggest that in order to practice for the exam, they use the calculator and not their graphing ones during homework. And -- this is the most important part -- make sure the test *resembles* the homework in format. As in, "ya, I've done this type of problem using nothing but the four functions before, it's just presented differently here".
Just assign a lot of "suggested" problems such that they have enough source material to practice from. It's easy to say "well you should be able to figure it out if you grasp the concept" but often, professors don't realize how big a leap it is (years of doing that type of problem) to go from concept to answering a realistic question.
Actually, the USA has no official language.
That explains why nobody outside Washington can understand what the Government is saying!
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
For iPods and iPhones (as well as many network capable ebook readers like Nooks) putting them in airplane mode results in an "airplane" symbol being displayed at the top of the screen just like the signal strength. Next to jamming the signal (which is almost needless if they're on AT&T iPhones), requiring them to use devices which indicate they aren't transmitting or receiving visually would be the next best way to ensure they weren't sharing answers.
What non-native English speaking foreign student doesn't have an English to "insert foreign language here" treeware dictionary? Tell them to use that instead. I got by just fine with one when I was living abroad. Not to mention, they tend to be more accurate than most of the online translation dictionaries I've used.
As for calculators, when I took chemistry, physical chemistry and other classes that used math, we were allowed a calculator. It could be one of the advanced programmable graphing ones, or it could be a basic one. Either would have been fine for those exams and I imagine they'll be fine for yours. Students are generally responsible for providing their own. If you'd like to throw in some cheapo simple ones to supplement that for the students who might not have one (what student taking physics doesn't have at least a basic calculator?), you're certainly welcome to, but I wouldn't expect that from a professor.
I wouldn't go too far out of your way and I wouldn't bend over backwards to accommodate them. You're the professor. You set the rules.
The things I've mentioned above have been pretty standard in universities for at least a few decades. I'm guessing this isn't advanced physics and I'm pretty sure basic physics hasn't changed drastically in the past few decades, so no reason you should have to accommodate the latest and greatest tech.
There is almost never a situation in the professional world where one must solve a problem with absolutely no references
Sure there is. Surgeons encounter such situations all the time. When a patient is actively dying on their operating table, there is absolutely no time to go look up the answer in a book. They need to know the answer from what is already in their head. Other professions experience similar situations. Soldiers, firefighters, police, and even occasionally engineers experience situations where they have to already know the answer. Doesn't happen all the time but it happens often enough that testing people to ensure they have a certain body of knowledge is quite necessary.
Tell the students that they are in USA, and if they don't know the language of the country they came to study in, they should go back wherever they came from.
Good call not allowing an ipod in a physics class...
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/matlab-mobile/id370976661?mt=8
Get the 4 function calculators. You can test physics knowledge with a 4 function calculator. I would say a 3x4 index card (or a formula sheet) would also be acceptable. That way you could better test their ability to apply formulas rather than memorize them. If a student needs a translation dictionary then there are very reasonably priced self contained models available. Well worth the investment for any class that allows it.
Nuke the classroom atmosphere while standing on a chair, it's the only way to be sure...
I say let them use whatever damn toys they want. Your job is to teach them, not police them. You're teaching college students - you shouldn't have to worry whether they're 'cheating' or not. You have enough problems with the day-to-day of teaching the subject matter - don't unnecessarily burden yourself with extraneous worries. Are they cheating? Who gives a crap? You know that they're only hurting themselves by doing so. Imparting knowledge is your business - disciplining cheaters is not (especially since educators are no longer really allowed to discipline students, anyway).
It actually wouldn't be very hard to do it. A Faraday cage isn't so impossible to build.
There is paint available with a high metal content (hopefully not lead) which should do a pretty good job. Don't forget, the floor (if there's a floor under it), and the ceiling must be covered too. The windows would also need to be covered.
Alternatively (or in addition to), putting a fine wire mesh, with holes a fraction of the wavelength (come on Ham folks throw in the right numbers), were added to the walls, ceiling, and covering the windows, it would kill the connections.
If cheating on the class is such a big deal, they'll continue to find ways to subvert the schools control. If the worlds best Faraday cage was built in the room, with the most refined jammers, the students will just find another way to cheat. Since the exam has to be on knowledge they've accumulated during the course, they already know the materials that they need to sneak in. They may go back to the (oh my gosh) traditional writing the answers on their arms, shoes, or small notes. It's not the technology that needs to be fought, it's the fact that students will cheat.
Way back in high school, I was a teachers aide for a little while. I remember grading two girls tests, who sat beside each other. Every question on the test, right or wrong, was identical except for one. The girls threw a fit. I quietly mentioned to the teacher about the obvious cheating. I was given the tests back, and they were disputing the one that I thought they had marked differently. When it was given back to me, the question was now identical. Unfortunately for them, I had made an error, and the one I marked right was actually wrong. Oops, you both fail. There was no real action taken against them. The teacher knew exactly what happened, so the two girls were not to sit beside each other in that class for the remainder of the school year.
The question becomes, how do you catch cheating, and/or prevent it? That's up to the teacher and the school. Expulsion? Forced retaking of the semester/year? A smack on the knuckles with a wooden ruler (bring on the nuns!)
Serious? Seriousness is well above my pay grade.
Explain the situation to the local IT guys. Ask them to turn off the nearest router for a few hours.
It won't make it impossible to cheat, but you'll at least be back where you are now.
The people who really want to cheat will always find a way. But at least you can make it difficult.
For classes where every student can be trusted:
This occurs with about the same frequency as unicorn farts.
Get the university to paint a room or two in each classroom building with WiFi- and cell-phone-blocking paint. You'll have to lay new tile and paint the ceilings as well.
Why would a university do that when banning the networked devices is free? Take the bullets out of the gun instead of building a bullet proof vest. Is the term cost versus benefit completely lost on you?
n/t
This space available.
Maybe it'd be worth bringing this suggestion up to your employer, but I could see a value in making testing rooms that are effectively giant Faraday cages. It certainly wouldn't help against peer to peer network capable devices but it'd go a long way toward blocking cell/wifi. It's not like it's hard or expensive to construct a room in such a way to block such signals.
EMP. That'll show 'em.
You mention in your question the number 30 which leads me to believe that there are only about 30 students in your class. Why can't you just monitor them during the exam, just like in olden days? If someone is holding up there phone above the test while they adjust the paper to get the right angle, it's pretty obvious what they are doing. If someone is typing a ton on their phone, it's pretty obvious what they are doing(if they are using their phone as a dictionary then for the most part they will just be checking a couple of words here and there). If you see these behaviors just start walking around that area for a while, if they keep it up they are stupid and deserve to fail, if they stop then they probably get the message.
Monstar L
I'm late to this party, but: http://honorcode.stanford.edu/
On Apple Input Peripherals: They're okay, I guess, but I was really hoping for a one-key keyboard and a 109-button mouse
1) Tell students to use dead tree dictionaries.
2) Buy 30 simple calculators as you suggest, and then have students solve problems with them in class several times before the exam so they can get used to them.
In any case, I always like giving exams that aren't incredibly time consuming. If I have a 1 hour exam period I aim for reasonable students finishing in about 40 minutes, though I know they'll probably spend the rest of their time going back and checking answers, trying to work out parts they didn't understand, etc. It gives a nice time cushion for the ESL students.
"I zero-index my hamsters" - Willtor (147206)
They arnt going to give you a waiver... I just read an article about how prisons cant get permission to do it, what makes you think a teacher will get one?
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39155679/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/
You are entitled to your own opinions, not your own facts.
1: Cell phone jammer.
2: Wi-Fi jammer.
3: Request IT disable hardwire connections to your classrooms during the times that you want to test them.
Invest in a cell jammer and wi-fi jammer, and just take them with you to class. Students shouldn't be cruising the net, "twittering", or IM-ing during class anyways. I'm already looking at a couple of jammers to buy and carrying them with me in my laptop bag. They will be especially useful in the library, where there are WAY too many obnoxious asshats who think their conversation on who slept with who after the last party will help me will help me with my midterms.
Maybe turning the jammers on just long enough to cause the connections to drop, and then shutting them off (a 15 second ON period every 3 minutes?) will piss them off enough to take their calls outside.
Knowing Google's lust for data collection, the Soviet Union is still alive and well inside the psyche of Sergey Brin....
That's more of an Army specific thing. It is virtually impossible to accomplish anything in the Army without skirting, bending, or ignoring one or more regulations. It isn't uncommon to run across situations in the US Army where there are mutually exclusive regulations such that there is no possible course of action that doesn't violate a regulation. Thus, if your not cheating, your not actually trying to get anything done.
The purpose of language is communication, If the idea is clear the grammar ain't important
After reading this, I'm at a loss to understand why my uncle went into the military as someone I respected deeply and came out of the military an amoral asshole.
This space available.
I suppose a jammer would be the best option if you have money to burn, but you would need to test it real well and also need to consider the fact that it may interfere with other classrooms. I would just not allow Ipod-touch, cell phones, laptops, ect. The Korean student that dropped the course is very suspect since certain iPods, i.e. the most popular one, have the capability of browsing the web and chatting with friends. I would wager that she has someone she knew she could cheat off of by chatting with them. There is no other reason to drop considering a new electronic dictionary is cheaper than an iPod the majority of the time. You can give them an acceptable list of calculators and electronic dictionaries. I had to buy a special calculator for the FE exam and 100-150 dollar textbooks for all of my Physics courses in Undergrad and I was perpetually poor in spite of these expenses. I didn't even go to an expensive university and I was in-state. I don't see why these students shouldn't be able to afford a different electronic dictionary that cannot be used as a cheating device. Go off of the requirements of something like the FE exam.
That brings me to an interesting point, / . is just "the ramblings of socially-inept, technology-literate news-mongers".
>but I'm afraid that less-adaptable students will be unable to handle the switch from
>the calculator they know to an unfamiliar (but simpler) one.
isn't being a student all about being adaptable?
migawd! coddle them much or what?
You can also get these cheap from deal extreme if you want to just try it out with a handheld one. If you don't want to always block, only turn it on during tests.
Come around here and say that. I'll shoot your second amendment hating, America hating, commie, hippie ass before you get to the door.
[Note: Sarcasm. Most Americans are at least somewhat civilized. They may just shank you.]
Serious? Seriousness is well above my pay grade.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faraday_cage
...and using a drill and jigsaw, cut through and remove the window in the front. This will allow the microwaves to escape and jam electronic communication. For extra fun, mount the microwave on a "Lazy Susan" spinning platter. You can sit behind it and turn it from side to side, to sweep the room and aim it at anyone who's acting suspiciously.
Fly the entire class to Austin and hold the tests in my house, where wireless signals mysteriously die at the front door. Bonus: I have cake.
"Once in Hawaii I had sex with a 102 year old male turtle. It is difficult to argue that it was consensual." - Steve Ma
Don't let them use a calculator at all. Make them focus on how the right answer is achieved not on getting the answer to the 10th decimal place. Make them use approximations as a method of getting the answer. It is a valuable skill to be able to get a right order of magnitude value very quickly (assuming you know what is going on). Most of Astro is approximating big values, pi ~ 3, or even 10. Most of semiconductor physics is getting the right 10^-x where x is the number you are interested in, not the decimal places. Detailed engineering is different, but for understanding the concept in physics, you should be able to use good, solid judgement to make approximations better than a calculator.
"It's like hemorrhoids, work it out with a pencil."
That's a quote from a math teacher at my high school (20 something years ago.)
Let me answer your question with a question... "Why the hell should they be allowed to use any electronic device during the test?"
I understand the open notes policy, but seriously, if you can't perform math you shouldn't get a passing grade in physics. What did we do before iPods? Were there no physics tests? Of course there were. Entire generations of students (including me) took college-level physics tests with nothing more than a pencil and some paper.
Nothing illegal about a physics professor building a giant faraday cage to encompass a teaching space...
Raspberry...there is only one man who would DARE give me raspberry!
That's her own problem for using an overpowered device for a simple function. Your concern is reasonable, and she should just get a paper dictionary. I've TAed a comp sci course before that was open-notes but no electronic devices, and our answer to the international students (of which there were many) was to tell them to get paper dictionaries.
I didn't see this covered in a prior post (not that I searched diligently ;) ), but if you rquire a certain calculator in your syllabus, the college bookstore will stock them, and student aid will pay for them. And I'd like to say kudos on the open notes exams.
---- Don't be irreplaceable. If you can't be replaced, you can't be promoted.
Can you give an example of one of your exam questions? I'd like to understand how English comprehension poses a barrier to a physic problem. Perhaps your exam questions are reworded in such a way to prevent a student from memorizing solutions or lifting their solution directly from an example in the book? If the problem statement is something never seen before then take care no to make it too difficult for non-native speakers to comprehend. If you do then you risk giving non-native speakers the disadvantage if they cannot use dictionaries.
Be a nice professor. Make microwave popcorn during the exam for the students. Use an old low-power microwave, because I find it makes the popcorn taste just a bit better. If your class is large enough and hungry enough, you'll have no cheating (via wi-fi, at least) for the duration of the exam.
You do not have a moral or legal right to do absolutely anything you want.
Would randomly scattering individuals into separate rooms work? Most exams I've taken sort by last name, so it's fairly predictable which people you'll be lumped with. Here's my suggestion:
Hopefully, for someone to game that, they'd have to make friends with a large proportion of the class. And with that amount of effort in making social connections, you might as well give them the marks anyway.
Or, alternatively, here's something that increases marker effort, but would be much more effective to prevent this:
The "easy" implementation of this would be to randomly select from a small bank of questions (say 3-4) for each provided question. You wouldn't be able to photocopy exams for distribution, because each exam would be different, but it shouldn't increase the marker's effort by too much.
Ask me about repetitive DNA
Though this would add a whole new dimension to test taking anxiety...
"It just doesn't make much sense that the FBI can use this equipment, but that the local and state governments, which the Homeland Security Act has acknowledged as being an important part of combating terrorism, cannot," said Howard Melamed, chief executive of CellAntenna. "We give local police guns and other equipment to protect the public, but we can't trust them with cellular-jamming equipment? It doesn't make sense."
"Whereas the FCC prohibits the sale of radio frequency and cellular jammers to state and local police departments, the Homeland Security Act consistently and repeatedly directs the Department of Homeland Security to take whatever measures are necessary to empower local law enforcement agencies and first responders in the fight against global terrorism."
It looks like those wavers you speak of are only semi-obtainable if you are a local swat team looking to do a drug, bomb, or terrorist, bust or some sort. the waivers are certainly NOT IN ANY FUCKING WAY for professors to block their students in a public venue and are ONE HUNDRED FUCKING PERCENT ILLEGAL in that utility.
Jesus, you trust wikipedia without checking the sources they cite halfheartedly?
Web Developers: Celebrate to our roots! Animated Gifs and Tiled Backgrounds, dont let our history die!
Let them shell out for some old graphics calculators. Tell them it's just a couple of days of weed/booze/entertainment consumption anyways, they surely find the money for that. If they're interested, it wont be a problem.There must be some retailer somewhere who has a bunch of older models in a box somewhere. Other than that, students has to respect the language of the college,and by now they would surely have had the chance to buy, you know, a dictionary. (yes a book). Third, you can get fancy and make a few sets of tests with slightly different parameters for each question. (ie Sally gets x=4 and y=7 while Rodriguez gets x=3 and y=6; what is the sum of x squared and y squared) That will take away the usefulness of communicating during the exam.
Can I light a sig ?
"You can use any non-networked device. If your device is connected to the network or internet, disable that connection. Anyone caught using a device's networking functions during the exam will receive a warning, and then fail the exam on the second offense. It's an open book exam people - you don't need to use the network."
If people are prepared, and you aren't a douche about it, almost everyone will listen. Even if you implement some other rule or supply some other device, the same few people will get away with it either way, and only one of them is really easy.
-Fred
Guns don't kill people, "with glowing hearts" kills people.
You don't know about wolfram alpha, do you? Let me educate you...
Question 4) Integrate x*sin(x), graph this curve. If you were to express this as a Taylor expansion, what would the first three terms be?
See the problem now? If you can't pass calculus with a tool like that, you're not ever going to pass any math class. Between the ability to do each part of the integral separately, and the ability to google "integration by parts", if you are connected to the internet, you pass everything.
Velociraptor = Distiraptor / Timeraptor
Me thinks the physics student that can't adapt to an unfamiliar calculator, is perhaps not cut out to be a physics student
Ahhh Slashdot, the only place where nerds can post smug smart ass responses to a suggestion and neatly avoid the real life consequences of being punched in the face for being such a dick.
In the US, you can apply to the FCC for a permit to operate a jammer. It may be worth a go although I have no idea how likely it is they'll grant you one.
Avantslash - View Slashdot cleanly on your mobile phone.
I'm in physics in Canada and there's absolutely no calculator allowed. All you have is a pencil, an eraser and a sharpener/additional lead. But I don't think you meant physics as much as you meant engineering, where there'll obviously be more numbers. People don't have TIs in physics, they have a basic Sharp scientific calculator.
I am a professor, and for large "entry level" classes, I let students bring their own notes and print-outs of model answers on the homework. But absolutely no electronica of any sort.
If asked, I would permit a hard-copy dictionary between English and a student's native language. So far, no-one has requested this (we have a good number of international students, but usually with superb English).
I set questions that can be answered without a calculator, and I will accept an unevaluated cosine or similar function, even if it is primarily a numerical question.
My original plan was to permit open book, until I realized that some students had only on-line PDF versions of the text, so that idea went out the window.
I am not really worried about students trying to learn the subject on wikipedia in the course of a three hour exam -- if you don't know it coming into the room, you are hard put to learn it while you take the exam. But since net capable devices can also facilitate messaging, I have no choice but to ban them, if I am to maintain the integrity of the exam.
Homework counts for a big chunk of the grade -- and there I encourage collaboration. The exams are there to make sure that the collaboration does not get out o hand :-) (And I warn the students of my policy early in the semester)
perhaps you haven't heard of ad hoc networks.... even inside a faraday cage, as long as one student is willing to help others cheat, all students are capable of cheating.
It seems that all too many posters are ignoring the fact (or ignorant to the fact) that the non-English speaking students being referred to are almost certainly international students. These students come from other countries, in many of which English is not a primary language, to attend reputable universities and obtain a degree (often in a technical subject). They must have some understanding of the English language to survive, but it is understandable that they would need to look up some words. The goal of the phsyics exam here isn't to test their knowledge of English so much as the mastery of the concepts discussed.
These aren't unintelligent kids who somehow wiggled their way in to a university. These are intelligent people with a lot of potential who may not, at the moment, be masters of the English language.
By way of introduction: I teach intro physics in a similar environment. To add to the difficulty, our campus's honor code requires professors to give unproctored exams, so I can't watch them, but that doesn't stop them from trying to cheat.
Anyone who says "design better tests" isn't paying attention to the possibilities of mobile technology. It's easy with a modern smartphone to photograph each page of the exam sheet, send it to a paid test-taker, and have them send you back an image of their solution, in enough time and in enough detail to ace the test, and in a way which is undetectable unless you're literally right over the student's shoulder.
The only solution is an outright ban on uncontrolled technology. Your idea of buying 30 simple 4-function calculators is a good one, but any good intro physics class will require trigonometry, square roots, etc.
I say, have your department buy thirty cheap *scientific* calculators -- for example, the TI-30xa costs like $10 each. Tell your students they're welcome to familiarize themselves with this type of calculator before the test: they may choose to use them for homework problems as well: that way lack of adaptability will be no excuse.
As for dictionaries: they still make those on paper. So long as you warn students about these rules at the start of term, rather than surprising them a day before the exam, they should be willing to adjust.
I'm sure these are a dime a dozen :). Environmentally friendly and perfectly readable under direct sunlight!
The main problem here is foreign students. I recently graduated from the math department, and many students had basically no understanding of English.
I really disagree that non-English-speaking students should be allowed in American universities. I just didn't get the feeling that they participated in the classroom at all. However, that's not how things work, so I'll be more pragmatic.
Since there are many students with little understanding of English, there are ESL departments that can be good resources. They might have a recommendation on acceptable translators. And, while it might not help you right now, you might be able to convey recommendations (ex. no network capabilities) that the university can provide to incoming ESL students. Then, you won't have as much of a problem in the future.
If it really turns out to be a problem, then in addition to spare calculators, you might need to provide a few spare translators that students can use if they forget theirs or bring an illegal one.
Pick a cheap calculator that will do everything necessary for the course. Then make it a requirement for them to buy it. It is the only electronic device allowed for exams, no other devices allowed at all....no exceptions. Your students will learn to survive (isn't that what college is all about anyways?) and if they can't pass your exam because of ESL issues then they shouldn't be taking your course or attending your college in the first place. That's their failing not yours.
I have a hard time using cheap calculators these days. My dad trained me on HP 41s and I went through school using an 48g. While cheapo calculators are fine some people (like me ) never became fast at using the common calculator entry system. While I can send messages using my calculator it is not worth it because it takes to long. No phone, no Ipods, just calculators .. problem solved.
your halfhearted statement of law without extrapolating it's potential to cover the very situation you are claiming could not be possible is fairly hypocritical and dickish.
Ask your dean to set a policy. It is far far better that there be some consistency between professors than that you have the perfect balance of allowing/forbidding electronic helpers.
I've got a Physics degree and I currently tutor lower level college physics, so I've seen a hell of a lot of physics tests.
The best solution to your problem is a low tech one. Crappy scientific calculators. In my opinion you're already giving your students a huge advantage (too huge IMO) by giving them notes, they shouldn't need any fancy devices. I got my degree before the days of smartphones and the like but I did have my trusty TI-89 and for me this wasn't a good thing. Having such a powerful calculator only served to prevent me from actually learning the material. If the calculator can do everything for you you end up just teaching the students how to plug in numbers and write down (likely wrong) answers. It may get them through the class but they won't be any better off than they were to begin with. You may as well try and use mad libs to teach them to write.
Proper test design is the key. Come up with generic problem that you want, but then tune the numbers so that you get a lot of cancellations if the student is doing it right. Use polynomials and trig functions where integrals/derivatives are required, don't expect students to know integrals that you have to look up for yourself. If a student knows what they are doing then they shouldn't need a device that can do much more than any $10 scientific calculator. If they don't know what they are doing then they shouldn't get the grade that says they do.
As for the ones that say they need it for translation purposes, they're taking advantage of you. If they really are that bad with English then they've got no chance of getting through most of their other classes. That said, a picture is worth a thousand words. Most physics problems, especially mechanics ones, should be pretty easily represented by a drawing, and that requires no translation.
Not only will Superman need to take the same test as everyone else, there is the added bonus where anyone who gets lead poisoning is obviously attempting to cheat.
If you teach physics, I hope that you've looked at what Physics Education Research (PER) has done. These physicists have shown how to teach this difficult subject much more effectively. One nice starting point is "Why Not Try a Scientific Approach to Science Education?" http://www.cwsei.ubc.ca/resources/files/Wieman-Change_Sept-Oct_2007.pdf .The author, Carl Wieman, has a Nobel Prize, was Carnegie U.S. Professor of the Year (research universities) and is currently Deputy Science Adviser to the President (for science education). If you're into video, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwslBPj8GgI is quite good (the lecturer, Eric Mazur, is "only" a full professor at Harvard; of course there are many pubs too). Finally, the general portal to PER is http://www.compadre.org/per/ .
Make it clear that communication during the exam isn't allowed, and walk around the room during the exam, or pay an assistant to do the same.
If you suspect a student is using chat or the phone, confiscate it for the duration of the exam. Warn them in advance that this might happen, and relying on the device is at their own risk.
Problem solved
These posts express my own personal views, not those of my employer
The vast majority of exams in physics, math, and engineering courses are open book, open notes. Still, some of mine had averages below 50 (and this is after all the cramming, review sessions, and practice exams).
Really throws a wrench into the whole "math is just memorizing equations!" argument from liberal arts majors.
I think that if you wish to allow students to use appropriate technology, then it's acceptable to draw the line somewhere and your school may give some guidance on that. When I taught at UCSC only a simple scientific calculator was allowed for all lower division physics, engineering and math courses. Therefore, everyone owned one, and knew about it ahead of time. I don't advocate this, but it works. I like to allow students to use the most powerful appropriate technology.
My last semester of teaching at UCSC I noticed some suspicious behavior in the Calc 19A (first quarter, higher track, 250 students) final. I made a quick note of names, and when grading the tests found that there were duplicate wrong answers, answers with work that was going in a different direction, conspicuously absent steps and random work placement on the page, all which seem to confirm that they were cheating. Sent the formal letter requesting a meeting with the students and got back an admission of guilt from each. Cheating using wireless connectivity isn't any different than passing notes, sharing a calculator with answers not cleared off or peering over a shoulder. The students still look suspicious, and have bad work and answers that betray their dishonesty.
I'm thinking of buying 30 el-cheapo four-function calculators out of my pocket, but I'm afraid that less-adaptable students will be unable to handle the switch from the calculator they know to an unfamiliar (but simpler) one."
If they need a computer to do everything, and are incapable of using a simple 4 function calculator, then they haven't really learned the material...have they?
The simplest and most logical answer is usually the best one. Allow simple 4 function calculators during the exam. All other devices are prohibited.
~A~
Yet, combating students cheating only increases their motivation to actually study and learn the material and become leaders of their sleeper cell, if anything this enables terrorism.
Wow, I always knew there was something wrong about college professors.
You teach Physics. Write a physics exam, not a math one. If a calculator is needed, you probably wrote the exam wrong.
Students who can't speak, read, and write in English shouldn't be enrolled in colleges where the de facto language is English. Is there any employer in (say) Chicago that doesn't expect a graduate from (say) the University of Chicago can speak English? I doubt it.
Rules keep honest people honest. If you have people determined to cheat, they will find a way unless you make it too difficult.
Anti-radio paint is pretty hard to defeat.
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
If the University's Wi-Fi is going to be used, couldn't you just have your IT department give you access even limited access to the logs for the nearest nodes of the network? After the test starts, take a reading, got users that are in your class, call them out. Collect names of objects with net access first day, match that to the student. Sure you might get some jackhole that finds out the name used on a classmates device and spoof them, but after looking at the logs and a visual check of the supposed offending student would tell you the truth. Sounds rather simple to me, but that's just my opinion, I could be wrong.
They are in college - if they can't adapt to "no devices with wireless access" then they do not deserve their degree - even more so in a highly technical field that requires the ability to adapt to new information for their whole career. They are going to complain anytime you take something away that would make things easier, further the ones planning on cheating are going to *certainly* complain if they think it will get their ability to cheat back.
Pick an inexpensive calculator that can do the math needed - there are a plethora of them on the market - and require it. It's going to be cheaper than their text book anyway. Your math department probably already standardizes on one. If someone wants a different calculator take it on a case by case basis (for instance I have several of the older HP's that I MUCH prefer over any other calculator on the market - no reason why I couldn't use them and I never had professor that tried to force me to use TI's - I just couldn't get help on how to use it from the teacher. Since I had done assembly programming on the processor I can't say I found that an issue :)). If someone complains like your English as a second language person - point out that we have things called "books" that have that very same information in them too.
It's not really a hard problem, it is only hard if you think the students complaining are being reasonable. They weren't when I was in school, they weren't when my professors were in school, and they aren't now - most never have been in the history of this type of education. Indeed, my experience is that my generation - high school class of 1993 were the first to really start hitting a decline (my generation didn't walk to school barefoot uphill both ways in the snow - we demanded a snowmobile and the state grate a level road out!). Much before that and in my field (CS) but not my specialty (FLAC and Parallel Algorithms) I couldn't follow a well written thesis beyond the introduction, conclusion, and noting their process (that is as it should be). When I was in school in many disciplines totally unrelated to mine I can not only follow a *dissertation* but in many of the "softer" courses I'm certain I could have written them. It's even worse now.
There are still really bright motivated students - look at what they are doing to see if you really need too. If the person who is there because they love the field and would be doing it even without the education is complaining then take note. If the person who is looking for a degree and a good salary is complaining realize they are usually out for the degree to get a position and are looking for the path of least resistance to a good salary (most not even realizing that the good positions are going to go to the person who loves it, not the one who sees it as a distraction from and source of money to do what they really want to do). Your job isn't to make them feel good or be happy, it is to instruct them and ensure that they can meet the requirements for that career - if they want a job there are better ways to do it (and most of those will end up paying better in the long run for them too).
You will not be liked by most students (after all most will take the one that lets them cheat over the one that forces them to learn) and depending on your department you may not be able to do that. I still keep in touch with some of my professors from time to time and I know that they base funding partially on the percentage graduating the course work - as such there is tremendous pressure to graduate instead of teach. One of the constant complaints is that they can't balance the requirement to graduate with the requirement to have highly employable graduates. I can assure you that a number of my professors were certainly "old school" in how they approached your course work (I'm dyslexic and it was tough to get concessions for that at first, though once they knew me well enough to know I sought out the hard courses and I wasn't trying to cheat they gave me whatever I asked for).
------- Sorry about the spelling, I suffer from two problems. Dyslexia makes it difficult to spell well, lazy makes it
Memorization!
Some one above stated that you should be able to use whatever refs you need. That is true in the professional world. But in school you are showing that you have READ and studied. You don't need a calculator to show that! The answers can be given in symbolic form, with appropriate graphs drawn, by showing what the curves look like.
I took a control systems class (400 level) calculators we're useless. (Hehe the prof said you could use one if you wanted to . . ., but knew if you resorted to one you were lost anyway !)
The test was brutal, but if you knew the stuff, you could do it. hehe i failed the first two times (glutton for punishment that i am), but got a B+ the third time. I had finally *learned* the material.
Once you *understand* what's going on you realize calculators really are useless in a proper exam.
I've heard the "I use my phone as a dictionary" line before; "I use my phone as a calculator" was even more popular. It's also used for Google and IM, which is not good. Modern graphing calculators are insane, and it's really unfair to ask students to buy one. The books are expensive enough.
My personal favorite is to require them to take the test in the computer lab, where I know what they're doing and they all have access to identical tools. My rule is if I can see your phone, or some other personal electronics, you are cheating. Period. (That's for the popular: "I just left my phone on top of my backpack" routine.) Books and notes, any paper, is ok. If I see electronics, you fail. Everyone is warned before I pass out the test to either give me their phone or put it away where I can't see it. Don't leave any room for debate of the rules in the middle of the test, students these days are very good at arguing.
At my community college in NC, the TI-83/84 is considered standard for math/physics classes. Everyone has one. Even the public schools use them for the their math classes, so students moving on to college/university are already familiar with these models. The TI-89 is acceptable for non-calculus based classes. All other electronics have to go. As far as English as a second language is concerned, TOEFL is a fairly common requirement. That said, for students who are less than fluent in English, mathematically, it should not matter as the number 2 is the the number 2. I think it is the responsibility of the student to meet the requirements of the college and the instructor. Meaning, the student did of his/her own voluntary action, enroll at the college.
when a government body is given vague empowerment with no checks or balances, all systems of justice are inherently undermined.
When cheating is illegal, only cheaters will cheat.
Honestly, you can try your hardest to dissuade people from cheating, but in the end all you're doing is hurting the students who truly need their electronics, such as the Korean study who needed their dictionary. Granted they could bring in a paperback, but it's 2010, we need to find better ways at handling technology in the class room.
Well, it depends what country you are in. In Japan it's legal to do on a small scale (f.e. in your restaurant or movie theater).
With tools like that, do we really need math classes?
* chirp * chirp *
Let em use whatever device they want and lay out the rules for no communication or internet access.
Be vigilant, Make it a goal to catch the cheaters.
At the end of the day the college degree you get is just your ticket in the door at a company, If you really know your stuff your performance will take you far.
If you know how to find the answer to a problem by tapping your network of contacts you will likely go farther. (the cheating your worried about)
If you can't figure out how to cheat on a physics test in college your probably going nowhere so weed these people out.
In all seriousness i would rather hire the person who found some elaborate way to cheat while avoiding detection than the person who worked for 3 weeks to get a B on the test. The enterprising cheater is probably far more inventive but was just bored by the material, thats a skill set that I can work with. Working for 3 weeks to pass a basic physics test isn't.
Aluminum screen and at the edges folded and hammered in place, and then the windows covered in conductive film. Then bond it all together without allowing some capacitative effect feed through you didn't anticipate. And make sure it is properly grounded. Don't forget the conductive gaskets for opening like the doors and windows... It all gets rather expensive, even "on the cheap"... Consider allowing a small number of devices that have airplane mode, and taking the device out of airplane mode (or enabling wifi in airplane mode) is visible on screen so the proctor walking up behind folks can note the state, if they know the devices, hence the small number of allowed devices. But it is easiest to make it a point at the beginning of the class that all the tests will require a non-networkable device. Then no surprise at the end of the quarter/semester when you tell the students the sad news ...
- Tjp
I am in wallow with my inner money grubbing capitalistic pig. ... Oink!
Is it just me but if they "Require" the use of a expensive graphic calculator that has Wi-Fi/3G access then they deserve to fail when given a bog standard Calculator!
Give the students a "{insert their language} to English" Book if they get stuck with the translation of words...
If they can't adapt then it's either a failure of the lecturer or the course or they deserve to fail...
Laters Sol "Have you found the secrets of the universe? Asked Zebade "I'm sure I left them here somewhere"
I simply disallow any electronic devices during exams. I tend to give no-notes exams and ones where you definitely do not need a calculator (if you need a calculator, you're doing something wrong). My feeling is, that if you can't get through an exam without your iphone, something is terribly wrong.
Don't worry about people dropping your class for weird reasons, people always do that. Then they make it sound like it is your fault. If I had a nickel for every student that dropped my class for some weird reason ... I could probably buy a big mac or some such. You know there was a time when there was no iphone or ipad, and people still managed to pass exams.
Just like it's part of the USA's culture to go around shooting each other in the streets.......
Wait did I just stereotype "USA'nians" (yes there are more Americans than just the USA)....Sorry, it must have been the theme of this thread that made me do it.....
Nope they are North Americans, and South Americans. How many other countries on those continents have the "America" in their countries name?
You may refer to them as Brazilians, or Panamanians, or Cubans, or Canadians, etc.
Your just an American hater, wanting to be a douche.
Just say no devices at all. It fair, even-handed and realistic. Make an exam that doesn't put such a premium on mindless calculations (for example allow them to submit an expression such as 112*121/11 instead of computing the result). More emphasis on brain and mind, less on fingers.
Oh, and the can use their mind as a dictionary too.
Sheesh.
Most of my physics classes either allowed any calculator the student wanted short of something capable of running a CAS, or allowed NO calculator use. As long as you're consistent and let people know the exam rules well in advance (i.e. in the course syllabus on Week 1) then no one has any reasonable cause to complain. And really, the only physics exams where a calculator should be necessary are the freshman survey courses - if there.
As far as other devices like translators - they should only be allowed in exams if they're approved on a university (or at least departmental) level. Otherwise you're buying trouble. These things are not your responsibility. The university has presumably already made a determination that the student is competent to take courses taught and tested in English. You are not only creating potential exam security issues, you are also opening yourself to complaints from the remaining students since this creates a bias which is inconsistent with university policy.
Given that most wireless access points have client lists, and the access point they are going to get coverage too is likely to be in the room:
1. Disallow cell phones
2. Disallow 3g cards in computers
3. Come up with list of mac addresses of computers in the room.
4. Record traffic over the AP in the room.
If you see google searches for questions in traffic, match mac address back to student mac addresses.
Even if it is over SSL, you will still see what host names/etc they are communicating with, and their is a fairly obvious difference in traffic between a mail client checking mail and using gmail for IM, etc.
Ask each student to orally explain three selected concepts you taught in the class, sans everything. No books, no calculators, nothing. The questions are pass/fail and are selected so that anyone passing the class should be able to offer a competent answer. Deliver satisfactory answers and you get whatever grade you earned on the tests. Demonstrate a lack of competence (since you cheated on the tests) and you fail the class.
Moderating "-1, Disagree" is simple censorship. Have the guts to post your opinion.
If I mod you +1 informative will you promise not to hurt me?
Insanity: voting in the same two parties over and over again and expecting different results
'In spite' means 'despite'. I think you mean 'due to'.
Give out 3 different tests with similar questions, change the order of the questions, or both. When people start cheating you'll have a 2/3 chance of them getting the answer from a different version and you'll know immediately.
I had the exact same thoughts on Saturday when I dropped my son off for college entrance exams.
My little 4-function casio looks harmless enough. The proctor would never know how modded it is.
My computer-on-a-pen is a great cheat, too. Trace the question out, and it projects my writing via blue tooth to the android phone in your pocket, which relays it anywhere you need. Still working on a better solution for getting the answer back. The morse code vibrations are a big hack right now. It's ok for multiple choice, but gets cumbersome beyond that.
At some point testing centers need to ban all electronics and provide their own. You can pick up your hearing aid or pacemaker on the way out.
If you provide a course rubric at the beginning of the semester (and if you don't, you should start), simply stipulate that the only allowable electronic devices during testing are Devices A, B or C, all of which can be purchased for cheap at the local Office Supply Store Of Your Choice. Deviation is an automatic fail.
Bonus marks: Offer to buyback when semester ends, and sell to the next class. Maybe turn a little profit while you're at it.
Super-extra-bonus: Get consensus with the rest of your faculty, so students only need to buy one device for all their classes.
***As long as you don't mind the possibility of spending a year in federal prison and a $10K fine for each of the several violations you'd be guilty of by using them, assuming you're in the U.S....***
Hogwash!!!. First of all, Wi-Fi is not an exclusive user of the bandwidth (look it up) and second, there is zero chance of being prosecuted. If you want to be persnickity about it, one can find legitimate devices that have some legitimate use and clobber Wi-Fi as a side affect -- RF lighting for example -- and turn them on during testing.
But that's not a great idea unless the neighboring areas are inhabited by folks who are OK with their wi-fi being killed during test periods.
First step is probably to talk to the school IT folks. Maybe they aren't wild about the idea of Wi-Fi in that classroom area anyway. Or maybe they can provide a list of devices that log on during test periods. Or, who knows? Anyway, they might have a simple answer.
You can't see ANYTHING from a car, You've got to get out of the goddamned contraption and walk...Edward Abbey
The graphers on the iPhone (and other phones, there's even a J2ME app somewhere) are much better than what any calculator can give you. Colour screen (Makes it enjoyable to view different graphs), Retina display (no more blocky graphs!), and a good processor. Oh, and touchscreen, so you can move the graph around with your hands.
You are a college professor. They are college students. In your syllabus, declare that only four-function calculators will be allowed during exams, and that you will be happy to provide said devices. Disallow all other electronic devices to be visible during an exam. If they took notes on a laptop, they should print them out before the exam.
This doesn't need to be a conversation about Faraday cages and the legality of blocking wireless signals. You are not expected to babysit your students--both you and they will enjoy being treated like adults, having been given clear guidelines and expectations at the start of the semester. Your efforts to accommodate your students are thoughtful and speak of good intentions, but there's no reason why the notes of a student for whom English is not a primary language cannot include a description of a difficult concept in their native language--especially if the potential need for that kind of information is called out in your syllabus.
Good luck, though. I mean it.
They may go back to the (oh my gosh) traditional writing the answers on their arms, shoes, or small notes. It's not the technology that needs to be fought, it's the fact that students will cheat.
Based on the article, the students are allowed to bring in any materials they want. What they're not allowed to do is use network resources (such as 'google it'); unless they google'd that very thing ahead of time, before they knew about the test question, and had saved the top results, of course.
When I was taking electrostatics (over 20 years ago) the class was structured such that if you missed every test but handed in all homework and labs you would pass (barely) but if you only did the labs and test you would fail (even scoring 100 % on every test). Additionally there were two types of tests. Basic tests were every chapter/unit fill in the pencil scanner tests (aka multiple guess) Advanced tests were every other chapter/unit and the answers were required to be in a format termed "3D BE SNUB" by the professors teaching the course. 3D BE SNUB is a mnemonic (which did not survive 20 years of neglect). However, I have found two almost identical explanations of it, one from a HS physics teacher, the other from someone who received it from his HS physics teacher. The sadistic side of me says forbid all electronics. Allow them access to log tables, text book, their own notes (or perhaps a 'cheat sheet' below a specified size) and whatever pen or pencil they want. However, even I wouldn't try this for a survey course.
Paul
I'd argue that we do. For example, I was just trying to integrate something along the lines of x^2*e^(-2*x^2). If you don't know about gamma functions, it's neigh unsolvable, even with WA. (Somewhat ironically, the second google link for the gamma function is WA, although the actual engine doesn't seem to use it.) If you do, you can approximate the solution in 2 minutes or less.
There isn't a reason to require wrote memory of a thousand things. There is a reason to require the knowledge of techniques and approximations, even if you can't spit them out at any given instance. I've run into things multiple times that required a Taylor expansion to solve. If I hadn't taken a math class which dealt with them, I'd never be able to solve those problems. Sometimes WA will do that for you. Sometimes it won't.
I would argue that with a tool like that, we don't need math classes exactly as they've been taught for decades. We still have a need, however. Knowing that something exists is often all that's required. But not knowing it exists means you're doomed to failure.
Velociraptor = Distiraptor / Timeraptor
This is not enforced as hard as you seem to think:
http://www.khq.com/Global/story.asp?S=9963126
Also, formal amendments are coming up:
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=h111-560
http://www.ncsl.org/default.aspx?tabid=16176
Everything I write is lies, read between the lines.
"unterminated 's' command"
Why do they need to do arithmetic in a college level physics class? All the work in my physics, thermo, etc. classes was symbolic. No one would have thought an arithmetic aid like a simple calculator would have been of any use.
Good judgement comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgement.
- W. Wriston, former Citibank CEO
Everyone's getting all wrapped up in the technical solutions - why not look at how others have already solved this?
Basically, my university's rules state:
1) Bilingual dictionaries only - if your native language is English, and you can't understand the exam paper written in English, tough titty.
2) Paper dictionaries only.
3) No specialist dictionaries - you should have at least learned the English terms applicable to your subject.
4) No inserts, notes, or marginalia in books - highlighting is OK, additional notations not OK. Checked by the invigilators before / during exams.
5) Standard or basic scientific calculators only - nothing that can store commonly-used functions, formulas, or text.
6) Specific models of advanced scientific or graphing calculators may be allowed on a subject-by-subject basis - approved devices are listed in the course outline at the beginning of semester.
7) Anything outside of this is by prior written arrangement with the lecturer or head of department only, on a case by case basis.
8) No non-approved materials allowed - this includes radios, pagers, phones, mp3 players, multipurpose devices (e.g. iPods, smartphones, etc), or devices not approved under point 6 or 7. Leave that shit in your bag / locker.
9) All devices allowed under point 6 or 7 must be reset either by or in front of the invigilator or lecturer on request immediately prior to exam commencement.
10) Regardless, the invigilators are allowed to confiscate any suspect materials devices from a student at any time during the exam, and this is recorded on the attendance sheet. It is up to the student to request return of confiscated materials upon completion of the exam.
An onerous list? Yup, sure, to look at. In practice it basically boils down to "these are the specific things you can take into an exam; if you need to take something else then get prior approval; if you take anything suspect in, it may be confiscated for the duration".
What part of "a well regulated militia" do you not understand?
G'day. School Teacher and occasional University part-timer (in social sciences and education) here.
TLDR: Use a preapproved list of calculators and printed dictionaries and materials that they can use.
I advocate a blanket ban on electronic devices, besides a list of pre-approved calculators, during exams. Students should be allowed to bring with them writing implements, watch and printed dictionaries and that's it. Most obviously to prevent cheating, and for the reason you pointed out: that it's getting difficult to tell whether a device is connected to the outside world or not.
But secondly, because most of the handheld dictionaries in use by non-English speaking background students at university are rubbish and cause more problems for them (whether they know it or not) than they realise. I have had students at university level turn in essays with grammar and vocabulary use that looked like it had been fed through Google Translate multiple times in different languages before being put onto the page. They're certain that it's right and can sometimes, in fact, give me the original language version (which has happened a few times, but I know very little Chinese or Korean, so it was rather pointless), but the English version is barely readable.
Printed dictionaries are much more reputable and generally produced by people who have actually done some research in the area. There are some online dictionaries which are also quite good, but internet access isn't something I'd like for my students to have in the exam room. I'm sure you can ask around your staff about decent translation dictionaries and put them on an approved list.
As an aside, I think it's important that you teach your students not to rely on dictionaries (particularly the bullshit handheld dictionaries). If they're studying in a foreign language, then it's not unreasonable to expect them to gain some mastery in that language, particularly for the technical language (after all, you've been spouting it to them for weeks before the exams come around). Now, if they need support while they do that, then you can point them to the learning centre (or what have you) of your university.
You're all looking at the problem the wrong way around. It should be simple enough to design a test that doesn't need a calculator. The devices are great if you need numeric "answers" to a given problem, but in any kind of assessment there's no need for this. The students can leave their result as an expression, which is actually more meaningful in that it makes it clearer to the examiner as to how the student arrived at it.
The student shouldn't need to show that he can substitute values in an expression to arrive at a numeric answer. Any idiot can push a few buttons to do that, so it's just wasting time.
> Well, I am not sure that this is the right approach
Der... ya think?
Jamming cellular signals is a federal crime.
What a jackass.
Before you spout off obscenities, first you should understand this depends on what country you're in. Also that in the US, the legalities are not clear as the applicable law was written in 1934 and no real precedent or clarification has been set in the courts yet. In fact, the FCC has not prosecuted a single instance of localized cell-phone jamming. One interpretation is that its perfectly legal if the jamming doesn't extend beyond your private property.
The exam regulations of Cambridge International Examinations (CIE) are a good model to follow. No digital gadgets of any sort are allowed. Calculators must be simple - no graphic or programmable ones are allowed. Digital dictionaries are not allowed, but book dictionaries (simple translation, language to language), are. At the end of the day, the examiner (institution or course teacher) sets the rules. As long as they're announced at or before the beginning of a course, students have no cause for complaint.
From my physic exam at the university:
Gauss law: the total magnetic flux through a closed surface is equal to zero.
Give them a crazy to calculate flux and surface.
If they studied the answer will be zero and take two minutes, the others will finish to integrate for next year exam.
Surely the conduct of examinations is the responsibility of the university or at least the faculty? Why does a lecturer need to be involved in enforcement?
I was involved in conducting examinations in schools (Year 3 to Year12) and universities for many years. Examination rules were usually set by the state Board of Studies or the university, but the rules I worked under can be summarised as:
- scientific calculators are permitted, but candidates must demonstarte to the invigilators that memeories are emptied (usually by just switching the calculator off, or by removing the battery)
- no dictionaries of any sort
- mobile phones switched off
- no PDAs or other networked devices.
Of course there were exceptions specified for particular exams, schools etc but in general they had to be simple and easy to understand given that the invigilators were usually retired school teachers and academics not always from the same subject area.
Calculators were permitted (actually they were mandatory) but the type was specified.
s/iTouch/iPod Touch
s/(.+)/\1\//
how about create a list of all the words that appear on the test and release it a few days in advance before the test so the students can translate onto a piece of paper. Remember to keep the words together if they appear together (angular velocity, frictionless surface) and alphabetize the list.
A cheap, badly shielded microwave should do the trick. They can run hours without being damaged (when empty) and I've not seen many WiFi devices get past it. I don't know if it would disrupt 3/4G wireless internet, but it's a start. You could also try the brass mesh cage approach, but that seems a bit over the top. There are devices that can detect an active cellular signal. Even some as small as your average promotional giveaway pen.
If I were a professor I would not allow graphing calculators for simplicity's sake. No worrying about functionality or wireless issues. Maybe even mandate a certain model of cheap calculator. They are like $18 dollars these days, nothing compared to the price of a book. No phones. Also for simplicity's sake, I would just include a reference page for formulas that are needed for the exam. No worrying about people making their own cheat sheets and the like. But part of me likes calculators. You'd be surprised at how many students aren't even able to use the advanced TI-89 calculator functions when they have them. It rewards nerdy behavior to let people use calculators, especially when they have to show their work anyway. As others have mentioned, when in the real world aren't you able to use access reference material?
Unless you absolutely need a numerical result, why do you need a calculator for physics?
get them to answer in terms of the constants given in the question. don't give the values of the constants. don't let them substitute values for them.
Einstein didn't write E=m * 89875517873681764, did he?
buy a femtocell
Do they make these for all four major U.S. cell phone carriers (CDMA on Verizon's band, CDMA on Sprint's band, GSM and UMTS on AT&T's band, and GSM and UMTS on T-Mobile's band)?
"I'm a college physics professor."
Then your job is to teach physics, not to insure that everyone who gets a grade from you earns it honestly. Your students' job is to learn. If they decide to do a poor job of it, it's their loss. Stop wasting the time that should go to your job, chasing around after security issues. Let them use anything they want.
Then write your final exam so that rather than solving problems, they instead have to state how they would set up the problem to solve it. No need for devices, thus no devices allowed.
"I may be synthetic, but I'm not stupid." -- Bishop 341-B
Back in the day we could use our graphing calculators on exams, but they weren't open book. So I'd store all my formulas in some mock program on there. But then the teachers got wise and started coming around and wiping the memory of everybody's calculator before each exam. So I wrote a program on the TI-82 that mimicked the series of screen prompts and displays required to wipe the calculator memory. Fun times...
We don't have a state-run media we have a media-run state.
Why not take a different approach. Assume that they'll find a way to bring in networked devices. Design a test for which that doesn't help them.
1) Include subtle variations on everyone's test so they can't just share answers directly. Everyone gets a unique test, but the problems are sufficiently similar that you can generate the answer keys for each algorithmically.
2) Make the test sufficiently complex that the only way to finish it on time is by working the problems directly, trying to communicate the problems out to an outside party, letting the outside party solve the problem, and waiting for the answer to come back takes a lot longer than just directly tackling the problem.
3) Have yourself (and a few grad students if available) walk around and pay attention to what students are doing. It should be fairly obvious if someone is using their iPad to chat with a friend rather than to access wikipedia or do some calculations. Just the manner in which the student is typing should indicate whether they're communicating with someone (lots of typing, short pauses to read) or looking something up (very little typing (queries), lots of reading).
4) Include graphical aspects to the problems that are harder communicate via text to an outside party.
5) Make problems where the student has to show their work, not just give an answer. The more words they have to write, the more obvious it'll be to detect patterns of cheating (lots of people with the same words).
Devices with cameras in them could pose a problem (all the "it takes time to type and typing is obvious" stuff goes out the window). But again, monitors walking around should have a pretty easy time noticing students positioning their devices to take pictures of the problems. Nothing beats monitors.
Any answer depends partially on the official policy of your institution - particularly regarding the international students.
My usual rules for a course of this type: any standard calculator the students want. That's a dedicated calculator, not a phone or whatever. Any books and papers the students want - which may (obviously) include a paper dictionary for the international students.
It's laudable that you offer to buy calculators yourself, but don't. The practical reason: It provides students a reason to argue if they fail (his calculators didn't work, I didn't know how to use them). The political reason: schools are only too happy to have instructors donate time and money, because we care about our courses and students - this is a stupid situation that needs no encouragement.
Enjoy life! This is not a dress rehearsal.
Actually, the USA has no official language.
Officially, you're right. But practically, the language of the United States Code and Code of Federal Regulations is close enough to an official language for government work.
So which states are the ones where the majority of the populace does not speak English?
This map based on 2000 Census data shows that California and New Mexico have the highest percentage of people who do not speak English. Even though it might not be 51 percent, it's still a substantial minority with which organizations have to deal to stay in business.
You can make WiFi unusable, however.
Yup. Tinfoil, lots of tinfoil.
I know several Japanese students that used "dictionaries" to store class notes and other information that gave them an unfair advantage. This was particularly in history and astronomy (where one needs to know lots of dates, etc.) They then bragged about it later, as if cheating their way out of gaining knowledge was something to be proud of.
Don't let any foreign language student pull a fast one on you. I vote that use of "dictionaries" should not be allowed. If it comes to it, contact the foreign language department to have them help you correct assignments. Doing anything else is opening up a doorway for cheaters, and unfairly punishing those who do have a handle on the English language.
Why not just set up 2 laptops at either end of the room, with Wi-fi NICs using "Virtual" adapters (Or a USB hub with several cheap USB Wi-Fi NICs in), set up ad-hoc networks on every available Wi-Fi channel between them, and ncat /dev/urandom through each interface. That will effectively occupy all Wi-Fi accessible channels, and give no space for any other ad-hoc network to be set up in. Given that they're local machines, they'd affect (at most) the room they're in, so having little effect on the Wi-Fi in the rest of the school. Cell and SMS blocking is left as an exercise for the reader.
The student is in the course so presumably speaks enough of the home language to be able to take such a course. Honestly there are plenty of English-as-a-FIRST-language students in my classes who could benefit from reading a dictionary. There are words on exams that even your native students won't understand, and they don't need a dictionary -- they raise their hands and maybe approach your desk and say "what does insidious mean?" and you patiently explain it. If two or three students ask about the same word you announce it to to the class so that you don't have to keep answering the same question. ESL students can do this too; there is no need to allow dictionaries on tests. But if you do want to allow it -- on an open book test -- then allow a dictionary that is a book. Problem solved.
For now, anyway. When they invent e-paper that fits on a regular page in a book and can connect to the internet, well, then come back and post another ask slashdot....
Physics professor who cannot build a Faraday cage? Bwahahaha...
Baker's Law: Misery no longer loves company. Nowadays it insists on it
http://www.sigsegv.cx/
If the original poster has a smallish amount of students, it may be possible to do an "oral" test.
My calculus teacher in my Bachellors did it this way (we were about 15 persons)
First, before the exam date the students selected an order of taking the exam. Then, at the test date, the first guy entered the classroom where *only* the teacher was.
For your test, you had to get one small piece of paper from a bunch, containing 1 exercise (an integral or derivative). You then had to solve it in the blackboard.
Students were able to get everything they wanted to the exam, including calculators, equation sheets, etc. And, the teacher helped you in some ways while you were solving the problem (if you were not completely lost).
Because you did not know which problem you would get, you had to study all of them. For me, it was one of the best exams I had...
Now, on the scoring, the teacher used 2 things to give you a score. First, during the semester, she gave us *a lot* of exercises each week to take home. At the end of the month we had to give them back with answers. Of course we were allowed (and encouraged) to get together to solve them.
At the end of the semester, the teacher considered the amount of exercises you solved and your overal performance in the "oral" test to give you a score.
Believe it or not, from around 40 people only 15 of us passed.
Ubuntu is an African word meaning 'I can't configure Debian'
That's it. If it's open-book, they can obviously bring in text-books/notes. If your students need a dictionary, they should either have a dead-tree dictionary or an electronic dictionary from a pre-approved list so that you know it hasn't got wifi. Anything else should be left at home or in their bags at the front of the exam room.
:)
I don't get why the dictionary is such a big deal either. How many new words come up in a Physics exam that they won't have come across before in the course of their studies. If they're looking up the Korean/Belgian/Spanish for "point mass", "frictionless surface" or "acceleration due to gravity" in their final exam, then I'll bet dollars to donuts that that's the least of their worries. Moreover, any dictionary will probably not help them with those phrases, unless it's a domain specific technical dictionary. Or perhaps you're a cruel bastard who uses Cougars, Comptrollers and Coelacanths sliding down inclined planes in your exam problems?
he went on to become a teacher after that.
I am a university professor of Computer Engineering. My exams are open book but zero electronics. The rule is simple: paper good, batteries bad. I can't tell what devices do any more so I keep things simple by not allowing any. It is not difficult to design exams that don't require a calculator.
The obvious solution is to disallow cellphones of any sort, (Sorry asian iPhone users!) and to put several honeypot APs in the room. (One on each channel of the Wifi frequency band.)
Bonus if the APs are running linux, and are spamming out broadcast beacons at an above normal rate.
In most consumer hardware with network capabilities, they will connect to any readily available network device that is unsecured, unless directed otherwise. At the very least, they will alert that one is available, which would give away it's networking capabilities.
You could be particularly nasty, by giving them all SSIDs that match the college's wifi network, as it is likely that all such networked devices would already be configured to attempt connections with that network.
Such APs wouldnt need network access, in fact, they shouldnt-- You could stick all of them on a simple media cart, and share them with other instructors. Surely the college has some obsoleted APs from their most recent infrastructure upgrades or maintenance? Instead of throwing them out, just repurpose them. It's actually a BONUS if they are defective as network devices! (just as long as devices TRY to connect to them. Worn out buggy POS APs are PERFECT!)
This approach would legally reduce the quality of service to abysmal levels where the anti-network cart is placed, and would give some added disincentive to try and use Google-- and has the benefit of possibly being nearly free.
I'd even donate my microwave.
Fucking roommate nuking his food... ruins my internet... rabble rabble...
Is to have an official approved calculator provided by the university - students can get to handle it in the admin office before the examination. We also provide official foreign language dictionaries for the examination upon request. It is the university wide policy which applies to all examinations and the students are informed up front.
I don't understand this need for calculators in Physics exams. I spent 3 years in a Technical college in England studying Physics, among other things. This was for old English 'O' and 'A' levels. Then I spent three years in university and end up with a degree in physics. During none of that time was a calculator required for any physics or mathematics examinations. Despite the fact that 80% of your time on a physics degree is spent getting to grips with the mathematics of it all. If you are explaining how various experiments work, describing theories, and deriving various formula for this and that it's all done symbolically, you know, algebra and calculus and all the rest I have forgotten. That's why we have such things. Why would students be wasting their time merely crunching numbers rather than showing they understand what is going on?
To stop the wifi problems, you can always buy Airtight Airsentry's (basically, they knock all wifi devices offline). But wouldn't help with cell coverage.
No shit. That's because you're not god. You've no right to judge people guilty and ban their stuff, or even force them to change their behaviour, without investigation, evidence, and a trial. Even with all that, many would question whether true justice was present.
Did you just call him a dick? ;)
This is a problem, We provide a specific calculator to the students in an exam and don't let them bring in any electronics of their own. It works well as we inform the students very early on exactly which calculator they will be provided with so they can either buy one to use throughout their course (Very cheap as non-graphing) or borrow one from the department. Everyone seems happy with this and I have never heard any complaints. This may be partly because it is a department wide policy and as such all courses are examined in this way so it is expected by the students.
This is how we did this on my university:
Write an official list with devices you accept and tell the students where to get that list. If students want to add devices on that list, they can ask you to extend the list and you check if the device has network functions or not or whatever criteria you need or dislike. Yes, this may be some work but you can use this list again next year.
Then, right before you hand out the exams you show the list to the people in the classroom and tell them explicitly that only devices on that list are allowed and if you see another device somewhere during the exam, those people will fail the exam instantly. If they fill out the first page with their names etc write a disclaimer on the first page that unallowed devices are considered as cheating and they have to sign the first page.
Then hand out the exam and while the people write it, you go to everyone and compare the devices on the table with your list, while you are checking the first page.
I can tell you: 1-2 people will use a device not on that list (even though it might fulfill all criteria). But as the official list should have been online for a long time and you announced officially immediately before the exam to remove those devices, you can kick them out. They were so dumb, that it's ok to punish them. How else will they learn? ;-)
Why is this suggestion of jamming devices modded Troll? After all its the only cost effective way to prevent both external network penetration as well as student collusion via short band radio transmissions such as bluetooth. The angry post below post using radio jammers being a federal offence is misleading as unless I am mistaken, it is not an offense in the USA if you get permission prior to doing this.
There is big business in cheating to get a degree these with many online 'companies' offering to write essays (even your thesis) and talk you through your exam via wireless.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/8493132.stm
http://www.ukessays.com/press.php
Of which a University has been repeatedly shown to be public space in numerous free speech and other court battles in nearly every jurisdiction.
Also the FCC is clearly very interested in cell phone jamming, while this article does not say anything about fines to the business owners, only the jamming sellers, I think if a bunch of feds show up in your classroom and going through your receipts you might have other worries.
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2010/04/texas-beauty-schools-cell-phone-jammer-leads-to-25k-fine.ars
Web Developers: Celebrate to our roots! Animated Gifs and Tiled Backgrounds, dont let our history die!
Unplug the ethernet cable from the wireless access point, and line the walls, floors and ceilings with wire mesh (inexpensive at any hardware store) - instant faraday cage - doesn't have to be permanent. :) And if you think that's silly, I'll bet someone at MIT has done it at some time.
Cheers, Tim -- Tim Janke Part mad scientist, part lion tamer: sr. software engineer, global team leader, project mana
You'll get a bunch of geeky hi-tech answers from people who've never left the basement.
I say get paper dictionaries and basic calculators then ban *all* electronic devices. Warn them beforehand.
If they can't figure out a paper dictionary and four function calculator it's a safe bet they were going to fail the exam anyway.
No sig today...
At my university we had an issue with some foreign students using their 'translators' to download the entire book before the exam. Translators can be mini-computers with full storage capabilities, even if not networked during an exam. Because we require English proficiency, we no longer allow translator use during an exam. For an open book exam this is obviously not an issue, but something that I was unaware of until this issue arose.
These are all valid concerns if you are worried about cheating. Perhaps you could work with others in the sciences department to have a testing room constructed... one that blocks and interferes with various electronic signals.
The "environment" is the problem. Create a new one.
I agree with parent, get the cheapo calculators upfront and have the students practise with them, tell them it's what they'll be using in the exam, easy.
If you don't risk failure you don't risk success.
Ban everything except models of calculator you know don't do wifi. Tell all students what the allowed models are far in advance of the exam and optionally buy a few to lend to students who can't afford their own.
What are you testing in this exam anyway? How much the students understand or who can come up with the smartest way to offload their brain functions to a machine?
Understanding it and building it are two very different skill sets.
Put quite simply: They only measure the performance of the student on that particular day. That performance will be the best possible with a lot of subtractions for stuff completely unrelated to the subject at hand, like personal mental state (a lot of people are extremely nervous), the questions in the test (choice of words, order, subjects etc.), the exam conditions (light, heat, cold, people present) and the date and time (female periods, lack of sleep, too many exams on top of each other). In other words: If you do good, the grade probably reflects your potential, but if you do bad you might have just have the same or greater potential than the student who did good, but were caught on a bad day.
None of these issues in any way reflects the true potential of the student as most of these can be worked around in real life situations where planning and scheduling is possible (indeed essential), thus allowing for the best performance possible.
The best evaluation is a continuous all-year evaluation based on many, many tests of various types, combined with classroom performance. That way the 'local' issues (bad days etc.) gets evened out over time.
"For every complex problem, there is a solution that is simple, neat, and wrong." -- H.L. Mencken (1880-1956) --
Why not just give them an exam that's so long and difficult that the whole class can not complete even if they all work together and then grade on a scale but fail them all if they all get the exact same score. Then you can let them have the Internet and you can let work together or they can work by themselves. Those who get the best results under those conditions will get the best results in real life.
A better approach is to use a Computer-Based Assessment (CBA) system that creates unique test for each student, drastically reducing or eliminating the cheating problem.
General advantages of CBA systems over traditional paper-and-pencil testing (PPT) have been demonstrated in several comparative scientific works.
Thousands of Universities and important schools are now using a Free Open Source Software called TCExam ( http://www.tcexam.org ) that is also suggested by the European community.
a Faraday cage to keep out wifi is pretty hard. We had one build in our department some years ago. You could still make a phone call inside. Turns out that the grounding circuit (it was on the 6th floor) was the problem. It was only sovled by building it underground.
The Grey Goo disaster happened 3 billion years ago. This rock is covered in self replicating machines!
Instead of banning your students from reading refence materials during the tests, encourage them to.
I personally had test's where the teachers have allowed the students to bring any materials with them. In my opinnion this is the correct aproach. However it requires of you as a lector to reform your tests acordingly. Instead of testing their memory capabilities of memorating anything you might have taught them, you need to start testing their problem solving capabilities.
I remember very well one physics test I had, I got a 5 out of 5 possible, scale 0-5. I didn't know the formulas to use, and didn't trust the formulas i had was the correct one to use. But I solved the problem, by drawing some triangles and calculating forses with them instead. My teacher was amused, and watched me doing the calculations. I was the last one to still sit down doing the test, and time was running out, got nervous, last triangle to draw and last force calculation to calculate, and i had a minute left. Due to the stress I constantly drawed the triangle wrongly, erased it and drawed again, same results that i knew was wrong, erased. The lecturer was watching and calculated on his calculator, laughed and watched me doing the triangle wrong way again. Then he said, "No, not that way".
That sentece opend my mind, I drew the triangle correctly made the calculation and handed in the paper, a few seconds late. It was 1 of 5 or 6 problems to solve in that test. Got 5 out of 5. Later the teacher said, that he liked the way I solved the problem, it's not about knowing the correct formula to use or knowing how to use the formulas. But understanding the problem.
With this I just wanted to say, make your tests in such way that it forces the students to understand the problem, if they do understand the problem let them use any means they can to solve it. In this way your students will be better equipeed after the exams, than those who have memorized methods for the tests but have no clue of the inner workings of the matters. These studenst who have memorized for the tests, will always perform at the test. But try them once more 6-12 months later on same subject, and they fail.
Make your test in such way and you won't have to trouble your mind on what gadgets they happen to use at the tests, you wont even need to monitor the tests that much, except from them cheating by looking over an others shoulder.
An other thing you need to consider is time usage, how much time can you allow your studenst to use in solving the problem, ofcoruse not so much that they could take an online course on the matter while doing the test. But enought to find fromulas and guidance on how to use them.
It puts you in the situation that you need to carefully consider the construction of your tests, but it will reward you with good students, and intresting test material to review.
Instead of using the traditional Pen-and-Paper Testing, you can use a Computer-Based Assessment (CBA) system.
General advantages of CBA systems over traditional paper-and-pencil testing (PPT) have been demonstrated in several scientific comparative works and thousand of Universities and Schools have already switched to them.
If you are concerned about the price of these CBA systems you can always use a Free Open Source Software called TCExam that currently is the world's most used Free CBA system by important Universities and Schools.
A) Your problem is electronics allow communication to outside of the exam-area. You cannot trust anymore people solved the stuff on their own. But that is what the test is about.
B) Allow calculators without a memory. What you want to test and CAN test in two or four hours (I have written a fair number of those in physics) does not require a calculator and when/if it does, it's just some "filling in numbers and crunch them in the end". No fancy device needed here. Disallow electronics beyond that since you can never know what else they do (vast libraries of all ever created exams int he world or just a connection to three buddies outside who wrote these exams last term).
C) Ponder to allow "One/Two/Three/Four sheets of handwritten notes", people have to condense the lecture into that, then. Know that your exam can't be solved with "learning on the fly". If your test asks stuff that you can just copy from that paper (and thus from any textbook) ask yourself if that is what you really want to test.
D) Allow dictionaries in paper-form. I see no problem with students being able to read and use a book IN ADDITION to their ipods.
E) Make all those rules clear right at the start of the term ("The exam will be... and this will be the rules") so anyone is aware of them and can adjust and prepare right from the beginning.
Let them use slide rules. Once they have graduated they can indulge in all the fancy electronic equipment they like.
I am sure that there are many other solipsists out there.
Only make sure this is clear *at the start of the course*, also make it clear that you are willing to help out anyone that feels disadvantaged by this. It sounds like you care about your students and i'm sure 98% of them won't have any actual real life physical issues with this, but helping them out either with extra texts or other language exams are your cross to bear i'm afraid. Either that or stop caring :)
This is a joke. I am joking. Joke joke joke.
"Obscenities"? Which word do you find obscene? "Think", maybe?
That's a brilliant solution. First useful one in the thread so far.
Doubting the existence of evolution is like doubting the existence of China: It just shows that you're uninformed.
Maybe I'm just out of touch, but I thought the purpose of school was to teach students who are there to learn. If a student is there to learn, he won't cheat. If he's not there to learn, get rid of him, or at least ensure that he doesn't disrupt others who want to learn.
If I were a student, I'd not put up with being required to jump through any hoops like this. You think I'm there just to waste my time cheating? That's your problem. As long as I'm not disrupting other students, deal with it, perhaps by talking to me so that you can see that you're wrong. If I'm not disrupting anyone else and yet you still require me to jump through hoops, you're disrupting my education.
But I know that my view on this is very unpopular here, because apparently school is about something very different. Probably one reason I'm not in it.
If you want to try something more underhanded. Scan for the visiable hot spots. Then add your own wifi router with one of those SSID's. You can then see where the students are going or if they are cheating. Though this is a bit underhanded but should be simpler than just blocking. Of course you could just tell the students that you've done this and do nothing which should work as well.
I don't get how they can take a class if they don't understand the English required for it. Learning physics is not only learning the equations, rules, formulas and what not, it's also learning the vocabulary of the subject.
I came to the US for college and I majored in Political Science. I had to prove that I had good written and spoken English by taking TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) with a certain mark. All other foreign students had to do the same, and those who didn't had to take some ESL courses before starting their regular course.
A part of my education was learning English and I never requested to use a dictionary during a test, though I often carried an English-English paper one around. All tests I took were on subjects covered in class, so if I didn't understand concepts of e.g. "urban development" or what a "legal brief" is, it sure wouldn't help me to be able to translate that to my own language. Also, as I majored in social science, a big part of my grade was in-class participation where dictionaries electronic translators can't really help.
I can't imagine how someone can successfully follow a lecture in English and then need a dictionary to do a test on it. Besides, using those electronic translators or even English-Some other language is very dumbing... Jeez, spend 4 years in USA attending a university and go back to Korea without knowing English? Money well spent...
In most cases where wi-fi is distributed as a cloud it uses a RADIUS server which tracks mac addresses, and can schedule times to allow access. You might ask your network admin to require that all devices be registered before network access is allowed, and it makes sense from a security perspective as well. Once that's done, the devices access can be managed and scheduled....but you might need a 3G jammer as well....nothing is easy, but a great deal is possible with a bit of effort and cooperation.
In my university, a short list of simple calculators was agreed between the professors and student representatives. All students know they'll only be allowed to use one of the calculators on the list, so they all just buy one. And they just have to buy one, because the same list of calculators is valid for every course during their entire bachelor's and master's studies.
And a simple calculator isn't more expensive than a textbook. Especially because the student union buys them in large volumes and gets a pretty nice volume discount for its members.
First off -- I applaud your use of open-note exams. That is the ONLY real-world way to learn and demonstrate knowledge.
I could not disagree more. While it is true that we look things up outside an exam you only look SOME things up not everything. Hence even in real life you must have some level of stored information to rely on. This is particularly important when it comes to learning. If you do not have the basic framework of knowledge on which to add new material you are completely sunk when it comes to learning more. It is just as valid to test the core of understanding and knowledge that you expect the students to retain as it is to test the level of understanding and knowledge they can display when allowed to look things up.
Where the open book exam fails though is that in real life you don't use books so much as the internet and other searchable digital resources. I almost never look things up in paper books: I'll search an electronic paper archive, an electronic book or other digital resource because it is so much simpler. The problem is that if you allow that in your exam cheating becomes so easy your exam becomes farcical.
1) No ipod touches or iphones, have them use laptops.
2) Custom Linux LiveCD sans internet features.
Lots of partial credit. Even if it doesn't punish the person receiving the help the person providing it will be hard pressed to distribute all the steps over a wireless connection and complete their exam in the time allotted.
The real solution should be to forbid all kinds of radio/IR transmission during test and to deploy detectors of the typical frequencies used (WLAN/Bluetooh/Cellular). There should be many detectors to be able to triangulate and sort out exterior sources. This shouldn't be too complex. It shouldn't be too expensive in long term either since the problem is global. There should be a market for this kind of gear.
Well...the flood of responses about the legality of broad or narrow spectrum jamming has already come up, so I'll skip that.
I don't have a great solution (yet) for bluetooth, but to kill WIFI: pick your open-source WIPS and spoof deauthentication frames (typical rogue containment) to all unknown devices (train it for surrounding university equipment). Unless the supplicant is an AP that supports 802.11w you'll knock WIFI right out of being usable.
I think it's fairly easy to make sure the only Wifi channels/networks that are in range are either (a) base stations you set up that are not connected to an uplink or (b) base stations that you monitor by sniffing the traffic to detect any attempt to communicate. You will get at least a Mac address and probably more of anyone trying any kind of communication. Cell-phones are not so easy; but there is no justification for taking a phone into an exam.
You can't win an arms race in cheating using technology. But you can change the problem space.
Just exhale sharply. Duh.
Anyone found a 5ghz wifi blocker ?
When I went through high school (the 90s), I was told I didn't need a calculator for exams, because we were going for reduced complexity, so "3pi" was a better answer than "9.42477796", and "5 sin 45" was better than "4.25451762". I was told that the questions would be designed so that the fractions would cancel out. They were right, and although I had a scientific calculator I barely used it in my exams. (Which is just as well, as it was solar powered and the exam hall was poorly lit.)
When I went to university, I was told pretty much the same thing. The university had a ban on programmable calculators, because of the ability to store notes or even equation solving programs on them. In compensation, the maths department bought a big stack of cheap Casio basic scientifics and offered them at about 5 pounds a piece. They made a clear and unambiguous promise that no exam questions would be set that these calculators couldn't do. The majority of my first year intake -- several hundred across the various maths courses for maths students, engineers, scientists and computer scientist -- bought the standard calculator because it was simpler, quicker, and they knew for certain it would do what they needed. Only a minority of these had banned programmable calculators -- most had standard scientifics, but the confidence of having the "standard" model made everyone happy.
A solar 4-function calculator will cost a couple of pounds/euros/dollars per student -- it's not a hardship to ask them to buy one if the college purchases in bulk on their behalf. Hell, if the college buys on their behalf you could even get a basic non-programmable scientific for about 10 pounds/euros/dollars apiece. That's still nothing compared to the annual spend on books.
And anyone who can't operate a 4 function calculator because it's "unfamiliar" is going to have major problems in the outside world anyway.
HAL.
Got them moderator blues I blieve I walk out the do', With these mod-points I been gettin', I 'most never post no mo'
Give them a real dictionary. The interface has been honed and is widely understood and, when the student doesn't have good english, this is known and either (if it's an English exam) required to be better or irrelevant (e.g. Maths).
A book is also not networkable.
One way to prevent cheating is to make sure there is nothing to cheat, or to add a risk of cheating the wrong answers. Make several versions of your exam, or different exams altogether (you probably have those already). You don't need an ultimate answer to prevent cheating, you just need to increase the risk of failure sufficiently that the majority will not cheat.
You can ignore friction. E.g. if you have an extremely weighty object being held up by an air blower and you have it moving at 3m/s and want to know when it will have traveled 12m.
In that case you can ignore friction.
I.e. your statement is rather like "I'm pretty sure yuo can't ignore thermal expansion". When you're measuring the height of a human being, how many people ask "what's the room temperature"? Even though a human WILL have thermal expansion on their bodies.
How many people work out the forces on a sailboat and include the photon pressure from the sun? Yet you need it when talking about satellites and especially solar sails.
If they want to use a dictionary, tell them they can use a paper one and look at it at the start of the test. Works fine in my classes. At least I know what to look for if someone attempts to cheat with it (i.e. hand-written notes), whereas abuse using an electronic device is hard to detect (especially if in another language).
If they don't like that stipulation -- too darn bad. If it's too slow for them to use a paper dictionary or to work with whatever electronic crutches they find familiar, then their language skills aren't up to par and they should work on them more before taking the class.
For calculators, tell them the model they will have access to and get the relevant department to buy a batch that you have control over. Hand them out during the tests. Let them know that they can borrow and practice with those calculators at the start of the course. Ban all other electronic devices -- they are too easily abused.
The only people that are likely to find either of these arrangements intolerable are the people who were hoping or planning to cheat in the first place.
... to prove they aren't using any gizmos or gadgets.
now we need to go OSS in diesel cars
My professor had a simple rule. You could use a calculator or just about any other electronic device - if you already had an A average. People with B or below had to do it the hard way. Win/win: The extra motivation/practice led to quite a few A students. Laziness is such a wonderful motivator for techies.
Another factor that folks seem not to be mentioning is the time limit on the test. Removing a time limit can make the test more accessible for people who truly need accessibility, e.g. foreign speakers who may have trouble with some English words, while not disadvantaging any other students.
At my faculty (www.ii.edu.mk), and almost everywhere on the Balkans, during exams cell phones, pdas, iPods, etc... are forbidden. Only calculators. On some exams even calculators with function drawing capabilities are forbidden because it's the point to show that you know how to do it manually.
What kind of exam is that with phones and touch based devices? Even if you don't use communication, you can scan the whole book into pictures and read it during the exam. That's cheating.
"I'm thinking of buying 30 el-cheapo four-function calculators out of my pocket, but I'm afraid that less-adaptable students will be unable to handle the switch from the calculator they know to an unfamiliar (but simpler) one." -- If a physics student can't use a basic calculator, It's time for him first to figure that out, and after that to think on taking the exam.
When I took physics, all of our measurements were only accurate to 3 digits for most things. Using a calculator that's good to 8 or 13 digits will actually throw off your calculations and give you bad answers. My physics professor required, and even supplied, sliderules. These worked to 3 digits and made us do a little thinking on the side. We also did open note/open book tests in that class and were allowed to use any reference or resource in the class except other students. This included, as one student figured out, the professor himself. A little unusual but Mr. Gaskins was the most awesome physics professor of all time. Just my 0.02 USD worth.
Have a locker set outside the classroom for students to store their devices and/or unneeded materials during test periods.
Kind of like the requirement to leave your phone outside when you enter a SCIF....
Right but assuming you put an appropriate time limit on the test, they have their own test to worry about - they can't be copying their answers into an ipod using a scroll wheel and transmitting that to other students.
... dropped because she couldn't use her iPhone? LOL. Check out a Korean/English dictionary from the library. Worried that his students won't be able to handle the class because they won't want to use his cheapo calculators? FFS people...
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face time.
When being a Physics student we had exams where you could bring all the books, laptops, network stuff with you. In reality if you are unprepared all this stuff doesn't help you too. I think there is just no need to deny the use of network enabled devices at exams. What are you examining, the students ability to solve a real world problem or there capacity to memorize by heart? Make real exams and you would not even ask the question.
I'm thinking of buying 30 el-cheapo four-function calculators out of my pocket, but I'm afraid that less-adaptable students will be unable to handle the switch from the calculator they know to an unfamiliar (but simpler) one.
If the student is in college and cannot "adjust" to using something like a simple four-function calculator, maybe the choice of calculator is the least of their problems. I'd be more inclined to think that maybe college itself is a burden they may not be qualified to carry...
When I was a kid, I wasn't allowed to touch a calculator unless I could demonstrate that I was able to understand and perform the work without one. The calculator was a tool to facilitate getting the job done, not one to do the work for me.
People these days think that everything must be handed to them on a platter. Tough cookies for them. If they can't do the work, they will fail the class. It's that simple, and it's really not your problem-- it's theirs.
When politicians are involved, everyone loses.
Right but assuming you put an appropriate time limit on the test, they have their own test to worry about - they can't be copying their answers into an ipod using a scroll wheel and transmitting that to other students.
But that really depends on which type of device we are talking about. Some devices (like cellphones), will let you send files over bluetooth and usually have a search function, making them easier to use for this purpose.
Not really practical unless you have 6 months to bootstrap it. Once they learn to use a 4/1 (or 5/2) abacus to do math, they can do 4-function calculator math (and roots...) in their heads.
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Being one of these students, I know that even in high school they required one of these expensive calculators (specifically TI-83/84). I think you will find most of your students already posses those calculators and those that don't will eventually need one. (even though the TI calculators are extremely overpriced, they are really the only way to go... about $100) I could also see using a dictionary, but an iPod touch or iPhone?! if you've got wifi, they will be all over the internet, Any information they want, they can get... not really the point of the test is it?
Just give everyone a different test. Or, more practically, make up 5-10 tests, and randomly distribute them to the students. Let them ask their friends in class for the answers -- they'll just get them wrong more likely than not.
I recently took a Physics course where the Professor prohibited anything but a standard (simple) calculator, no graphing calculators, no cell phones, and no laptops. Yes, it was difficult to change back to a "regular" calculator after having used a graphing calculator for three years. In the end, we all managed. Prohibit whatever you don't want them using, if they're too upset by it they'll drop the course. This is life and they need to start learning those lessons now (if they hadn't already).
The patriot volunteer, fighting for country and his rights, makes the most reliable soldier on earth. (Stonewall Jackson
It's the only way to be sure.
Hi, When I was teaching computer science we created a list of devices that a student can use. Calculator: ti model (ti-36x in may case) Casio model hp model. language device (In your case) Franklin model Brothers model Then you have assurance they are not googleing or im-ing. And you are not changing your test methodology.
...wouldn't one solution be to have at least a half-dozen DIFFERENT tests? You wouldn't have to necessarily even rewrite all the questions. For a 10-question test, write 50 questions, and each test paper has a random 10 from that 50.
Or be a right sadistic bastard, and give them each the same 10 questions...but with SLIGHTLY different values in the problems.
Shuffle the problems so that it's not immediately evident.
I think that would destroy 99% of the cheaters, or certainly make cheating prohibitively difficult.
-Styopa
But them some enterprising student will figure out how to plug into the faraday cage to turn it into a big antenna. No, the only way to be sure is to have the students enter the room naked, do a cavity search, and take the test nude.
GLaDOS, is that you?
Let them use a slide rule, nothing else. I got through physics (and chemistry, and ...) with one, they can too. Call it a glucose-powered analog computer. No batteries required.
Adapt and overcome!
The obvious answer to the problem seems to be - check the student's answers directly with them. Meet the students that passed the exam personally one by one and go over their answers with them. It should be obvious within 5 minutes whether the students understand their 'own' answers or not.
As for the foreign students - do not tolerate too much slack in their English skills. They will have a degree from an English-speaking university, so they should be able to communicate. If I hire an Asian graduate from Duke I expect him to be able to work in an English speaking team and if his lack of language skills slows down the team I'm going to start wondering how he got the degree in the first place and whether I should hire anybody with a degree from Duke anymore...
I'm the husband of an Engineering teacher and that's something we already discussed at home. I'm an Engineer myself, so I'm familiar with the requirements of a hard-science course. My advice to you is simply this: do what you think is appropriate and make sure your students understand those rules on the very first class. If you think they shouldn't use an iPod, then say so. If one student drops the course, it's their decision. What isn't fair is to tell a student they can't use their dictionary on the exam. That korean student could have bought a regular dictionary of told in advance she couldn't use the electronic one.
exams shouldnt be open notes. students would then decide not to study and would rely on their notes for the exam. The point of taking a course, is to learn the contents of that course, and if all the answers are written for u on a piece of paper, then you wont learn anything, even if you did study.
Only one man would dare to give ME the rasberry! Lonestar!
I didn't require graphing calculator functionality for any of my college physics classes--I only needed a basic scientific calculator with trigonometric functions.
Outlaw all electronic devices except (non-graphing) scientific calculators. If a student needs a dictionary, tell him/her/it to get an old-school paper dictionary. The test is open book to begin with, so what's another book?
I have a bad feeling about this...
I shrank the standard font to a size 6 courier font, then printed to bitmap, re sized the bitmap, lather rinse repeat. I ended up getting 8 standard 8x11 sheets onto a single 8x11 front and back.
This plus a magnifying lens and voila...
Of course, the real lesson here is that by the time you get done doing all this work, you have pretty much spent enough time around the material to soak it in such that you really do not need it anyway.
Opinion:=TMyOpinion.Create(Me);
"I'm afraid that less-adaptable students will be unable to handle the switch from the calculator they know to an unfamiliar (but simpler) one."
If they can't handle a simple 4 function calculator maybe they don't need to be in your class yet.
Coder's Stone: The programming language quick ref for iPad
Calculus is about 400 years old. It has been taught for centuries before there were calculators. If somebody can not speak English well enough to take a math exam, then that student should not be in a US school.
4 evenly spaced layers of chicken wire covering all of the walls, doors and windows.
"Ass" is not a profanity. "Cock" is not a profanity. Cock-sucking, ass-licking, shit-eating, motherfucking son of a bitch. That is profanity.
This may not work in undergraduate courses, but I solved this problem in a statistics course for life-science graduate students by creating separate exams for everyone, and allowing unlimited collaboration. I wrote a program to vary the problems and the data simultaneously and gave each student an individual exam, telling them that they had to solve their own research problem but could collaborate with anyone they wanted to. My logic was that in the real world statistics was collaborative and there was little gain in memorizing formulae. A few dumb bunnies didn't get it the first time and literally copied other students solutions, but giving out F's for the test fixed that real quick.
I have had many instructors use this technique. They either have open book or 1 sheet of notes you can use. They open the door to "cheating" if you will but then they stack the deck. In cases of Math and Econ professors they have questions that run the gambit. Say 10% easy questions, 60% appropriate questions, 20% questions a really good student *MAY* be able to answer, and 10% uber or almost impossible questions. So what does this do?
Well it presents the student with a dilemma. If they have studied and are confident they will be able to answer the 60% competently and then you curve it. You will find those that needed to cheat got themselves stuck on the "unanswerable" questions because they didn't study the material enough to discern the questions in the time frame you provided. Tuning the time limit can take a few tries but you can figure it out in the first year of a new course, much like you usually have to.
Your safety valve is you are curving the results so it will sort it out for you as well. You can adjust the curve so it doesn't arbitrarily toss folks into the D category. You can also allow for extra credit. Cheaters are lazy and won't use the Extra Credit. If they do they are using the option to learn, which is a self rewarding fix and allows for other paths to learn.
So how does the above speak to cheating gadgetry? It hobbles them. A cheating student will find their "advantage" will fail them. You can randomize the questions for each class so a key won't do any good or they will over perform which is a red flag for a re-test with the 1 or 2 loaner equipment you have on hand rather than for the entire class.
Usually the performance gap between a cheating student and a non cheating student is large enough such tactics as above will psychologically "break them" and cause them to go into a failure situation. I've been there without cheating but when I've been overconfident on "open book" or "1 sheet of notes". Trust me. I am good but I was lucky to squeak out with a C. The lack of studying and preparation effectively limited my ability to score based on the questions. The open book / notes could have been used 2-3 times on a hard questions but without being pretty much ready to take the test I hosed myself. Without a firm understanding of the scope of the class this also made me fail math classes. I hated it at the time but to be honest it was an effective test. Math is understanding not just plugging in variables.
Hope this helps or gives some ideas. Technology is a just a new twist and obfuscation at best.
"Don't fear death... fear not living..." -me
Buy the cheap calculators. You are a college physics professor. If you are real worried about students that can not handle the switch then you are screwed. What are you teaching in that class? If it is anything more complicated than "Look! When I drop stuff it moves toward the floor!" then they will get it.
Why is it so hard to only have politicians for a few years, then have them go away?
Just a thought... I suggest a number of different exams (say 4, for a class size of 30?), randomly distributed to the students. This will help mitigate answer copying (unless the miscreants have the same version) - sending a question to get an answer means the answer provider has to do two or more exams, not just their own. You can't eliminate cheating, but you can raise the effort required to do it. This also means more work for you, but so would denying RF or IR comms, crib sheets, etc., and is less technically complex. Use a mix of different questions and the same questions with different parameters.
This is my major complaint with 'no child left behind'
The idea is as idealistic as it is unrealistic
some children will NEVER go the distance
some children should be left behind
trying to leave none behind means all the rest do suffer
every day http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
Ban all electronics during exams that are more sophisticated than a basic, non-programmable calculator and FAIL OFFENDERS (not just for that exam, but for the whole course). Seriously, why isn't that already part of your school's policies?
Provide or allow standard print dictionaries for those who need them, but really.. these foreign language speaking students are studying at an ENGLISH LANGUAGE university: they should EXPECT to have to attend ENGLISH classes, listen to lectures in ENGLISH, read ENGLISH texts, write assignments and papers in ENGLISH, and sit for exams written in ENGLISH (while providing answers in ENGLISH) and come to school PREPARED for that. It's the STUDENT'S RESPONSIBILITY to KNOW the language THEY CHOSE TO BE EDUCATED IN. If they can't hack it, TOUGH SHIT, that's what ESOL classes are for, and if those aren't enough, they should get their asses on the next airliner home.
Some hospitals and airplanes do wireless jamming all the time.
We provide our students with a simple calculator at the start of the course, so they have time to get used to it during the semester, and then allow only that calculator into the exam. We have a box of spares in the exam hall, so anything which doesn't exactly match the standard model can be easily swapped out, and students who forget theirs don't suffer. We also annotate all exam papers where a calculator is not useful as "Calculators are not permitted" so we don't have to do a compliance check in the majority of cases. Having a list of "approved" models is a pain, because model numbers change so rapidly and students' claims of equivalence are hard to check on-the-fly. Ian.
If class more closely mimicked "real world scenarios":
Exams would be open note, open classmate, open textbook, open internet, etc.
A student that (without permission/notice) skipped five class sessions or came to class drunk would be expelled, possibly with no transcript.
A student could do everything right and still fail an exam because of the performance of a classmate.
Examples done in class would never directly apply to exams.
Lectures would consist of an office politician trying to "sell" a project that would increase his budget, and use inaccurate-but-impractical-to-falsify information to do it.
50% - 90% of class time would be spent on stuff that had little to do with the class title, description or syllabus.
Exams would often be on an entirely different subject with no warning to prepare.
Grades would depend on vague criteria that can always be used to justify any grade the professor chose to give you.
Exam 4/C again. Maybe I'll do better this time.
...with cheating.
Surely it couldn't have anything to do with something SO old fashioned and outdated as the Honor Code.
"no member of the Caltech community shall take unfair advantage of any other member of the community."
Caltech Honor Code Handbook(pdf)
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In the local Juco culinary program I've taken some classes in, they allow students to use (simple) calculators and paper dictionaries, but no electronics besides the calculators. This came up precisely because of the situation the original poster describes: one student said she wanted to use an electronic dictionary, but they discovered that she had either saved (or bought a package containing) some data that students were not allowed to have during the exam.
Before people go into the issue of memory versus comprehension, understand that in a professional kitchen (or anywhere you have to get things ready in a timely manner), one does not have time to look everything up and memorizing recipes or measurement conversion or other data is in fact a measure of progress in a subject.
That said, since most schools only really care about buzzword-compliance and revenue, the OP should probably just allow the students to tell him they completed the course requirements and save them the time of proving it.
WiFi jammer solves the problem.
I would place his whole discussion under the topic of Academic Dishonesty in general, regardless of the means by which this dishonesty occurs. I see very little difference between using notes written on the palm of your hand vice a wifi connection and some electronic device except by virtue of complication. The conclusion is that regardless of how elaborately one performs Academic Dishonesty, it doesn't lose its unacceptability - and consequently its prosecution under any accredited university's Academic Dishonesty policy. The fact that you have to ask this question means to me that your department either does not have, or has not communicated to you its Academic Dishonesty policy. For example, MIT's policy is fairly straightforward and designed to build relationships between the head of the department (i.e. your boss) and giving students the feeling that they are not being downtrodden (if they don't agree with you, they can talk to your boss.) Before you attempt to ask Slashdot, I would use this as an opportunity to have a meaningful discussion with your department head. One, to let him/her know that you exist and care about larger issues than simply "doing your job" and two, to make sure you don't end up with the short end of the stick when some student reads your school's Academic Dishonesty policy before you do, and you find out that a very wrong time that you and your department head do not agree on this subject.
Then how come movie theaters and other venues use cell phone jammers?
Also the FCC is clearly very interested in cell phone jamming, while this article does not say anything about fines to the business owners, only the jamming sellers
I suspect the FCC simply sees a chance to collect revenue here by going after the sellers. It's not worth their time to go after the end users.
href="http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2010/04/texas-beauty-schools-cell-phone-jammer-leads-to-25k-fine.ars">http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2010/04/texas-beauty-schools-cell-phone-jammer-leads-to-25k-fine.ars
It's not clear to me how the FCC has any jurisdiction against a UK company. Also the title is misleading. The FCC proposed a $25k fine. None has actually been levied. To date the FCC has not successfully fined anyone.
One way to avoid the whole mess is to make the tests "open book" and make the "book" any source of information they can find.
Granted, if you do this some students with more savvy on the Net will have an advantage because they'll be able to find the information they need faster... but then those are the ones that (provided they get the right information) are going to excel in the real world when they're doing real work anyway, right?
I do not respond to cowards. Especially anonymous ones.
You can make WiFi unusable, however. Or you could alter the classroom so RF cannot enter through the walls or ceiling. And turn off the wireless AP in the room during exam time.
I suppose convincing the university to alter the classroom in this manner could be difficult, but they could also see the value in having some exam rooms that are essentially faraday cages
Making WiFi is not impossible or even terribly difficult. Use a netstumbler box to send continuous deauthenticate and disassociate messages. Cellular is a different story.
I tend to make exams open-book, but was dismayed when one of my students had bought only the electronic version of the textbook! I had to lend him my copy. No biggie for me, but students should be wary of electronic textbooks, lest the prof bans electronic devices during exams!
Alejo
Jamming devices were my first thought too. How many times have I been in a movie theater or church or a symphony or a library wishing they had a localized cel-signal jamming device to force people into some semblance of politeness by making them take it outside? However... this would be like requiring people to gag themselves to keep them from talking when they shouldn't. Some things such as politeness, and in this case honesty and integrity, cannot be enforced but rather have to be learned and grown within a person.
Furthermore as soon as a jamming device is put into play someone will invent a way to break through it just like RADAR speed traps led to RADAR detectors which led to LADARS and so forth.
In short, you cannot win trying to limit or oppose technology but only achieve some sort of balance which you must struggle constantly to maintain. So instead of working against the problem, work with it or around it.
1) Eliminate the need for calculators (e.g. I've taken many tests where a fat sin/cos/tan table was handed to me)
2) Allow the English-challenged a good old-fashioned paper dictionary (they will not have trouble figuring out how to use that) and maybe allot a little more time to them
3) This may sound altruistic but try to inspire integrity honesty in your class without resorting to threats of punishment. Many will respond better to positive reinforcement than negative.
4) Structure the course so that tests are a small percentage of the grade, this will help reduce the unfair advantage of the cheaters.
I'm currently a college student, and I don't think that making them buy a graphing calculator is unreasonable. It's my impression that most students should already have a graphing calculator from high school, and if they don't, odds are they'll need it later in college. Students don't expect to attend college without having to spend a significant amount of money on materials. Most classes require at least $75-200 worth of supplies anyway (in the form of textbooks). Showing up to a physics class without a calculator is like signing up for a dance class without dance shoes, or a literature class without the proper reading material.
If individual students are concerned about money let them bring a four function calculator rather than buying a graphing calculator. They'll be placing themselves at a disadvantage, but they do so through their own choice.
Back in the day, we were allowed 1 page of notes, no calculator, and I had a pocket PRINTED dictionary for English translations. Tell those kids to suck it up and have a no electronics policy. Physics involves math...if they can't do the simple math that physics uses (e.g. no ring/group theory, no proving why a forumal works), maybe they need to pick a different topic to study. Grades should be earned, not handed out on a silver platter.
IMHO if they can't be bothered to learn the language before spending the money to come to a US university, maybe they don't deserve to be there in the first place.
As an aside, you can still buy dictionaries on paper you know...
They'll learn the language, if for nothing else, because it's a PITA to find stuff in a real book. Electronic dictionaries breed laziness. I suggest making them buy paper dictionaries. Foreign students in US universities got along fine before there were laptops and ipods. I know because I was there.
There's way too much opportunity to cheat afforded by letting them bring computers into exams and you can't exactly let just foreign students bring them.
Don't kid yourself. It's the size of the regexp AND how you use it that counts.
In this case, can i suggest a paperback dictionary be allowed ? those things still do exist .... and as a teacher, knowing your ESL students can mean that you can be at least somewhat lenient on them when it comes to spelling / word choice / grammar so if the paperback dosnt have the exact word they are after, they can at least convey meaning to you so they can show understanding/comprehension.
personally i believe that electronic devices should not be allowed, the exception is when they are needed by all and are used as part of the course but have no communication ability, so calculators (graphic included). Even if you had to supply every student in the exam room with one for the exam, the cost really isn't that much in the big scheme of things.
Exams have worked for many generations, and yes we now have more technology to help with education and research, but when it comes to testing ability of the individual you want to test their ability around the subject matter, not their ability to google... just sayin ;)
We used to use 2.4 Ghz cordless phones to jam wifi but they don't block channel 11 very well its closer to channel 1.
If the jamming is announced, so that (for instance) no emergency call to a doctor is blocked, and the jamming signal is limited so as to not interfere with operation outside the test environment, you're probably safe. The FCC's interference law was written with a purpose, to disallow interference with the reception of lawful transmissions. Since using a radio device to cheat is probably in violation of the school's contract with its students, such use violates contract law and thus is not protected by the FCC.
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designing a test that actually measures what they've learned and not what they can find in 15 seconds using google? If the answers to your tests can be found that easily maybe you should change the type of test, make it more about solving a problem in a situation, open questions, etc. Those tests truly allow you to know what your students are actually learning.
...or maybe one of those old fashion pocket paper dictionaries for $10.
...and simply put it thus: They're in your class. While the exam may be open-note, that also means no conversation - digital or otherwise - with others. Thereby, all cellphones, PDAs, iPods (yes, iPods are networked devices), laptops, etc. are off-limits during the exam.
The students that need language assistance dictionaries (e.g. ChineseEnglish, KoreanEnglish, SpanishEnglish) should not be allowed to use these devices either. To resolve their issue, I'd advise the school setup a program whereby the school issues digital dictionaries to these students; these "approved" devices are then what the students are allowed to use for the exams and any other similar situation - of which there are many, across nearly all subjects (the exception being the foreign language classes). This school policy allows the student to clearly understand the policy for all classes, and enables the teacher to clearly enforce it.
In all honesty, I wouldn't expect a school in Germany, Brazil, or China to bend to my needs just because I primarily speak English. I would expect to be allowed a language dictionary of some sort, but not something that would provide an unfair advantage over other students that do understand the language. The whole point of the dictionary is to help level the playing field (though it won't be able to 100% do that), not allow me to use whatever device I want in order to have my dictionary of choice. I could carry a book or use whatever the school issues to help me.
Truth is like the sun. You can shut it out for a time, but it ain't goin' away. - Elvis Presley (source: imdb.com)
Or you could just restrict it to devices that are approved. A list of approved devices, and an allowance for "other devices intended for the purpose of translation, as pre-approved by the professor/institution"
A dictionary device doesn't seem unreasonable (unless it's an English exam or something of the like that tests vocabulary). An iPod or other like device, not quite so reasonable. This seems much like the "no pets allowed, trained service animals OK" type rules. Having somebody's yappy dog in a food court is a lot different from a trained animal *needed* by a person with a special disability.
Get a RF jammer (I've seen them for ~$30), then the students wouldn't be able to wireless-ly interact or use google while in an exam. Electronic dictionaries and the like don't require a network connection so they would still be usable.
There's an office at your university for this. At my university, you'd consult disability services and the international students office. Otherwise, I'd say do what I do: walk around the room continuously, and ask students not to use electronic devices. If you need a dictionary, they're still available in paper. AND, normally the requirement is that such students be sufficiently proficient that dictionaries not be necessary in these situations. You can also answer language questions students might have. If they don't have enough English to understand explanation in English, they aren't second language students but still first language students and should be in remediation in your English/Comp department, not in major courses. Anyway, basically, sometimes the old answers are the right answers for the new problems.
A "contract" between a University and a student is not law. The law is all about interpretation, and it is going to take a precedent to be set before one can judge. Right now, it's all up in the air.
Sig: I stole this sig.
hey that reminds me a physics class i had as a kid that basically everybody was failling because the exams where rocket science hat tricks , i passed it , by storing all the required information on a no-fuzz 4 function calculator i had gutted rewired and reprogrammed , that was my birth in what is now paying mortgage , granted i was probably the only kid in my school with assembly language capabilities
Simply make the inside of the cage reflect the signal back. Too much noise!
so use infrared... or haven't you ever used the HP line of graphing calculators that come with built in IR networking?
No.
The North American continent has Canada stuck in the middle of the USA, and they are technically (North) Americans. Just like Asians come from Asia, or Europeans come from Europe etc...
I sincerely apoligise to all Canadians for reminding them that this is technically correct.
Your just an American hater, wanting to be a douche.
No, you're just an American who cant understand geography.
People like you stifle the evolution of civilization. You allow open notes, but you do not want anyone to communicate. What is the difference between a student knowing where in their notes to find an answer, and a student knowing who to ask for the answer? You encourage hermits who are afraid to socialize with their peers except on a level of partying and counter-productive behavior.
Rather than trying to block the network access, would it be sufficent to detect it?
I could imagine a wifi scanner that would detect any network access beyond an ICMP message in the immediate area. If the wireless devices are associated with the students (through pre-registration; to use the device it must be registered) and the scanner detects it accessing the internet during the exam they are suspected of cheating unless the sniffer shows the transaction to be benign.
The same might be done for 3G networks (see another Slashdot article from today: http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/WIU5l_UvC4g/story01.htm)
No-one seems to have mentioned what seems to me an obvious solution: Make it very clear that communication with anyone else during an exam will result in disqualification, then verify this often enough that the risk of discovery is real, for example using RF sniffers or cameras. Specifically prohibiting certain devices seems to be missing the point.
I'm not a teacher, so I guess this "obvious" solution must have been found impractical for some reason - privacy concerns or too much manpower required?
Phil McKerracher
As the gap between desire for knowledge and access to knowledge continues to shrink,
1. going to the Local library
2. Internet access on desktop at home/office/etc
3. internet access in palm
4. ??
we have to prepare ourselves for the coming reality of near-instant information lookup ("at your fingertips" will seem so passé). This will further shift the challenges of 'the real world' and universities will in turn have to shift to prepare for this. While not appropriate for all disciplines and all courses, 'open-net' exams will be a reality. For those tests that want to explore the students' ability to solve problems with some of the same resources they'll have in the work field, this may be the only way to accomplish this.
One major conflict I see here is that all of the sudden you have a bunch of people assigned to the same task at the same time that are already socially networked, and thus can cooperate/copy/etc in a way that may not reflect the ecosystem of project work and problem solving outside the classroom. So try to disallow communication? or change the test somehow to allow communication (eg: work in teams) or make cooperation irrelevant (eg: unique tasks for each student)?
What does slashdot think about open-net tests and the future of hyper-connectivity?
Im a teacher too, and I have the same problem. And the solution its too easy: just turn off the WiFi of your classroom during the exams. I just have to talk with the net administrator (nice guy) and he turn off the wireless during my exams.
A "contract" between a University and a student is not law. The law is all about interpretation, and it is going to take a precedent to be set before one can judge.
Agreed. I think the first business that gets one of these super-sized fines that FCC is proposing will take it to court.
Right now, it's all up in the air.
Was that pun intentional?
hence your faculty should address it. Ours has bought calculators to be used during exams. You can always force students to bring a paper dictionary. If they don't like, they can drop the course.
--dmg
No unapproved electronics, this is common everywhere. If your cell phone goes off during the test, you turn it off in your pocket if possible, and if you must look at it, you blatantly take it out of your pocket, turn it off as quickly as possible, and put it back. Other than that, there is no looking at cell phones, period. No iPods, period. If you need to use an electronic dictionary, you can bring it by the professor before the test so the professor can review it, although book dictionaries are instantly allowed (this gives people an incentive to just go out and buy a book dictionary instead of dealing with the hassle). The professor is the final word on whether a device can be used during a test, and I suggest being fairly heavy handed in the case of electronic dictionaries (read: I think the Korean chick wanted to use it for more than just a dictionary).
There are also wifi and cell phone jammers that should be legal in your area. You don't have to leave them on all the time, but it would be a rude awakening for those attempting to cheat using those technologies on test day.
New tech can be a great learning aide - but if the student needs a dictionary or translator - simply get them to supply or use a paperback one... and stick to the new electronics allowed... or you could get a non-wifi/internet based electronic one which you pre-approve....
Probably not. Someone as smart as him wouldn't miss off the units.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
It's not as simple as that. There are people who will take a test for you in person, so I'm sure there are ones who'd be more than willing to do it from home via the magic of teh intarwebz.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
Create a unique test for each student. You will have to spend some time doing some programming, but in essence it works like this:
1. For each concept you want to test, you generate N parameterized questions. By the latter, I mean that the individual instances of a given question may have all the words the same, but will have different numbers.
2. When you generate a test, you also generate an answer key for it.
3. If N=5 then for multiple choice questions, the wrong answers for instance 1 are the right answers for instances 2-5.
4. The questions are generated in random order for each test, so not everyone is working on the falling cannonball problem at the same time.
5. When you print them, print them on a variety of colours of paper. Nothing like having the person next to you getting a pink exam, with obvious different problems on the first page to thwart their nefarious ambitions.
Off the top of my head, I'd do it in perl or python. A question would be a file that looks like this:
On a planet far away, a physics student drops a rock off a [CLIFF] meter high cliff. The rock takes [FALL] second to hit the ground. What is the acceleration of gravity on that planet
{integer, 25..120}
{float.1, 2..10}
2 * cliff / fall^2
If more than one template exists in a file, one is chosen at random.
One advantage of this: If someone is sick, misses the exam, or is challenging the course, it's easy to generate a new exam for them to take.
This still doesn't stop someone from querying the world for answers, but with each test unique, cheating inside the classroom is a lot harder, and just communicating the problem is slow enough that getting answers to all of the problems would be hard to do in the time available.
As another option, could you bring in your own access points? Bring cheapy AP's If you bring 3 in the campus AP won't be able to automatically find a clear free channel. If you run a broadcast storm on your mini-network, the room's wifi should be, at best, erratic.
Third Career: Tree Farmer Second Career: Computer Geek First Career: Teacher, Outdoor Instructor, Photographer.
As an IT director at a university, I've dealt with this issue firsthand. The key take-aways from all that's been said here (and some I'm adding) are:
1. This is a class policy issue, not a technology issue. You must set the policy for your class.
2. Wireless/broadband access is ubiquitous.
3. There is no reasonable way to turn off wireless/broadband access in a classroom.
4. Paper language dictionaries are inexpensive.
5. Most universities have an honor code.
6. Some students will cheat anyway, given the opportunity.
7. Newer iPods do NOT fall under the non-wireless category. My iPod Touch browses the Web quite well, and has all of the major instant messenger apps on it.
So, with that information in hand, my suggestion is that you stress the school's honor code (hang it in the room if it isn't already there), set your expectations (rules) for class and the exams (no open laptops, no cell phones, no wireless capable devices, etc.), either buy the el cheapo calculators for the exam (if they can complete the exam with them) or you or your SA approve/disapprove any electronic devices that students want to use before the exam (this will require some time to research the capabilities of the devices), and tell ESL students to buy a paper language dictionary if they feel they need one.
I'll leave the discussions of training vs. teaching and the benefits of open-book exams to the other experts. ;^)
Nothing a bare magnetron from a microwave oven can't solve..
Microwaves are on the same frequency as wifi, and 1kW will easily shut down wifi for a block or more...
You might experience minor heating of the skin and develop cataracts over time, but everything has a cost, right?
Blessed are the pessimists, for they have made backups.
I admire the level of care, concern and passion you have for your students. That's something totally admirable, I studied in a university where the medium of instruction is English and my English has always been better than everybody in my class, so at times the teachers find it easier for her and for the class to explain to us in the native language of the students/teacher, I don't know that language since I was coming from another country all together in order to study, so I find it impressive that you cared for your students who're not native English speakers. Our teachers went anal every time we complained that we don't know the language they spoke!
Hitting the Jackpot, sometimes not a networked device is what you've got to be afraid off, even blue tooth devices are spooky, some of the students I knew used to have these digital cameras or simple cell phone cameras, soon as they got the questions book they snap it and forward it to their gang in a vehicle waiting outside. Guess what's inside there, a laptop, and a rented teacher of the subject (hired from an institute or had been a tutor to these students) and a student who is a friend to these folks but isn't studying their subject so he has no exam for that day, so the photo is enlarged from the laptop, the mercenary teacher answered all the questions and using the same communication method, the answers are forwarded to everybody in that exam batch, and guess what, away from paying the mercenary, no service charges are levied, you just go to that vehicle and sign your name and phone number up, and they were so sly and undercover, there was no way I could've known about this except because I was a trusted friend to these 'exam answers dealers' :p...
I was away from all of this because the folks in my batch were real students and we all were just taking care of our studies that right way but the folks from the computer department we shared topics with (my major is bioinformatics) were far from anything but unserious . So you may watch out for that one.
so then i'd suggest using the built in IR networking features in the HP graphing calculator line.
I teach engineering at a large Midwest public university. Last fall I caught seven out of 51 students cheating on an exam by relaying information via their cell phones. (At least 4 of the 7 had iPhones.) All seven are no longer at the university. At the time I had no policy regarding cell phones, etc. use during exams. Our department has purchased 100 cheap non-programmable scientific calculators. So now I have a policy for my exams that all electronic devices (computers, cell phones, mp3 players, etc.) must be in a zipped up book bag or on the table in the front of the room. I loan them the department calculators to use during the exams. This seems to work - at least for the problem I had. The calculators didn't cost much (around $10 each in the quantity we bought, I think).
well, smartass, he did miss off the units, didn't he?
E = m c^2
see the units there? no? right, there aren't any.
Sure, the dimensions are implied by those terms, but is E measured in Joules, Calories, eV, tons of TNT?
You could say that that the scales don't matter, you just pick the value of c that balances the equation. But that's a circular argument, the way to find c is to rearrange the above equation. You need to look elsewhere in the paper for Einstein's units (CGS).
actually, i omitted the units because 1) slashdot doesn't support superscript, and 2) there's already an 'm' in the equation and having two different 'm's in the same equation gets noisy.
you're all fucking idiots.
I said units. And yes, I do know what the difference is.
Mmm, that kind of depends on what units your magic number is in, doesn't it?
The area of a triangle is 1/2(B x H), where B is the base and H is the perpendicular height. However once you substitute numbers in, you should also include a unit.
Are you really suggesting that E = m * 89875517873681764 is true irrespective of whether 89875517873681764 is in m^2s^-2, furlongs per lunar month all squared or sizeOfYourDick**2 / howLongItWillBeBeforeYouGetAClue**2.
Lame excuse. There are two common conventions in programming languages that 99% of people here would understand.
Awww, diddums. You precious, precious little snowflake.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
There's nothing in the article that states he's in the US. You're the jackass, and a fat one too.
Have you used those recently? They're severely limited, and only work for a few inches. You'd be better off jut showing your neighbor the screen.
Even if you boost them with a hardware hack, it's still line of sight, and the proctors would see your contortions right away.
Blessed are the pessimists, for they have made backups.
my point isn't that people should be doing this... it's that attempting to stop it is a futile endeavor.
If your only concern is networking and not inbuilt memory then you can just use a signal jammer on exam days and let your students know that they will not have any networking capabilities on exam days. 3 issues i can think of with this approach- 1. People using translators that speak to a server in the cloud. (But if they really require a translation device that bad, they probably have one that does everything on the device itself) 2. No access to important phone calls. This is probably a bigger issue, as students may not be able to receive urgent phone calls. But then again, exams only last for an hour or two so that is not a huge amount of time to be without a phone. Furthermore, the probability of someone needing to tend to a life threatening accident is rather low. 3. Might end up disrupting reception on phones of people passing by the classroom in the corridor outside. This, again, isnt a big deal as anyone on AT&T can tell you, you can learn to live with losing signal from time to time.
I just stumbled on a $16 HP calculator that would have taken me well and beyond a four year degree. Yet I am not sure that it is legal in some tests because the algebra functions are so powerful.
Perhaps only thing you can do is to establish rules on the first week and stick to em... Start with a quiz that requires a student to list all his/her electronic "tools" and establishes that cell phones and networked computers are not allowed. Issue the question sheet as a quiz, keep and score it for the record. If at final time they change their answer remark the quiz.... ;-)
Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn't. Mark Twain.
Make an announcement that all wireless data use is considered cheating, even accidental use. Airplane mode is in effect.
Proctors walk around with these.
http://www.google.com/products/catalog?hl=en&expIds=25657,25856,25907,25980,26512&sugexp=ldymls&tok=_RMmTa4s-9-O-d34ExuZRg&xhr=t&q=cell+phone+detector&cp=15&rlz=1B7GGLL_enUS380US380&um=1&ie=UTF-8&cid=18443697480885658075&ei=6WyUTMzhNIP-8Aa56PWMDA&sa=X&oi=product_catalog_result&ct=result&resnum=2&sqi=2&ved=0CC4Q8wIwAQ#
When I completed my science degree at university a few years ago, the calculator for exams was supplied by the university. The whole university standardised on one calculator for exams, published the model at the start of the course and kept a couple of hundred in storage for use only during exams. Oh, and ban any other type of electronic gizmo (our foreign-speaking students were allowed a paper dictionary only, and perhaps a few more minutes at the end to make up for the time they may have spent looking up words).
If the current network availability is poor and the new network availability is managed by the college then I'm assuming that the issue comes down to preventing the students from access the college's wi-fi during the exam period. The college's network might be able to block access to wi-fi for those students enrolled in your class during that exam period.
To bypass this roadblock your students might "borrow" the credentials of a friend not enrolled in your class to still gain access but this approach might still be fairly effective (and without expense).
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