Slashdot Mirror
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."
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?
The easy answer is go and get a microwave for the classroom. Make everybody their favorite microwave meal!
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.
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.
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.
It's not just about searching online for the question... you also need to be able to prevent people from asking their friends for help
two words - SLIDE RULE
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
"Yeah, no one would want a calculator for a question like that"
Don't do such a question, then:
"A student is given 1,000 cubic centimeters of ethanol ice that's initially at -164 degrees Celsius. Said student is instructed to heat the ice until it melts and continue heating until it eventually reaches a temperature of +36C throughout. How many total calories did this require?"
See? Same knowledge tested, no calculator needed.
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.