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run a proxy server company? this would be perfect material for a viral campaign.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The early homeworks in this class (Great Theoretical Ideas in Computer Science) were basically puzzles, where if you've seen the style of problem before you more or less knew the answer. The goal was to expose us to these types of problems and teach us how to think them through properly. It was definitely one of the most fun courses I've taken.
That's one of those critical to include details. Otherwise the story makes the prof sound like a douche.
> We were explicitly told that searching online for answers to homeworks was forbidden. I might be in the minority but I am of the opinion that if you are grading students on something that can be easily obtained through a google search you probably shouldn't be grading them on that.
I suspect you're actually in the majority. I bet that, rather, the minority position is that the instructor should create whatever conditions they want to so that they can exercise the students as they see fit - and that the students should extend enough respect to consider why those conditions are being created. This is my view. Replace the teacher with a coach in a weightlifting class. One day he wants you to lift…
1) The early homeworks in this class were basically puzzles, where if you’ve seen the style of problem before you more or less knew the answer. The goal was to expose us to these types of problems and teach us how to think them through properly.
2) The class was taught by Luis just as he was beginning to hit mainstream media. The guy has a unique approach to problems that was absolutely inspiring. His lectures were one of the few that I actually made an effort to go to.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I agree with you for the most part, but nearly all introductory courses must have content that is easily available online. Consider teaching students how to write a recursive method. What would their first assignment be? List length? "find length of list" Factorial? "factorial recursive" Fibonacci? "fibonacci recursive" GCD? "program gcd" There are only so many simple recursive procedures, and I guarantee nearly all…
Okay sure those are simple examples that are probably available in large quantities online, but why should that homework assignment count towards a grade is more of my point. Professors can assign homework that isn't graded and the ones who actually do the assignment will be the ones that learn.
(lazy student speaking from personal experience. being graded on the homework 'encouraged' learning the concepts!)
"Commonly referred to as The Glorblar Problem"
That phrasing is a cue that the student is expected to either look something up or to refer back to notes or memory of lectures or discussion of the Glorblar Problem in class. Why else mention it, if it were an honest homework problem?
We know they didn't hear about the Glorblar Problem in class - it doesn't exist. For the same reason, we know that hitting the books, either back at the dorms or in the library, wouldn't have turned up anything.
Remember that this is homework, not a test. Yes, presumably the problem is doable without any reference material. The students don't necessarily know that, though. They do know that they've been prodded in that question to at least check their thinking or work against external information....which isn't available to them through the channels they've been permitted to use.
So, the professor deliberately tempted people to look up something online, then amused himself by busting the people who did. Cute method, but it proves nothing other than "schmuck bait works".
Why not just put an incorrect solution online?
This is a neat little sting, but looked at honestly, it's entrapment. "Commonly referred to as The Glorblar Problem" That phrasing is a cue that the student is expected to either look something up or to refer back to notes or memory of lectures or discussion of the Glorblar Problem in class. Why else mention it, if it were an honest homework problem? We know they didn't hear about the Glorblar Problem in class - it d…
Seems like this just forces everyone to the same result: those who break the rules will and save themselves time, those that try and follow the rules will probably break after hours, and end up googling anyways.
Maybe I'm missing something but this seems totally absurd.
My AP (Advanced Placement) Chemistry teacher noticed some cheating on a major chemistry test we took. The cheating was pretty obvious; some kids just decided they were going to fail the test so they might as well have some fun. A week later, after a week of lecturing on a new section of the chemistry book and no mention of our scores, a student asked. No, he hadn't graded the tests. He was sorry, he had been really b…