Earlier quoted context omitted.
What word do you use instead? "Exam Administrator"?
I had to look this one up too. I've always called them proctors.
Never heard the word "proctor", in Canada they are always called invigilators.
Finding cheaters using multiple-choice comparisons
31–40 of 62 posts
Re: Finding cheaters using multiple-choice comparisons
#32Re: Finding cheaters using multiple-choice comparisons
#33Earlier quoted context omitted.
There is a world of difference between the importance of a GPA and the importance of a Benz. Low GPA means no good job straight out of college (because apparently you need a 3.5+ from an ivy league school to model in excel) means in a lot of cases lesser income for the rest of your life. No Benz means you can drive a Toyota. Big whoop.
Why do you think you are automatically entitled to a good job straight out of college? Your reply vis-a-vis a Mercedes vs lifetime earnings seems to imply that you are willing to sell your integrity for some value x: $(Benz - Toyota) < x <= ~$2,000,000 (spread out over a lifetime). I'm a bit incredulous that your reply was basically that the only reason you would act ethically in my hypothetical situation was because…
I don't think one is entitled to a good job straight out of college. I do, however, think that in a marketplace saturated by unfairness (berkowitz's dad is a partner let's hire him) and bullshit (jump through these hoops to make us like you), one is entitled to employ any and all effort necessary to further one's interests.
Re: Finding cheaters using multiple-choice comparisons
#34Cheating is a natural consequence of society putting a huge value on grade-point-averages and other dullard measures of achievement. If I had to sit through a lecture room with 200 students (TWO HUNDRED!) and I was absolutely confident that the professor cannot possibly give a shit about my learning in this crowd, I too would cheat.
Wouldn't that only harm you? Wouldn't you only be cheating yourself? I don't understand why your professors' interest in your personal learning would impact your own desire to learn. (Thinking about it a bit more, I can vaguely understand this if it's a required class that you have no actual interest in - an elective you had to take because all others were taken, or if you were retaking a class that you were already…
I understand the difference between our thoughts. Where we differ is that I think college is not a place of learning. In general, it is a sequence of hoops to sort out the labor force.
Re: Finding cheaters using multiple-choice comparisons
#35Earlier quoted context omitted.
"a natural consequence of society......" You could use this justification to rationalize any sort of unethical behavior you like. Embezzlement is a natural consequence of society putting a huge value on owning a Benz and other dullard measures of achievement! That is to say, I disagree wholeheartedly.
There is a world of difference between the importance of a GPA and the importance of a Benz. Low GPA means no good job straight out of college (because apparently you need a 3.5+ from an ivy league school to model in excel) means in a lot of cases lesser income for the rest of your life. No Benz means you can drive a Toyota. Big whoop.
> because apparently you need a 3.5+ from an ivy league school to model in excel
It's not that you need those credentials to model in Excel. Rather, you're signaling that you have a proven capability to work long hours, deal with bullshit, work "within the system", etc. It's not about intelligence.
Re: Finding cheaters using multiple-choice comparisons
#36Cheating is a natural consequence of society putting a huge value on grade-point-averages and other dullard measures of achievement. If I had to sit through a lecture room with 200 students (TWO HUNDRED!) and I was absolutely confident that the professor cannot possibly give a shit about my learning in this crowd, I too would cheat.
"a natural consequence of society......" You could use this justification to rationalize any sort of unethical behavior you like. Embezzlement is a natural consequence of society putting a huge value on owning a Benz and other dullard measures of achievement! That is to say, I disagree wholeheartedly.
[deleted]
Re: Finding cheaters using multiple-choice comparisons
#37Earlier quoted context omitted.
Wouldn't that only harm you? Wouldn't you only be cheating yourself? I don't understand why your professors' interest in your personal learning would impact your own desire to learn. (Thinking about it a bit more, I can vaguely understand this if it's a required class that you have no actual interest in - an elective you had to take because all others were taken, or if you were retaking a class that you were already…
I understand the difference between our thoughts. Where we differ is that I think college is not a place of learning. In general, it is a sequence of hoops to sort out the labor force.
I suppose that in that case, your approach makes sense.
Re: Finding cheaters using multiple-choice comparisons
#38Multiple choice tests simply are a horrible way of assessing knowledge in any non-trivial domain. Instead of wasting time with writing R scripts the author really should grab himself a book about education.
Edit: On second thought that's probably worded too harsh, but multiple choice testing for a final exam in biology? There's not the slightest chance the results will correlate with the capabilities of his students at all.
Re: Finding cheaters using multiple-choice comparisons
#39I'm surprised he didn't break it down to probabilities according to answer distributions instead of right vs wrong. For instance, given 2 questions with their answers and the percent of the class that answered for each choice:
1. A is the answer A - 60% B - 20% C - 5% D - 15%
2. C is the answer A - 10% B - 5% C - 70% D - 15%
The probability of randomly selecting 2 students that both chose:
- A and C (both correct) is 0.1764 - D and B (both wrong) is 0.000056
* Appreciate corrections
Re: Finding cheaters using multiple-choice comparisons
#40How widespread is multiple choice at university level? I've never come across it.
For exams, it's nearly unheard of in small classes (ie <= 30 or so people), but in large lecture halls with hundreds of students, it's not uncommon (especially for general education large lecture courses).
Right, for service courses with lots of sections, the marking load can be pretty high (e.g 1000+ students taking the same course) and the difficulty in maintaining even marking policies both tempt towards scantron and the like.
It is limiting, but if you put a lot of work into it you can even design pretty decent multi-part questions that reward partial understanding/success. Mostly people don't put that time in, though, and I've never been a fan of the practice.