In the past I've handled these issues by being very specific (on the syllabus and with multiple reminders before exams) about what type of calculator (or other materials) they may have out during the exam. Some stats profs I know don't allow calculators that can do statistical calculations (so one model is allowed but another one is not). We had a cheating case in which the student was found 'responsible' (by the university's disciplinary board) of using the wrong calculator on the stat exam (despite the fact that there was no direct evidence she had actually used the calculated improperly). So the presence of a cell phone can be just another item on the list of things students may not consult during an exam (in addition to notes, textbook, mom, the person next to them, previous exams, etc). Of course they might not be caught but if they are caught I would guess the assumption is that they used it for cheating (e.g., if a student is caught consulting his/notes you don't have to show that the student benefitted from the notes - just that they consulted improper materials). Marie
**************************************************** Marie Helweg-Larsen, Ph.D. Department Chair and Associate Professor of Psychology Kaufman 168, Dickinson College Carlisle, PA 17013, office (717) 245-1562, fax (717) 245-1971 Office hours: Mon/Thur 3-4, Tues 10:30-11:30 http://users.dickinson.edu/~helwegm/index.html **************************************************** -----Original Message----- From: Serafin, John [mailto:john.sera...@email.stvincent.edu] Sent: Friday, December 18, 2009 11:50 AM To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) Subject: Re: [tips] It's that plagiarism time of year again... John, I hope you are able to resolve the issue. Just a bit of an aside on this problem, I've found the use of cell phones very difficult to detect in statistics classes during exams. After all, one expects to see students punching away at keys during a statistics exam. But is that guy in the back corner punching keys on his calculator, or on his cell phone? Very hard to tell. Add to that the fact that even basic cell phones have rudimentary calculator abilities. (I assume that iphones & blackberries & such probably have even more calculator capability.) I've had students try to tell me that they don't need a calculator, because their phones can do all of the calculations. My answer has always been a resounding NO! And then, finally, many of these current phones pretty much resemble calculators in physical appearance...so how does one detect the difference, short of walking around the room and examining each calculator? Just some fun things to think about as you attack that stack of exams/papers on your desk...Hope you all survive the grading period. John -- John Serafin Psychology Department Saint Vincent College Latrobe, PA 15650 john.sera...@email.stvincent.edu > From: <tay...@sandiego.edu> > Reply-To: "Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS)" > <tips@acsun.frostburg.edu> > Date: Fri, 18 Dec 2009 10:18:40 -0500 > To: "Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS)" <tips@acsun.frostburg.edu> > Conversation: [tips] It's that plagiarism time of year again... > Subject: Re: [tips] It's that plagiarism time of year again... > > Very funny--this was sent as a text message from your Blackberry, huh? > > Please do tell all of us how this pans out. > > Annette > > Annette Kujawski Taylor, Ph.D. > Professor of Psychology > University of San Diego > 5998 Alcala Park > San Diego, CA 92110 > 619-260-4006 > tay...@sandiego.edu > > > ---- Original message ---- >> Date: Fri, 18 Dec 2009 03:55:25 +0000 >> From: ku...@plymouth.edu >> Subject: Re: [tips] It's that plagiarism time of year again... >> To: "Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS)" >> <tips@acsun.frostburg.edu> >> >> I HOPE the 2 students did not conspire. The better student is one of our best >> majors. But cell phones are becoming a problem. I've emailed both and I'll >> try to settle this quickly. I'm going to explicitely ban them next semester. >> The only cell phone incident I had recently was when a student in class told >> me her mother disagreed about what I had just said in class - she was texting >> her mother during class! >> Sent from my BlackBerry(r) wireless device from U.S. Cellular >> >> -----Original Message----- >> From: Gerald Peterson <peter...@vmail.svsu.edu> >> Date: Thu, 17 Dec 2009 20:47:24 >> To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS)<tips@acsun.frostburg.edu> >> Subject: Re: [tips] It's that plagiarism time of year again... >> >> >> Did they use cell phones to take a picture of one exam and send to the other? >> Apparently, that is becoming a big problem in some classes. That, and >> texting each other. I ban cell phones during exams, but it is very hard to >> police in large classes. Anyone have a problem with cell phone cheating? >> Gary >> >> >> >> >> Gerald L. (Gary) Peterson, Ph.D. >> Professor, Department of Psychology >> Saginaw Valley State University >> University Center, MI 48710 >> 989-964-4491 >> peter...@svsu.edu >> >> ----- Original Message ----- >> From: "John Kulig" <ku...@mail.plymouth.edu> >> To: "Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS)" >> <tips@acsun.frostburg.edu> >> Sent: Thursday, December 17, 2009 4:00:04 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern >> Subject: Re: [tips] It's that plagiarism time of year again... >> >> >> Yes, that time of year again! I have never used Turnitin.com but I want to >> introduce another problem I just encountered ... >> >> Two students in stats both turned in an exam with the exact same multiple >> choice answers(35 out of 39 correct, and both the correct AND incorrect >> choices were identical). I have never seen this happen before. One student >> was aceing the class and the other was on the verge of failing. I have a >> pretty solid case of copying not just on this point on other parts of the >> exam because the poorer student also had correct AND incorrect answers on the >> computation part out to two decimal places (including a "proportion of >> variance" effect size of 2.15 which is bogus), all without computation, just >> answers written down. Because I am grading non-stop and need a diversion, I >> am intrigued with guestimating the probability of the MC being identical on >> all 39 given no cheating. It's obviously a low probability as my MC scores >> average close to "optimal difficulty" level (in the 60 - 70% range), so it's >> not the case that most people get most of them correct. >> >> Anybody ever try to model this problem? I can assume they both knew 35 >> answers, get the frequencies of all the wrong answers for the class, and >> assume people guess randomly when they don't know. But they only missed 4. I >> can also regress this exam on previous exam scores and show that the poor >> student getting only 4 wrong is an outlier, but that may not be convincing >> enough .. and thoughts would be appreciated. >> >> If the student were brigher they should have changed a few answers and >> scribbled a few computations here and there on the sheet! >> >> -------------------------- >> John W. Kulig >> Professor of Psychology >> Plymouth State University >> Plymouth NH 03264 >> -------------------------- >> >> ----- Original Message ----- >> From: "DeVolder Carol L" <devoldercar...@sau.edu> >> To: "Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS)" >> <tips@acsun.frostburg.edu> >> Sent: Thursday, December 17, 2009 2:56:53 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern >> Subject: [tips] It's that plagiarism time of year again... >> >> Hi, >> I have a student who has done poorly on his exams but has turned in a >> stunningly good paper. Frankly, I don't think he wrote it but I'm having >> difficulty showing that. I have Googled key phrases but nothing has turned >> up, so I don't think he copied and pasted, I think he bought it. Can anyone >> give me some idea of what Turnitin.com charges for an individual license? >> It's the only thing I can think of, other than confronting the student, which >> will most likely be my next step. I hate this stuff, it takes so much time >> and really takes a toll on my enthusiasm for grading. >> >> Thanks in advance for any help you can provide. >> Carol >> >> >> >> >> Carol DeVolder, Ph.D. >> Professor of Psychology >> Chair, Department of Psychology >> St. Ambrose University >> Davenport, Iowa 52803 >> >> phone: 563-333-6482 >> e-mail: devoldercar...@sau.edu >> >> >> >> >> --- >> To make changes to your subscription contact: >> >> Bill Southerly (bsouthe...@frostburg.edu) >> >> --- >> To make changes to your subscription contact: >> >> Bill Southerly (bsouthe...@frostburg.edu) >> >> --- >> To make changes to your subscription contact: >> >> Bill Southerly (bsouthe...@frostburg.edu) >> >> --- >> To make changes to your subscription contact: >> >> Bill Southerly (bsouthe...@frostburg.edu) > > --- > To make changes to your subscription contact: > > Bill Southerly (bsouthe...@frostburg.edu) --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly (bsouthe...@frostburg.edu) --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly (bsouthe...@frostburg.edu)
