Grading on a point basis instead of a curve makes excellent sense where
cheating is a result of competition, and this concept can be presented to the
students in such as way as to discourage cheating. (Although cheating
will still be done by those who are too lazy or limited in time to prepare
their own work.) But still one needs to establish the point totals
needed to earn each possible grade, and this has to come from some sort of
normative data--essentially a curve based on initial classes. To
arbitrarilly use 90%=A, 80%=B, etc., or some similar set of criteria, would
ignore relevant factors like difficulty of the testing material and degree of
preparation provided by the instructor.
True--but while it may be necessary to normalize the
curve for a test, it isn't necessary to do so for a class. An instructor can
base the score of an individual exam on a curve, yet still grade the class on
a point system. If a test is assigned a standard point value, then the points
earned by the test are determined by a curve (it may be a 50 point test and
result--after normalizing--in 30 answers correct giving 40 points, etc.),
the students still have less incentive to cheat and more to work together to
help each other learn. But if the course, itself, is curved than the students
are forced to compete with each other to be in the upper part of the curve
instead. Each student who does well raises the curve higher for the entire
course and the result is to encourage cheating.
Incidently, note that
Turnitin.com doesn't catch everything, and it can be foiled by changing words
so no string of copied material exceeds 7 words.
True--but since JCC doesn't subscribe to TurnItIn anyway
(note that in my revision to my syllabus I stated that papers "may, at the discretion of the instructor, be submitted to TurnItIn.com
for evaluation," not that they _would_ be submitted. Since I would have to pay
out of my own pocket for any evaluations done by TurnItIt, I suspect that's an
option I'll only exercise if I'm certain of cheating and need absolute proof
to cover myself before reporting it. The student who _expects_ to be checked
by TurnItIn.com is just as unlikely to cheat as the one who _knows_ he or she
will be checked by them. Of course, I teach at a community college where most
students are as computer sophisticated as those at major Universities, so they
tend to be more likely to assume that a service such as TurnItIn.com is even
more accurate than it actually is.
Rick
--
Rick Adams
"... and the only measure of your
worth and your deeds will be the love you leave behind when you're gone."
-Fred Small, J.D., "Everything
Possible"
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