Folks, Why do you give MC tests? Do you honestly think they measure their knowledge of the material or their 'test smartness?'
Joan [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Expressing your dismay about the situation and giving the student an > opportunity to come clean is the right thing to do. I think it is all > but certain that the student is trying to cheat. However, unless you > know that your administration will back you, I think you have to give > the student the points. > > It is no help to you now . . . Our scanning program prints a sheet with > responses and correct answers for each student. I hand these back with > the exams. Students only see the bubble sheet again when sitting in my > office with me to discuss a potential scanning error. Even with student > who erased poorly, I cannot recall a time when the scanner made a > mistake. Although surely the scanner is not perfect. > > Joe > > Joseph J. Horton Ph. D. > Box 3077 > Grove City College > Grove City, PA 16127 > > 724-458-2004 > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > In God we trust. All others must bring data. > -----Original Message----- > From: Hetzel, Roderick D. [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Thursday, May 04, 2006 10:01 AM > To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) > Subject: [tips] scantron problem or integrity problem? > > Hi folks: > > I have a situation that I've never come across before and wanted to get > your perspective. > > I just finished teaching a large (120+ students) non-majors Abnormal > Psychology class this semester. Because it was a large lecture class, > the major assignments in the class were five multiple-choice exams, each > worth 100 points, plus a few scattered quizzes. Because the class is so > large and I don't have a teaching assistant, I held an optional meeting > after each exam for any student who wanted to review their exam and > discuss items they got wrong. > > During the review of exam 3, one of my students asked what he should do > if the scantron marked a correct answer as incorrect. I told him to > circle the item and bring it to me at the end of the meeting. When we > were done, the student showed me the scantron. He had circled 7 items > that he claimed the scantron had incorrectly graded. He said that he had > at first filled in the incorrect answer, but when he realized his > mistake he erased it and filled in the correct answer. He said that he > must not have erased very well so the scantron read the incorrect > answer. > > The student earned a 52/100 on this exam. If I were to give him credit > for these 7 items, then his grade would be raised to a 66/100. This also > would raise his final course grade from a D to a C. His grades on the > other four exams in the class were 34, 62, 78, and 80. > > I told the student that I would think about the situation and get back > to him. He asked me during the next class if I had made a decision. I > told him to schedule a meeting with me outside of class and I would talk > with him about it. I reminded him several times to do this in the > following weeks, but he never contacted me to schedule the appointment > until yesterday, the day after classes ended. > > I have never come across a situation in which a scantron machine made so > many mistakes on one exam. In looking at his answer sheet, he had erased > his answers very well, so well in fact that I have no clue how the > scantron machine could have read them. > > If the student had scheduled an appointment with me, I had planned to > explain my dilemma and give him an opportunity to come clean, if he had > indeed cheated. If he told me that he hadn't cheated, then I was going > to give him a chance to answer those 7 questions again when he took Exam > 5 during the last day of class: same content but different response > options. Of course, now classes are over and all the exams have been > taken. > > Not sure how to proceed at this point. On one hand, I could take his > word and give him credit for those 7 items, but if he had cheated I > don't want to reinforce that behavior (not to mention his lack of > follow-through on all of this) with a higher final course grade. > > I meet with this student later today. Any suggestions would be much > appreciated! > > Rod > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > --- > To make changes to your subscription go to: > http://acsun.frostburg.edu/cgi-bin/lyris.pl?enter=tips&text_mode=0&langenglish > > > --- > To make changes to your subscription go to: > http://acsun.frostburg.edu/cgi-bin/lyris.pl?enter=tips&text_mode=0&lang=english > > > --- To make changes to your subscription go to: http://acsun.frostburg.edu/cgi-bin/lyris.pl?enter=tips&text_mode=0&lang=english
