I often use Scantrons (those bubble sheets) for part of tests (and use Scantrons and Blue Books as an example of something that might engender a classically conditioned reponse in people who are especially anxious about test-taking). Recently, I saw the Dean of our department making copies of each student's Scantrons, in order to have a copy in case a student makes a change on it after it's returned and claims that he/she had the correct answer. I thought it was a good idea, though hoped it wouldn't be necessary. (Our Scantron machine doesn't put a mark beside an incorrect answer as some do.)
So that is why, when a student brought her Scantron to me, claiming that it must have been incorrectly graded, I was able to pull out the original, finding that she had indeed changed an answer after it was handed back to her. I'm not looking forward to confronting her about her academic dishonesty, but I will do it. I'd used Scantrons for years, and it never occurred to me to make copies before I hand the originals back to the students, so thought I'd pass the advice on to others. Of course, one way to insure that students don't change their answers is to hand them the *copy *of their answers, but frankly, perhaps there's a little bit of tempter in me, and I want to see who will actually cheat if they think they can get away with it. Beth Benoit --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly ([EMAIL PROTECTED])
