Technology
and Prevention (Disucssion)
The DMC faculty
development committee is opening up a discussion on abuse of technology by both
students and faculty.
Below are some
comments on the subject:
Quick
Links:
Writing
questions that test how well the student makes use of technology, and other
questions where technology is of no particular value seems very reasonable and
suitable to me.
One additional
approach, with obvious budget complications, is to have a classroom set of
calculator, which could be "zeroed out" as needed.
Also,
I don't see this as "abuse of technology" but rather as academic
dishonesty.
Mike Robison
[mrobison@cablespeed.com]
I
remember a time when many instructors gave two part tests: one with the calculator and one without. Is that still common practice? Of course, many instructors can write
questions for which the calculator cannot be used as a crutch, and maybe not
even as a tool.
Mowers, Kathy (
In the
early days of CAS calculators at TI, there was only the TI-92. Many of us
early users -- students and faculty alike -- were on a listserve
to share info about the TI-92, programs, etc.
One posting came from a Purdue student who was enamored (we all were back then)
with the calculator's power in his calculus course but frustrated because his
physics instructor would only allow calculators that were zeroed out before
they could be used.
A quick reply came from another student offering a program he wrote to simulate
the zeroing out of memory (but it actually kept all storage location intact)!
Lawrence G. Gilligan
Professor of Mathematics
Department web site: http://mpct.cas.uc.edu
Years
ago I heard that we had an Electronics Technology student who bought a more
expensive calculator (such as a TI-89), the swapped the innards with a cheaper
calculator (such as a TI-83) and tried to return the "expensive calculator
case with cheap innards" to the campus Bookstore for a refund! I can't
vouch first-hand that this actually happened, but it sounds possible!
Peter Collinge, Professor & Chair
Department of
Mathematics
E-mail:
pcollinge@monroecc.edu
Students using the cameras on their cell
phones to copy pages of standardized tests...
Diane Morris
[morris@dhwireless.net]
One of our students was taking a make-up test at
our campus testing center. It is common practice to clear the memory of
all graphing calculators before students are allowed to take a math test there,
which was done with this student. What she did was to enter the problems
into her calculator while she was taking the test there, in order to share all
of the problems with a friend who also was going to take the test there
later. I have no idea how she was caught, but it made me realize how
clever students can be when it comes to cheating. If only they would use
their cunning to better prepare for tests to begin with...
Susan
Harris
Professor
of Mathematics
Harris, Susan
[susan.harris2509@sinclair.edu]
Your experiences or comments
are welcome! Gail Burkett at burkettg@pbcc.edu