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I'm taking Introductory Psychology online. It's 4 credits. I just took my first exam yesterday. However, the exam is not proctored and it wasn't timed. We had free access to our textbook, notes, and the internet. Most of the answers to the questions were found on Quizlet and Coursehero.
I mean he can't expect us not to use our resources if the exam is not proctored. It was a guaranteed A because most of the answers could easily be found on the internet.
I don't know, I feel like he is making it too easy.
I'm taking another online class called Cultural Anthropology that is also 4 credits. The first exam is due in a week. That exam is timed for 3 hours. However, she told me that she will be using the same question banks for our other assignments. This one also isn't proctored.
I feel a little guilty about this. I'm taking these classes at a community college if that makes a difference.
What do you guys think?
Just make sure you follow the guidelines in the syllabus to CYA. Also, avoid GroupMe discussions as those have gotten students in trouble in a number of online classes. Basically one student rats on the whole group and everyone can go down for academic misconduct.
Open book exams are very common now at many universities. Don't feel guilty about it being too easy. The schools have made it easy and are comfortable with it. So should you.
Be grateful that it is easy. When I was working on my first degree in the late 1970s, it was far from easy. Schools then had an attitude of "survival of the fittest". They seemed to have a need to flunk out a certain amount of students, whereas the current mindset is to grab the most amount of "paying customers" for the most amount of tuition dollars. It is all about making money and making it easy for the students (the customers) to take classes, rather than rigourous and competitive academic excellence and the need to flunk out the worst students.
Today, there is an emphasis of helping the students learn rather than an emphasis of competition and the fixation on a dread of "giving away the answers". For example, back in 1975, I was taking a calculus class where not everything was explained and the students were expected to figure out the rest on their own. There was an expectation where the best and brightest would be able to figure it out. As for the rest... well... too bad.
I was "one of the rest" and was having difficulties. The teaching assistants had office hours where students could come in and get help in solving problems. I had some math problems that I couldn't solve so I came in one day to get some help. The conversation went something like this:
Me: I'm having difficulties solving a math problem.
TA: Which problem?
Me: Problem #6.
TA: How would you solve it?
Me: I don't know. That is why I'm here.
TA: Well, I can't give you the answer.
Me: But I don't know how to solve it.
TA: Well, I can't tell you.
Me: Well, what am I supposed to do?
TA: Solve the problem.
Me: I don't know how.
TA: Just show me what you would do.
Me: Well, first I would do this...
TA: That's not correct.
Me: Then what would I do?
TA: I can't tell you.
Me: All right, then I would do this...
TA: That's not right.
Me: How do I solve this?
TA: I can't tell you. I cannot give away the answer.
After such a discourse, I ended up struggling on my own and managed to pass the course with a less than stellar grade.
I am now a substitute teacher and am able to see how they teach math in high schools nowadays. There is no more fixation or fright in "giving away the answer". The emphasis is on students learning and not trying to flunk them out. Problems are explained in detail with nothing left for students to "figure out". Each concept is thoroughly explained with example problems shown openly. Then the students are given the same type of problems to solve that follow the same logic that was presented by the teacher. By doing the problems, these math concepts are reinforced in the students' minds. Once that is understood, then the teacher moves on to more advanced concepts, with new problems, solutions, and reinforcement activities. There is never any unpresented material that the students have to figure out on their own.
Math is an easy subject, if properly taught. Using math texts in the classroom, I am now able to help my students easily by looking up information and sample problems. These texts present information openly without holding things back, and with plenty of sample problems that illustrate the concepts without any fear of "giving away the answer". Not many students even need my help because of the quality of the explanation and plethora of sample problems allows them to understand the concepts and solve new problems on their own.
Again, the fixation nowadays is helping students understand the concepts and be able to solve problems and not on being afraid of "giving away the answer". I wish that when I was in high school and then later in college, math was taught the way it is now. It would have saved me a lot of headaches.
Your discussion with the math TA sounds almost word for word with a discussion I had with my chemistry professor. It's like he was trying to NOT show me what I was doing wrong.
I'm taking Introductory Psychology online. It's 4 credits. I just took my first exam yesterday. However, the exam is not proctored and it wasn't timed. We had free access to our textbook, notes, and the internet. Most of the answers to the questions were found on Quizlet and Coursehero.
I mean he can't expect us not to use our resources if the exam is not proctored. It was a guaranteed A because most of the answers could easily be found on the internet.
I don't know, I feel like he is making it too easy.
I'm taking another online class called Cultural Anthropology that is also 4 credits. The first exam is due in a week. That exam is timed for 3 hours. However, she told me that she will be using the same question banks for our other assignments. This one also isn't proctored.
I feel a little guilty about this. I'm taking these classes at a community college if that makes a difference.
What do you guys think?
So many of the online classes I took had all the exam answers on Quizlet. IMO online classes are a joke, a waste of time and money. I feel like teachers just turn a blind eye and let it ride even though they know all the answers are right online. I don't know if they are just to lazy to make up their own exam or if they just don't care.
Open book exams are very common now at many universities. Don't feel guilty about it being too easy. The schools have made it easy and are comfortable with it. So should you.
Be grateful that it is easy. When I was working on my first degree in the late 1970s, it was far from easy. Schools then had an attitude of "survival of the fittest". They seemed to have a need to flunk out a certain amount of students, whereas the current mindset is to grab the most amount of "paying customers" for the most amount of tuition dollars. It is all about making money and making it easy for the students (the customers) to take classes, rather than rigourous and competitive academic excellence and the need to flunk out the worst students.
Today, there is an emphasis of helping the students learn rather than an emphasis of competition and the fixation on a dread of "giving away the answers". For example, back in 1975, I was taking a calculus class where not everything was explained and the students were expected to figure out the rest on their own. There was an expectation where the best and brightest would be able to figure it out. As for the rest... well... too bad.
I was "one of the rest" and was having difficulties. The teaching assistants had office hours where students could come in and get help in solving problems. I had some math problems that I couldn't solve so I came in one day to get some help. The conversation went something like this:
Me: I'm having difficulties solving a math problem.
TA: Which problem?
Me: Problem #6.
TA: How would you solve it?
Me: I don't know. That is why I'm here.
TA: Well, I can't give you the answer.
Me: But I don't know how to solve it.
TA: Well, I can't tell you.
Me: Well, what am I supposed to do?
TA: Solve the problem.
Me: I don't know how.
TA: Just show me what you would do.
Me: Well, first I would do this...
TA: That's not correct.
Me: Then what would I do?
TA: I can't tell you.
Me: All right, then I would do this...
TA: That's not right.
Me: How do I solve this?
TA: I can't tell you. I cannot give away the answer.
After such a discourse, I ended up struggling on my own and managed to pass the course with a less than stellar grade.
I am now a substitute teacher and am able to see how they teach math in high schools nowadays. There is no more fixation or fright in "giving away the answer". The emphasis is on students learning and not trying to flunk them out. Problems are explained in detail with nothing left for students to "figure out". Each concept is thoroughly explained with example problems shown openly. Then the students are given the same type of problems to solve that follow the same logic that was presented by the teacher. By doing the problems, these math concepts are reinforced in the students' minds. Once that is understood, then the teacher moves on to more advanced concepts, with new problems, solutions, and reinforcement activities. There is never any unpresented material that the students have to figure out on their own.
Math is an easy subject, if properly taught. Using math texts in the classroom, I am now able to help my students easily by looking up information and sample problems. These texts present information openly without holding things back, and with plenty of sample problems that illustrate the concepts without any fear of "giving away the answer". Not many students even need my help because of the quality of the explanation and plethora of sample problems allows them to understand the concepts and solve new problems on their own.
Again, the fixation nowadays is helping students understand the concepts and be able to solve problems and not on being afraid of "giving away the answer". I wish that when I was in high school and then later in college, math was taught the way it is now. It would have saved me a lot of headaches.
But the bolded is what teaching is. That's the definition of teaching. Teaching isn't leaving students "to figure out on their own". Teaching is what you described here. Didn't you get that approach in high school? That's what a good college instructor does, too.
Your TA should have said, "Go back over the methods taught in class, and apply those to question #6." If no method or model for #6 was presented in class, or at least--the components, the tools one could use to solve #6, the instructor was remiss, or the professor who drew up the syllabus and class plans was remiss.
So many of the online classes I took had all the exam answers on Quizlet. IMO online classes are a joke, a waste of time and money. I feel like teachers just turn a blind eye and let it ride even though they know all the answers are right online. I don't know if they are just to lazy to make up their own exam or if they just don't care.
How can a degree consisting of online classes that have exam answers online be worth anything?
I'm taking Introductory Psychology online. It's 4 credits. I just took my first exam yesterday. However, the exam is not proctored and it wasn't timed. We had free access to our textbook, notes, and the internet. Most of the answers to the questions were found on Quizlet and Coursehero.
I mean he can't expect us not to use our resources if the exam is not proctored. It was a guaranteed A because most of the answers could easily be found on the internet.
I don't know, I feel like he is making it too easy.
I'm taking another online class called Cultural Anthropology that is also 4 credits. The first exam is due in a week. That exam is timed for 3 hours. However, she told me that she will be using the same question banks for our other assignments. This one also isn't proctored.
I feel a little guilty about this. I'm taking these classes at a community college if that makes a difference.
What do you guys think?
I only took 1 online class in college. Online classes were a new thing (late 80's).
Exams were in the classroom in person.
Just consider these types of classes as your "easy A" classes.
How can a degree consisting of online classes that have exam answers online be worth anything?
Most of them aren't worth anything. Universities don't care as long as they continue to get the money. Many students are finding that out the hard way.......
Savvy employers know how to vet this kind of stuff.
How can a degree consisting of online classes that have exam answers online be worth anything?
Certainly degrees that have open book tests or provide easy answers aren't worth much. But it isn't only online degree programs that have them. Many regular brick and mortar schools or hybrids that have both classroom work and online coursework have them. Many schools are doing this with both classroom and online courses and have dumbed down their coursework so that they can compete for students. There are many more colleges and universities today than there were decades ago and the competition for students is quite strong. You have to attract students with easy courses leading to high GPAs since they are more like customers and have to be wooed. Otherwise, they'll go to an easier school, right? You even find this at top ivy league schools. And of course these and other schools are accredited. Certainly this acreditation means that quality instruction is provided. Well, no. Not any more.
There was the case of some students that were caught cheating at one ivy league university, for example. On an open book examination! Why should one cheat when the answers are at hand in your text?
But at any rate, since this practice is found just about everywhere, employers are becoming a captive audience in having to select job candidates from these kind of schools where the average GPA is an A-.
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