Why I will never pursue cheating again (2011) | Hacker News Reader

Why I will never pursue cheating again (2011)

chris.improbable.org

14 pointsmrdrozdov10 comments

Almost all cheating happened within groups with cultural ties.

I did not even want to think of being in my office behind closed doors with a female undergraduate student who is crying loudly.

More than 45 hours in completely unproductive discussions, when the total lecture time for the course was just 32 hours

That was painful to read. Why would any sane person want to become a teacher? :(

This is wrong on so many levels I cant even count! This is probably one of the main reasons that traditional teaching/learning is going away and I'm very happy to see it gone ASAP.

It is so wrong. The author alludes to the way the system is set up as the main reason why it is so dysfunctional:

>The Nash equilibrium is to let the students cheat and “perform well”; in exchange, I get back great evaluations.

This is so obviously the way it is set up, but few professors and higher-ups in college and university are willing to admit it.

Previous discussion (2011): https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2774254

i'm not sure what i think about the central role this "Turnitin" 3rd-party software played in all of this.

is Turnitin a for-profit company? it looks like they are.

what if a student does not want their papers stored in Turnitin's databases for perpetuity to be used in an ongoing basis to help Turnitin continue to acquire profit?

i'd demand royalties for each and every time any paper of mine gets used in a comparison op.

I imagine it's just a hash? Is a hash considered a derivative work? This is an interesting line of questioning.

He should compare the time required to create entirely different assignments each year with the time he spent catching and addressing plagiarism.

This. Reusing assignments is just asking for trouble.

No, it doesn't excuse cheating, but creating a new assignment is like using a consumer-grade lock: it helps keep honest people honest.

Also: an essay about WiMax and LTE? Seriously? That doesn't sound like a very...useful...assignment to me.

I really like the solution(s) listed at the end of the piece. This is wise stuff and the best way to handle something like this.

Just make homework a smaller percentage (10%) of final grade.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com