Interesting blog discussion on enforcing exam word limits
| Great Teacher Onizuka | 12/19/06 | | ..,. ..,, .., .,,,. | 12/19/06 | | Great Teacher Onizuka | 12/19/06 | | ..,. ..,, .., .,,,. | 12/19/06 | | Great Teacher Onizuka | 12/19/06 | | D: | 12/19/06 | | ..,. ..,, .., .,,,. | 12/19/06 | | Son of the Soil | 12/19/06 | | Great Teacher Onizuka | 12/19/06 | | D: | 12/19/06 | | Great Teacher Onizuka | 12/19/06 | | D: | 12/19/06 | | Great Teacher Onizuka | 12/19/06 | | texasLawlz | 12/19/06 | | Great Teacher Onizuka | 12/19/06 | | ..,. ..,, .., .,,,. | 12/19/06 | | Great Teacher Onizuka | 12/19/06 | | ..,. ..,, .., .,,,. | 12/19/06 | | texasLawlz | 12/19/06 | | Great Teacher Onizuka | 12/19/06 | | texasLawlz | 12/19/06 | | D: | 12/19/06 | | Great Teacher Onizuka | 12/19/06 | | texasLawlz | 12/19/06 | | ..,. ..,, .., .,,,. | 12/19/06 | | D: | 12/19/06 | | ..,. ..,, .., .,,,. | 12/19/06 | | Son of the Soil | 12/19/06 | | Great Teacher Onizuka | 12/19/06 | | ..,. ..,, .., .,,,. | 12/19/06 | | Son of the Soil | 12/19/06 | | D: | 12/19/06 | | Great Teacher Onizuka | 12/19/06 | | D: | 12/19/06 | | superstudyasian | 12/19/06 | | I *heart* shoes | 12/19/06 | | Great Teacher Onizuka | 12/19/06 | | Son of the Soil | 12/19/06 | | ..,. ..,, .., .,,,. | 12/19/06 | | Hazelrah | 12/19/06 | | Son of the Soil | 12/19/06 | | :;;;;.............,.,.,.,..,,,,,,,,,,,..,.,.,.,.,. | 12/19/06 |
Poast new message in this thread
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Date: December 19th, 2006 2:28 AM
Author: ..,. ..,, .., .,,,. (Here kitty, kitty, kitty.)
Seems pretty straight-forward. Stop at the word limit.
(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=548963&forum_id=2#7256087) |
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Date: December 19th, 2006 2:32 AM
Author: ..,. ..,, .., .,,,. (Here kitty, kitty, kitty.)
1. I don't see how.
2. I don't see why that would even be a problem.
(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=548963&forum_id=2#7256111) |
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Date: December 19th, 2006 2:34 AM
Author: Great Teacher Onizuka
Well, if you know the prof will stop reading at word 250, you can write a self-contained 250 word answer, and then throw in a few other paragraphs that go into the less important issues that you couldn't fit in 250 words.
If the prof enforces the word limit and stops reading at wod 250, you're no worse off than you were before.
If the prof disregards the word limit or doesn't cut off the grading exactly at word 250, you just gained a windfall.
It seems that the proper way to do it is to cut off off reading at 250 words, and in addition to that impose a penalty for not following the rules.
(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=548963&forum_id=2#7256125) |
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Date: December 19th, 2006 2:38 AM
Author: ..,. ..,, .., .,,,. (Here kitty, kitty, kitty.)
Students don't know whether it will be strictly enforced in advance. There's no loss other than the time spent, but there is a signficant potential gain.
(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=548963&forum_id=2#7256144) |
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Date: December 19th, 2006 2:54 AM
Author: Son of the Soil
Students don't know whether GTO's penalty will be enforced either. That's why GTO's argument makes so little sense. He seems to think it's ok to claim uncertainty with respect to the cut-off, but it's not ok to claim uncertainty with the imposition of a penalty.
There's abso-fucking-lutely no reaason to think that's a reasonable conclusion.
(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=548963&forum_id=2#7256214) |
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Date: December 19th, 2006 2:39 AM
Author: Great Teacher Onizuka
Well, if it's a 24 hour takehome you have a shitload of time at your disposal to waste.
Also you're assuming that the prof will stop at word 250. As mentioned in the comments to that blog post, not all profs actually do that. Basically, by going over the word limit you lose nothing at worst and get a windfall at best.
(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=548963&forum_id=2#7256149) |
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Date: December 19th, 2006 2:43 AM
Author: Great Teacher Onizuka
I think you're misunderstanding what I'm saying here. I'm writing from the student's perspective, not the prof's. If the student knows the only punishment a prof will give for going over the word limit is not read the words after word #250, the student has a very strong incentive to break the rules and write an answer greater than 250 words.
Worst case scenario: student gains nothing and loses nothing, since the professor just stops reading after word 250.
Best case scenario: the prof ignores his own stated word limit, reads the whole ansewr (or reads past word 250), and the student gets a higher grade.
(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=548963&forum_id=2#7256170) |
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Date: December 19th, 2006 2:49 AM
Author: Great Teacher Onizuka
The stuff about not being announced in advance seems silly; the guy was warned about the word limit and chose to break it anyway, so he deserves a punishment.
It seems the best thing to do is to stop reading after the word limit, and then provide an additional penalty to discourage efficient breach.
(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=548963&forum_id=2#7256191) |
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Date: December 19th, 2006 2:51 AM
Author: ..,. ..,, .., .,,,. (Here kitty, kitty, kitty.)
If there's no negative to them going over (from the profs standpoint), I'm not sure why there's a need to impose a penalty.
I think this was :D's point. Not imposing a penalty doesn't hurt this particular prof, but may hurt other profs (by making their systesm unfair if they choose to count over 250).
(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=548963&forum_id=2#7256197) |
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Date: December 19th, 2006 2:53 AM
Author: ..,. ..,, .., .,,,. (Here kitty, kitty, kitty.)
Right, but it's not hurting this prof, it is only helping other profs.
See my edit.
(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=548963&forum_id=2#7256206) |
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Date: December 19th, 2006 2:54 AM
Author: texasLawlz
Well, then he has to do his own word count on every essay. Which he probably should do. Fuck. I hope my Energy Law prof doesn't do that.
Point is: he has to do a wordcount on everyone (or at least the essays that are anywhere close to the limit). If he only does a wordcount on obvious violators, that isn't fair. He's probably not going to take the time to do a wordcount on everyone.
(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=548963&forum_id=2#7256211) |
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Date: December 19th, 2006 2:37 AM
Author: ..,. ..,, .., .,,,. (Here kitty, kitty, kitty.)
Well, you've answered 1, but haven't answered 2.
If the prof cuts off at 250, no harm no foul, unless you consider having the prof count words a harm. I assume this would be a problem regardless, though.
(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=548963&forum_id=2#7256142) |
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Date: December 19th, 2006 2:39 AM
Author: ..,. ..,, .., .,,,. (Here kitty, kitty, kitty.)
The problem is that he's going to have to waste his time counting to 250 as it is, regardless of whether they go over.
(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=548963&forum_id=2#7256151) |
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Date: December 19th, 2006 2:52 AM
Author: Son of the Soil
"That would seem to encourage more rule breaking though."
Who cares? They can waste all the time they want.
(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=548963&forum_id=2#7256203) |
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Date: December 19th, 2006 2:55 AM
Author: ..,. ..,, .., .,,,. (Here kitty, kitty, kitty.)
How does that hurt those that follow the rules?
(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=548963&forum_id=2#7256217) |
Date: December 19th, 2006 2:45 AM
Author: Son of the Soil
"I would sometimes flaunt the rule."
FLOUT, you fucking retard.
(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=548963&forum_id=2#7256176) |
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Date: December 19th, 2006 2:46 AM
Author: ..,. ..,, .., .,,,. (Here kitty, kitty, kitty.)
Maybe he made nice pretty jewelry out of the clippings.
(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=548963&forum_id=2#7256179) |
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Date: December 19th, 2006 2:51 AM
Author: Son of the Soil
"If you use it, however, you should be aware that many people will consider it a mistake."
Damn straight.
http://www.answers.com/flaunt&r=67
Usage Problem. To show contempt for; scorn.
...This usage is still widely seen as erroneous and is best avoided.
(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=548963&forum_id=2#7256198) |
Date: December 19th, 2006 2:54 AM
Author: :;;;;.............,.,.,.,..,,,,,,,,,,,..,.,.,.,.,.
That's not interesting at all.
(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=548963&forum_id=2#7256213) |
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