Gothamist: Oops, I Told My Students What Would Be On The Exam

Top this

Sun, 20 May 2007 03:53:17 -0500

Try this one- An instructor, of a certain ethnicity, in my science course used to go around to the students of her ethnicity and give away the questions on the upcoming quiz... in thier language- how do I know- the students themselves let it slip. Ha- to fairness- I am so jaded.

Steven

Wed, 09 May 2007 21:40:12 -0500

Same thing happened to me in College and High School. I really don't see the the big deal about it. All the professor did was a give the review sheet out showing the students what they really need to study. It's better than a professor just saying Chapter 1-15 will be on the final. With all the information who knows what's really important or not?

ctina

Wed, 09 May 2007 15:56:41 -0500

As a grad of one of the "lesser" Ivies, I have to say that our courses were extremely tough, and there was no inflation. The super-brilliant kids in my classes steepened the curves. As far as review sessions, college was definitely harder than prep school. Most profs gave very general review sessions -- I can only remember one or two that actually outlined what would be on the exams. Usually, we thought it was a trick..

Ivy Alum

Wed, 09 May 2007 15:07:39 -0500

The rhetoric about how "easy" the Ivies are is just that - rhetoric and little more. Yes, roughly 8-10 years ago Harvard found that 90% of students were graduating with honors and yes Princeton and a number of other schools have reviewed so-called "grade inflation" (though there is far from agreement as to the reality or causes). This does not mean that the academic programs at these schools are "actually not all that difficult." Most classes are quite difficult and most students who are there have worked hard for many years to prepare themselves to be there. Exceptions such as this slip up prove nothing.

andrew

Wed, 09 May 2007 14:53:32 -0500

I currently attend a fairly strenuous public school (William & Mary), and I've gotta say that nothing makes my blood boil like hearing about Harvard's 90% Honors rate, rampant grade inflation at the Ivies, or the fact that (once you're in), it's actually not all that difficult. The payoff for all this? Guaranteed job offers and grad school admittance. Plus there's a considerably higher chance that your kids will get to enjoy the same sort of treatment. Competition for admissions has *nothing* to do with academics. Of course, I'm smack in the middle of exams and haven't slept in about 32 hours, so such feelings of bitterness I suppose are to be expected.

pb

Wed, 09 May 2007 13:33:02 -0500

I'm not entirely clear on the details here, but handing out a review sheet isn't a dereliction of duty on the prof's end. It involves more work for her and it just focuses the students' attention on major points. I am surprised at Columbia doing this as it's more a practice in less elite schools where students may be less well prepared for college level work and need the guidance. It's also something associated more with survey courses that cover lots of ground in limited depth. As such, it can basically just mean study everything! Also, for those not in academia, teaching doesn't really count towards tenure. Ivies rarely tenure assistant professors and this is known as a matter of course (Dartmouth is the exception). The idea is that the letter and experience will get you a great job elsewhere. Research institutes as a whole (read most 4 year colleges) only care about the book you write and publish. I don't agree with it but that's all that matters, and, yes, it is assinine. And, yes, grades are inflated. It's both to do with the corporatization of higher ed, the lack of value the society places on education, often abysmal high school education, and the treatment of the student (and their parents) as consumers. There's a limit on what a professor can do. You can't make a kid study and you cannot fail an entire class, or police their every moment. That might get you fired.

Kain

Wed, 09 May 2007 13:02:39 -0500

I had an english teacher in high school assign a mid term over two classes. It was an old Regents exam, so after the first day I looked online and found out exactly what was on the other half, as well as made sure my answers on the first half were correct. I did well anyway when the real Regents test came around later in the year, but I think there can almost be a difference between cheating and simply taking advantage of the teacher's laziness and/or poor planning. To be fair though, at the time I told everyone in school about it, as well as told the professor after she graded them. Amazing how some students still failed however.

Sarah

Wed, 09 May 2007 12:37:35 -0500

Wait, how can the students be accused of cheating when they simply used a handout given to them by the prof? The prof is at fault, not the students. I had an AP teacher in high school who planned to use an old (published) AP test as the final. This old test was available for purchase online, so for about $45 students could get the entire test ahead of time. The school found out before the exam and made the teacher actually create her own test. It was about 15 questions long and not terribly difficult. Needless to say, some teachers are lazy. This Columbia prof sounds like one of them.

amused

Wed, 09 May 2007 12:31:24 -0500

Rocknrope, my favorite is when my father's friend in college found out the essays from someone who had a different section of a course, wrote out the blue books before his exam, handed them in, then later found out that the prof had changed the questions around for the different sections. Prof didn't call him out on cheating (or, rather, trying to cheat), just failed him.

Mike B.

Wed, 09 May 2007 12:30:35 -0500

Looks like the students are getting the chance to retake the test or drop the score from their average, which is fair. It's not their obligation to determine whether their professor has done something improper by handing out a review sheet. She, however, should probably be fired.

they should grade on a curve

Wed, 09 May 2007 12:20:14 -0500

Every school does this to some extent, but I'm surprised with Columbia being the Ivy League School that it is. I guess they're not so special as they think themselves out to me Have you been living in a cave? The Ivy League schools, especially Harvard, have taken a beating on the issue of grade inflation and not being very strenuous academically. Something like 90% of Harvard students graduate with honors. It ties into this story because some of the faculty, especially those not yet tenured, inflate grades or make their classes laughably easy because they want good evaluations from the students which they hope will lead to tenure. And the faculty has decided to believe grades are higher because kids are smarter than they were a generation ago.

Rocknrope

Wed, 09 May 2007 12:12:11 -0500

They still use Blue Books? Interesting. True story - my first semester freshman year, a group of guys I knew got the questions to the essay test for an exam beforehand, and wrote out their answers in bluebooks they had. The difference in bluebooks was noticed, and they all got nailed. The prof gave them a choice - fail my class, or I can report this up and you may get kicked out. Not the most auspicious start to their college career.

bklynd

Wed, 09 May 2007 12:06:47 -0500

Not the students' fault. Fault lies with the prof (who is probably just a grad student) and the tenured faculty who are supposed to supervise Lit Hum. Assignments and exams are transactions - the prof figures out some kind of task and the students guess how they are supposed to complete it. This prof obviously didn't understand (or didn't care) what kind of task it was supposed to be and handed out a "study guide" that totally subverted it. You'd be amazed at how little oversight is given to the grad students and adjuncts that teach core classes. In general, they are just thrown in there without any guidance.

commuter student

Wed, 09 May 2007 11:19:45 -0500

I'd wish I knew about this earlier. When I went to college the prof always had a review session and recommended students attend. It usually was at night on campus and since I'm a commuter student and I work, I miss out on them. Until, I went to one. He told us everything that would be on the exam. So, sometimes living on campus has it's advantages.

tien

Wed, 09 May 2007 11:08:34 -0500

review sessions happen all the time, but i guess each prof reviews differently. as long as it's consistent across sections, i don't think it's cheating.

Kevin Bracken

Wed, 09 May 2007 11:01:14 -0500

> If they identified the exact Canto in Dante, they are very high indeed.

Kojak

Wed, 09 May 2007 10:59:32 -0500

This has actually happened to me before, on several occasions, in College AND in High School, and yet some students still somehow end up failing anyway. Every school does this to some extent, but I'm surprised with Columbia being the Ivy League School that it is. I guess they're not so special as they think themselves out to me

please give me tenure

Wed, 09 May 2007 10:48:59 -0500

What do you expect? Teachers protecting their jobs at the expense of education, just like high school.