Thousands of teachers caught cheating in exams

Approximate Reading Time: < 1 minuteI have long thought that the way to change the problem of cheating in exams (and assignments) is to reduce the risk associated with any single task. Stay tuned for future posts on how to do that. It turns out … Continue reading

Worth Sharing: Education Is Performance Art

Approximate Reading Time: < 1 minuteThe first job of a teacher is to make the student fall in love with the subject. That doesn’t have to be done by waving your arms and prancing around the classroom; there’s all sorts of ways to go at … Continue reading

The Randomness of Grades: Are all ‘B’s the Same?

Approximate Reading Time: 2 minutesLast time we looked at how different a score of 75% can be, depending on which 75% the student got right in an exam where the questions are ‘perfectly balanced’. BUT, what if the exam ISN’T perfectly balanced. What if, … Continue reading

The Randomness of Grades: What is an ‘A’ Student?

Approximate Reading Time: < 1 minuteWe all have a sense of what an ‘A’ Student is. They are the ones who have earned our top marks, of course. But comparing our own personal ‘A’s with that of other faculty quickly becomes problematic. All those complaints … Continue reading

Grades: The Random Factor, Problem 2

Approximate Reading Time: 2 minutesProblem 1, as outlined yesterday is that we really have no objective way of ensuring that our exams actually ‘cover’ the course content. Now, what about exams from the student’s perspective? I know, I know, tons of people have talked … Continue reading

Grades: The Random Factor

Approximate Reading Time: 2 minutesHow much of your students’ grades in your courses is subject to random chance? Is your first reaction a defensive one? “Why, NONE, of COURSE!” We all like to think we are assessing our students fairly, and that the grades … Continue reading

What’s the difference between serious games, educational games, and game-based learning? Episode 2

Approximate Reading Time: < 1 minuteI recently posted a table explaining the differences between games, serious games, educational, games, GBL, etc.   I thought a concrete example might help to understand the distinctions. Say we are using The Parable of the Polygons to help a high school … Continue reading

What’s the difference between serious games, educational games, and game-based learning?

Approximate Reading Time: < 1 minuteThis question keeps coming up. Here’s a handy table to help. This is an updated version of the table I created back in 2015. Note: This image is not to be posted anywhere or re-used without my written permission. Citation: … Continue reading