The discussion highlights the impact of advanced computational tools like Wolfram|Alpha and Mathematica on academic integrity in mathematics education. Denise Garcia, an AP Calculus teacher, discovered that her students were using these tools to solve complex problems, raising concerns about cheating. The conversation suggests implementing a flipped classroom model, where homework is completed in class and instructional videos are watched at home, to mitigate the risk of students using these tools dishonestly.
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Denise Garcia knows that her students sometimes cheat, but the situation she unearthed in February seemed different. A math teacher in West Hartford, Connecticut, Garcia had accidentally included an advanced equation in a problem set for her AP Calculus class. Yet somehow a handful of students in the 15-person class solved it correctly. Those students had also shown their work, defeating the traditional litmus test for sussing out cheating in STEM classrooms.
Garcia was perplexed, until she remembered a conversation from a few years earlier. Some former students had told her about an online tool called Wolfram|Alpha that could complete complicated calculations in seconds. It provided both the answers and the steps for reaching them, making it virtually undetectable when copied as homework.
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I am not sure Khan academy was first to suggest this. The approach is similar to flipped classroom and you can also add quizzes to your videos to make them more interactive (I have done this) and reduce the risk of students alt-tabbing to facebook.jedishrfu said:This article brings back the idea that khan academy suggested where homework was done in class and class work i.e. Watching khan academy videos was done at home. In this way, students would not be able to,call upon Mathematica or other tools to cheat.