Category Archives: Tips

Tips for preventing (and my experience with) online cheating

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Once we switched to remote learning in the spring, I had issues with cheating on the first online exam through Canvas. My exam was multiple choice, with students allowed to log in and take it over a defined time range. I write all my own questions, so students couldn’t just look them up online, and students sign an honor statement before seeing the first question. However, in the end, 17 of 68 students admitted to cheating.  The main 2 ways I saw cheating were (1) a bunch of answers added as soon as the exam started (unreasonably quickly) and (2) members of the same group taking the exam at the same time and submitting answers nearly simultaneously.  The first way was a clear indicator that students were sent some/all of the answers by other students in the class. The second way was harder to find and required putting multiple quiz logs up next to each other. 

The only (major) mistake I made was misinterpreting Canvas’ settings for when students can see the questions they missed. The quiz setting says “Let Students See Their Quiz Responses (Incorrect Questions Will Be Marked in Student Feedback).” If you check this, then you can specify when students can see the correct answers. I checked it and specified a future date for when they could see correct answers, thinking that this would not give them ANY feedback until that date. However, they are immediately told what they got right and wrong upon submission (without being explicitly given the right answers). As such, they could easily share correct answers (and infer what should have been answered for the incorrect multiple choice questions). I would suggest not checking this box while giving the exam. You can always go back later and check it in order to let them see the correct answers after everyone has submitted.

An OM teaching blog that I follow has good suggestions for preventing cheating on online exams:

  1. Use varied question types. Refrain from having an exam with all multiple choice or true and false questions. Our MyOMLab’s algorithmic problems are a perfect complement to these questions.
  2. Creatively remind students of academic integrity policies. Create and post a video explaining the guidelines for the online exam and review the institution’s academic integrity policy and consequences that are listed in the course syllabus.
  3. Require students to sign an academic integrity contract. After reviewing the academic integrity reminder video, have students electronically sign a contract that lists what the university considers cheating.
  4. Restrict testing window. Similar to how on-campus final exams have a designated testing slot for each course, create the same online. Have every student start the exam around the same time and limit how long each student will have to take the exam. If you have students in different time zones, consider offering three sets of tests, at 3 different start times.
  5. Change test question sequence. In the test settings, have the order of test questions be different for each exam along with the order of answer choices for each test question.
  6. Delay score availability. Set a later date after the testing window ends for students to see their score and feedback and do not make the score available for immediate view after test completion. This way, one student who finishes early cannot see their score and then advise students who have not completed the test yet.

Use of Smart AudioBook Player on Phone

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Maria and I listen to a lot of books together, and I listen to my own books while running or walking outside. I thought it would be useful to detail the tools we use to listen.

Smart AudioBook Player is an app available for Android. I’m not sure of its Apple equivalent. This app conveniently organizes all the audiobook files you add, collapsing multiple audio files into one book seamlessly. You can have multiple books in your library, which you rotate between as needed. The total remaining time of the book is easily displayed, and there are pause, jump forward, and jump back (10sec or 1 minute) buttons. You can easily grab the book cover to display in the app from an embedded Google image search in the app. We use the full version, which costs about $2. The full version allows you to alter the playback speed, and we listen to most books on 1.2x or 1.4x. I have not altered any other settings.

To get audiobooks to load, we check out audiobooks from our library. I then burn these CD’s to my computer. The benefit of burning them (instead of just listening to the CDs) is that I can keep a library of available books to listen to that does not depend on library due dates, and I never have to return a book in the middle of reading it. The audio files are then transferred to the phone, which allows the app to add them. To be specific, I have Google Drive on both my phone and computer, so I share the files that way. Once the files are in Google Drive, I can access them and move them on my phone, so I copy them from Google Drive to my phone’s memory (“My Files” app). I have an audiobook folder that I add them to on the phone.

Each audiobook is about 0.25-1.25 GB of data. I keep about 5 books on the phone at once, though I have a backlog of 10-20 books on my computer ready to be added as we finish books. If your phone has lots of storage, you could keep many books on it.

To listen to the books, we just use my phone’s speaker when we are seated together at the kitchen table. We typically listen to books during breakfast. If we want to listen in the car, we need a louder speaker to hear over the engine. We use the UE Boom 2 bluetooth speaker, wirelessly connected to my phone. You can turn the volume up or down on the Boom with your phone’s volume switch (which I find more convenient) or the speaker’s volume switch. When I go out for walks or runs, I use bluetooth headphones or wired headphones to listen to the app.

I typically listen to two to four audiobooks at a time. The first is the one Maria and I are reading together. I also have my own audiobooks for contemplative lunchtime walks (typically something philosophical), exercise (typically something related to sports or hobbies), and/or drives to work (content could be anything, and I typically just use the CDs from the library in my car instead of using this app). Audiobooks have overtaken physical books for the thing I read the most over the last two years; perhaps 60-75% of the books I read now are audiobooks.

We used to use the hoopla and Overdrive apps, which let you quickly access audiobooks, but they tended to be “returned” before we finished with them and I would have constant issues streaming the books. By having the files on the phone, there are no streaming issues as you listen to them, and you do not need a data or wifi connection. I have not tried Audible or other fee-based options, as everything I have discussed in this post is free (besides the $2 upgrade to the full version of the Smart AudioBook Player app). Let me know if you have other suggestions of how to listen to or read more books!

Speed read the news

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While I have to slog my way through technical material, I can speed read most news and articles. I’ve tested my reading speed, and I can get through about 400-500 words per minute of non-technical medium-density news. However, if the article is on a busy website, it’s hard to maintain this speed. I’ve started to experiment with Rapid Serial Visual Presentation (RSVP), which flashes the words you are trying to read at you to keep your eyes focused on one spot.

Spritz is an RSVP that speed flashes your article to you, similar to the gif below:

You can install a browser plugin to get your material Spritz’ed to you. Go here to get the plugin, then make an account and set your desired words/minute. Then, when you’re at a website with news/articles to read, just click the Spritzlet link and it will start flashing words for you. I’ve set mine to 425 words/minute to read non-technical material. Play with the speed to find a setting that requires your concentration but does not lose you.

Other speed reading options:
–Readsy appears to show like Spritz, but allows you to either paste the material in or attach a .pdf.
-If you like the Spritz format (one red letter that doesn’t move), check here for other options besides Spritzlet and Readsy, including phone apps.
-If you like words being flashed 2-4 words at a time, try copying your material into Spreeder.

Book Review – Get Rich with Dividends

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Get Rich with Dividends: A Proven System for Earning Double-Digit Returns
by Marc Lichtenfeld, 2012

A starter guide to the dividend growth movement. I’ve already been reading a few blogs on dividend growth (Sure Dividend is my favorite), and this book confirms the thoughts I’m reading elsewhere. I’m hoping that my (currently) relatively modest holdings with grow with the power of dividend growth over the years. Companies that have a decent dividend yield with a high dividend growth rate and sustainable payout ratio are good candidates for a long term buy-and-hold portfolio. Companies like Johnson & Johnson, Walmart, and Coca Cola are good options for such portfolios. This book suggests a higher starting yield (4.7% or more) than I’m used to, but I think many stocks with 2-4% starting yields are still good. I’m open to investment discussions and information sharing, if anyone is interested.

Book Review – Superforecasting

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Superforecasting: The Art and Science of Prediction
by Philip E. Tetlock and Dan Gardner, 2015

superforecasting

Great book describing insights from The Good Judgment Project, which was/is a forecasting tournament sponsored by the intelligence community. Describes how to be a superforecaster and avoid common pitfalls that ensnare “hedgehog” pundits with overconfidence. The ten “commandments” at the end of the book summarize the book well, though I would suggest reading the whole thing:
1. Triage. Focus on questions where your hard work is likely to pay off.
2. Break seemingly intractable problems into tractable sub-problems. Look up Enrico Fermi if you don’t know him.
3. Strike the right balance between inside and outside views.
4. Strike the right balance between under- and overreacting to evidence.
5. Look for the clashing causal forces at work in each problem.
6. Strive to distinguish as many degrees of doubt as the problem permits but no more.
7. Strike the right balance between under- and overconfidence, between prudence and decisiveness.
8. Look for the errors behind your mistakes but beware of rearview-mirror hindsight biases.
9. Bring out the best in others and let others bring out the best in you.
10. Master the error-balancing bicycle. Like all other known forms of expertise, superforecasting is the product of deep, deliberative practice.
(11. Don’t treat commandments as commandments.)

Qualifying a Worthy Problem

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Great talk by Professor Gerald Brown on the last day of INFORMS. If you ever have a chance to hear him speak, take it. Slides from his talk, which started with some motivating examples of military OR, are available here.

5 steps to qualifying a worthy problem to study/solve:
1. What is the problem?
If you can’t describe the problem, how do you know there is one? How would you ever solve it? The client never gives an unambiguous problem description, so work to get to the heart of the matter. If you can describe the problem, move to step 2.

2. Why is this problem important?
Don’t waste your time on trivialities. If the problem is important, move to step 3.

3. How is this problem now solved?
Few problems are entirely ignored, so be sure to understand how the problem is currently solved to ensure you are providing adequate improvement. If you can do significantly better, move to step 4.

4. How will you solve this problem?
Up until now, “solving the problem” has been agnostic toward the type of analysis. Now, choose an appropriate methodology and ensure the problem is tractable.

5. How will you know when you have succeeded?
Answer this before you start solving. It’s difficult/impossible to succeed if the goal is constantly moving, so hammer out what success looks like for this problem.

What is your presentation’s throughline?

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When you start designing your presentation, take a step back and ask yourself: What’s my main point? What do I want the audience to remember, to takeaway? Build your talk around this concept. From the TED Talks book:

There’s a helpful word used to analyze plays, movies, and novels; it applies to talks too. It is throughline, the connecting theme that ties together each narrative element. Every talk should have one.

Since your goal is to construct something wondrous inside your listeners’ minds, you can think of the throughline as a strong cord or rope, onto which you will attach all the elements that are part of the idea you’re building.

This doesn’t mean every talk can only cover one topic, tell a single story, or just proceed in one direction without diversions. Not at all. It just means that all the pieces need to connect.

Basically, make everything in your talk connect to the main point. Minimize the distractions and superfluous details.

Handling Questions Gracefully

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1. Accept questions from the audience after finishing thoughts, not mid-thought. Professors do this better than students.

2. Listen. Listen to the question to ensure you understand it.

3. Answer quickly if possible. If a quick answer is not possible and the answer will be revealed in upcoming segments, ask the questioner to wait until then. If a quick answer is not possible and the answer will not be revealed in the rest of the presentation, tell the questioner that you will speak to him offline. Offline refers to after the presentation has ended and you are no longer speaking to the entire audience.

4. If the answer does not satisfy the questioner or he has a follow-up, determine what to do. You don’t want your presentation derailed by a single line of questioning, but you don’t want to look evasive either. If the question wasn’t clear to you (even after asking for the questioner to repeat), offer to answer the question offline. In small audiences, it’s better to delay and answer correctly (or explain why you don’t know) than to guess at the questioners meaning and misinterpret.