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Zbigniew Fiedorowicz - Cheating in WeBWorK

Zbigniew Fiedorowicz - Cheating in WeBWorK

by Arnold Pizer -
Number of replies: 0
inactiveTopicCheating in WeBWorK topic started 9/28/2004; 9:16:41 AM
last post 9/29/2004; 5:17:01 PM
userZbigniew Fiedorowicz - Cheating in WeBWorK  blueArrow
9/28/2004; 9:16:41 AM (reads: 1698, responses: 7)
We also offer direct web work solving. We can log onto your web work site and work on the problems for you. We will also provide you with passwords to solved problems, so you can learn how to solve these problems for your exam. We absolutely guarantee that you will receive 98% or better on your web work grade. Remember, it is going to be a big factor into you final grade.

Extracted from: http://www.asututor.com/Webwork_help.htm Quoted rates are $10-15 per assignment.

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userSam Hathaway - Re: Cheating in WeBWorK  blueArrow
9/28/2004; 10:28:40 AM (reads: 1937, responses: 0)
Cute! Is this aimed at ASU students? The domain is owned by one "Bom Kim" of 2120 W. Manor Street, Chandler, AZ 85224. There is also a "Bom Kim" in the ASU directory, an undergraduate in biochemistry.

I assume that a student using the "direct WeBWorK solving" service would be in violation of his or her school's academic honesty policy, but how to catch them? Perhaps with better logging facilities, we could detect this type of usage.
-sam

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userCarl F. Letsche - Re: Cheating in WeBWorK  blueArrow
9/28/2004; 11:45:15 AM (reads: 1922, responses: 0)
It seems to me that this only exists because of the value of the homework. The site suggests that WeBWoK counts for 20 - 50 % of the grade, depending on the class. That's an awful lot for homework. WeBWorK's low level of security is a good argument against using it for tests and quizzes.

Students could always get someone else to do their homework for a price, and security is low for WeBWorK simply because it's meant for "just" homework. I don't think I've ever let homework/WeBWorK count for more than 10% of the grade. A service like this would dry up under such circumstances.

My only concern would be that he may have gotten the source code for problems (from the CVS, or hacking the local server?) in order to sell general solutions 'for all web work problems.'

Carl

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userLars Jensen - Re: Cheating in WeBWorK  blueArrow
9/28/2004; 12:11:13 PM (reads: 1923, responses: 0)
Hi,

We also like to have on-line homework count substantially (30%) towards the course grade because students spend a lot of time with it. The way to get around the above situation is to make a rule that students will receive a course grade that is at most one letter grade (10%) above their score on the final exam.

Lars.

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userSam Hathaway - Re: Cheating in WeBWorK  blueArrow
9/28/2004; 3:50:40 PM (reads: 1902, responses: 1)
Carl wrote:

 

WeBWorK's low level of security

Can you elaborate? We'd like WeBWorK to be completely secure, and if there are places where security is lacking they should be fixed.

 

My only concern would be that he may have gotten the source code for problems (from the CVS, or hacking the local server?) in order to sell general solutions 'for all web work problems.'

It is possible for anyone to download the problem libraries and examine the code. However, they would also have to match a problem in the library to the problem they need to solve, which is not completely easy since the filenames are not given and many professors rename sets when they import them into WeBWorK ("1", "2", etc.) It is possible to search for key words in the problem to narrow down your search, so we really can't hide behind that obscurity.

I'm open to suggestions for how to balance making problem libraries freely and easily available to educators while providing a barrier to malicious students. (To start, I've added a robots.txt to our web CVS interface.)
-sam

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userZbigniew Fiedorowicz - Re: Cheating in WeBWorK  blueArrow
9/28/2004; 5:56:28 PM (reads: 1912, responses: 0)
You could run the final output from the WeBWorK server through an html obfuscator (like many spam emails). Also disallow access to the plain text version.

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userCarl F. Letsche - Re: Cheating in WeBWorK  blueArrow
9/29/2004; 3:47:52 PM (reads: 2175, responses: 0)
My apologies, Sam - I didn't mean to upset any of the WeBWorK gurus with my comment. I've been involved since about 1.4, and the security of the system is very tight.

My comment went more towards human nature. There's really no way to tell if the person logged on to a WeBWorK lesson is really that student, or someone being paid by the student to do their homework. In fact, that's one of the services offered in the original post. The same problem has existed for years with paper and pencil homework, although in that case the instructor might notice a difference in handwriting!

At my previous position, the administration got all excited about WeBWorK and the possibility of using it for remote placement testing. When we pointed out that a well meaning parent or friend could easily give a little too much help over the shoulder, the idea was nixed. In that sense, and for that type usage, it's just too insecure.

Sorry for making your security alarms go off!

Carl

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userSam Hathaway - Re: Cheating in WeBWorK  blueArrow
9/29/2004; 5:17:01 PM (reads: 1885, responses: 0)
No problem! Thanks for the explanation. :)
-sam

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