JMU sororities in trouble for storing old exams
 

My mom pointed this article out to me this morning.... what are your thoughts? link to article

We had a test file drawer when I was in school, more for the practice than memorization of the answers.

If a professor is lazy enough and stupid enough to use the exact same exam semester after semester, then maybe he or she isn't earning his or her salary. Similarly, if a student memorizes the answers from an old test and the questions are mixed up, that student deserves the "F" that he or she would probably earn.

Give me a break. They're getting in trouble just because they're a sorority. I'm sure there's a ton of non-greeks who keep their old notes, tests, and papers and give it to their friends to use. It's not a big deal. I don't find it to be cheating. Cheating would be bringing these notes or tests into an exam with you. The only things these girls are doing is using these old tests to study from. If the professor is too lazy to change the exams every semester, then that's the professor's problem.

ETA- Looks like honeychile was typing at the same time as me and said the same thing about lazy professors. :) I knew a lot of them in my days. We had a few tests on file from back in 1997 and when I took an exam in 2002, it was the SAME EXACT TEST...nothing changed. You would think these professors would change their lesson plans over the years to reflect changes in research or trends.

Everyone has test banks.........they are just now figuring this out? Do yall think it's wrong to use the test banks? Just curious.........i've heard many different opinions.

The only way that collecting old tests could hurt academics in any way is if the profs or TAs give the same test over and over again, year after year. Which, IMHO, should be an "honor code" violation for the faculty, not the students, for sheer laziness.

Even the ETS (that produces the SAT and GRE exams) sell or otherwise distribute old tests as practice exams for people preparing the real thing. It's a good idea in principle.

--add

Completely ridiculous. I've never heard of test files being against an honor code. It's not like you take the test into the room with you. They'te to help you familiarize yourself with the prof's testing style...and if the professor is dumb/lazy enough to give the same test over and over, that's another issue.

If anything, the worker violated the "honor code" by snooping through the sororities' storage areas. I just hope to heaven neither of them had any ritual material stored there.

Have to agree........

I think it ridiculous. Our chapter has "test files". We use them to help each other study. Old exams and old notes go into them to help people, not to help them cheat.

One of my psychology professor's had his exams on file in the library. They were all the same questions he would ask on the exams. They were there to help you study. No answers were provided. It was up to you to look through the text book and notes to see if you had the right answer.

This is so stupid! Test files don't help you cheat. Like others have said, if the proffessor is too lazy to change the exam year after year then it's their own fault. Also, if it's a violation of their honour code, why are the professors had the exams back. At my school, most of the professors did not return the exam questions to you and you were required to turn in the question when you handed back your finished exam. They would check to make sure you did.

If the professors wanted to reuse the tests then they should have the students return them following the exam. That is just ridiculous. Everyone uses test banking, its not wrong to use old tests. If you don't want your exams floating around don't let them out of the room. Its that simple.

At my university, you used to be able to buy old exams from the bookstore. Now, you can download it for free if you're connected to the school's computer system.

It looks like the university understands that they were in the right.

I can't believe they actually made this part of their honor code though. It's basically admitting to having lazy professors who don't change exams from year to year.

-Rudey

We had test files in the Shelter way back in the 60's.

Seems to me that if the files help you memorize answers to what the instructors feel are important enough to test you on -- they've done a service to both professor and student.

That's probably why some mentioned above purposely allow their tests to be kept in a public place.

edit

Let me add this. When I was on the Adjunct Faculty at the University of Colorado J-School, my desire was for everyone in the class to learn something and get top marks -- everyone. Some faculty seem to consider grades to be a contest between them and the students.

While the famous "bell shaped curve" may be legitimate in many cases, I see nothing at all wrong with it being top heavy with A's as long as the student is learning the material.

At that time, there were no books in the topic I was teaching (TV Sports Production), so the class relied heavily on lectures and guest appearances by other professionals. My tests were all "open notes." Maybe I'm wrong, but I'll bet that having to go back through the notes to answer the questions made the knowledge "stick."

That logic might cause some gastric discomfort for professional teachers, so it's probably a good thing I'm not one of them.

But I got top reviews from my students on their evaluations.

According to the article, collecting old exams is against the school's honor code. If these kids agreed to the honor code, right or wrong, they're grownups and should be held accountable.

In this particular case though, the tests on file dated from 1951 to 1995 and the honor code provision was not yet in place. As the article said, these ladies are in the clear.

Now, why they'd be destroying the files is beyond me.

KT's point is correct, of course.

The question in my mind is why that is written into the code in the first place. Not sure this kind of thing is really thought through.

1995 was a long time ago for many classes. Think of all the advances in biological and anatomical courses, as well as history and political science, etc.

Gimme a friggin break!
 

Girl, I couldn't have said it better myself!

That is ridiculous.

When I was at IU I think every chapter had a test file. Even IU student government had one that any student could use. They were used as study aids, not cheating aids. Heck, some of the classes I was in, the professor told us where we could find tests from previous semesters for that class so we could get an idea of what might be on our test. We were also encouraged to keep our tests to use for study aids for the final.

I am with honeychile here, if someone memorizes the answers to the test and the questions are all mixed up, or aren't on their test, that person deserves the F they would get.

Most of the professors I had changed the tests, at least the order of the questions, not only from semester to semester, but from section to section (and sometimes had three or four versions...same questions but different order...in each class. So even if someone in a different section gave you a copy of their test after they took it but before you did, there was no guarantee you would have the same test.)

When I was in law school (complete with heavy-duty honor code, hard-core bell curves and grades based solely on a final exam), every professor put old exams on file in the library. The purpose was to help you study as well to help you see how a particular professor structures an exam. Nothing wrong with it at all.

But as ktsnake rightly points out, if a school's honor code prohibits it, then it's prohibited.

honor code
 

present day students should be punished for the collection of tests, the most recent which is from 1995? folks, that is 9 years ago. the 1951-1995 members are the guilty ones, if you are invoking the code. ridiculous!! i agree with honeychile!!and i think that ztangel is on to something too,"only because they are greek."

"The university's honor code prohibits collecting old exams, but the current provision was not in effect during the period when the tests were collected, university spokesman Fred Hilton said Wednesday."

The sororities did nothing wrong keeping files that predate the honor code, unless of course, the honor code states that old tests the predate the honor code may not be collected. I wonder if the honor code says anything about keeping class notes?

My thought--Professors giving tests with material that is 10 years old+ should be held accountable in their next review. I wonder if there are any geography quizzes floating around this semester asking you to map the Soviet Union.

I also feel that it is not cheating to give old tests or notes to friends who will be taking the class in the future. They can use them as study guides. If the teacher is truly "teaching," then he is constantly updating his materials and tests in order to engage his students in "learning."

Novel concept, no?

I think that test banks are good because they help you see what material the professors thought were more important in previous years so you know what to focus more heavily on. This has happened to me so many times that I would spend a lot of time studying for one particular area on a test only to discover that there would only be line one or two questions on it.

As far as punishing the girls for it, it definitely shouldn't be done because it is an ex post facto law and is unconstitutional. I agree with those who think that it was made a big deal of because it happened to sororities, but I think that in this case, it made the school look worse than the sororities themselves. As the article said, most girls didn't even know that they were there, yet it gives off the impression that professors in that school do tend to recycle papers and don't even take the precautions to collect tests afterwards.

As adjunct faculty at a university, I truly can not see what the big deal is. As far as being "too lazy and stupid to change the tests"--lazy and stupid has nothing to do with it. I teach music appreciation. The material doesn't change. I may change things slightly on a test to reflect what we've covered in class, but my lectures are pretty much the same, and my syllabus stays the same, so why wouldn't the test? I have no problem with students studying other students' old tests. If they can and do--great. Then they will be a step ahead because they will know my test format and be better prepared for the test. It is not my goal to dupe students on my tests, the class is meant to expose them to music, and the tests I give are only a part of their grade.

I think the "Honor Code Violation" thing is just crazy.

i saw this on tv last night..

I think its kind of silly to have that as a part of your honor code. I dont see any harm in keeping old tests to help you study. Most professors I had encouraged this as other people have stated. If a professor didnt want students to keep the tests they should make them turn it in with their answers like some of my other professors did.

my first thought though was what was someone doing snooping around in someone elses file cabinets? He was doing a maintanence check.. which doesnt mean going through cabinets. JMU's houses are set up a lot like VT's, we technically rent them from the school, but we do keep our own stuff in them year round. Of course we do have locks on cabinets and store certain things in other areas too.

Some "Acidemian Idiots" have been found out, they are lazy slugs.:rolleyes:

They are to lazy to change their tests.:rolleyes:

The tests that you have taken are placed back into your hands.

Therefore, They are public Domain.

Oh, History, just how much do you/they think can be changed?

How about Math?

??????????

Be gentle, tell them to F---Off!:D

Harshest Code is USA Military Accadamies. look where that has gone?:rolleyes:

A Goose is Full of It, but they are becoming more rank than the Goose!

Tell them to contact me, Morons!:eek:

My husband and I actually ended up having an interesting discussion about this--he disagreed with me and said he thought that it gave Greeks an unfair advantage. To which I said--so what? Personally, I think Greek life in general gives students an advantage over non-Greeks, but that's another topic...

The thing is, this time it happened to be Greeks, but I've known of other non-Greek organizations that did the same thing.

He finally said that maybe if it was that big of a deal then they professor shouldn't be letting the students keep the tests (although he always has in his classes).

I still stand by what I said earlier. If students have access to one of my old tests and it helps them to figure out what my tests are like so that they can do a little better, then great.

I don't see a problem with collecting old exam information, as long as it's not against the university's honor code.

It was very common at my school for students to make "bibles" - a collection of lecture notes, problem sets and answers, exams and answers, and any other potentially useful information. Many groups, including GLOs and dorms, kept libraries of bibles donated by members. Greeks didn't have a particular "advantage" over non-greeks, because groups other than GLOs did keep bibles, and study groups tended to form along the lines of who was in your major rather than who was in your GLO.

For the most part, the professors with whom I studied created new exam questions each semester, so the bibles were useful for practice but not for rote memorization... which is how it should be. Exams should measure how well you have absorbed the material, not how well you can regurgitate information.

http://www.thebreeze.org/archives/8....t/front2.shtml

Heres the latest article on it in our schools newspaper.

Turns out its not illegal to 'possess' the files, only to use them.

Apparently, greek life and the honor council tried to keep this quiet over the summer because it really isnt a big deal. It all came out because of an overzealous reporter for our newspaper (at least this is what our greek coordinator said about it).

Kinda sucks that it happened to these girls right before recruitment-which starts next week, thats some shitty publicity.

We too have a test bank. It actually hasnt been updated in several years, but I know we have one. I looked at it before. Most people dont know its there anymore, but when I first was in people still put info in it. I dont see anything wrong with it. We also have a list of professors to take classes from and ones to watch out for. Nothing wrong with helping a sister out and making sure they do well. Not like the teachers use the same tests 10 years later and if they do I agree they should be evaluated. I see test banks as good things. I mean Ive talked to friends in the same major and talked about classes they took before me and what it was like and what tests were like and stuff. Nothing wrong with that.

i don't care

i'm still starting my sorority's phone bank