Science Olympiad at Penn Invitational 2019

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Re: Science Olympiad at Penn Invitational 2019

Post by Unome »

whythelongface wrote:
poptrop459 wrote:It’s not easy, so I’m just going to throw out some ideas. Maybe checking for airplane mode in the beginning? Taking the time to check for airplane mode once, even if it's only in the beginning, might be enough to scare teams planning on cheating.

The auditorium setup probably made it harder for you guys to see our screens. If its something under your control, maybe try a room where everyone sits level? This might make it easier to see everyone at once, so you guys could stay more or less in the same area for the entire exam. Walking around can give teams opportunities to look something up when a supervisor is the other side of the room, but staying in one place and being able to see everyone's screens makes it more difficult to cheat.

Another strategy could be to seat teams a tiny bit closer - not too close that they can easily see each others screens or hear what others teams are whispering, but enough to make cheating appear riskier. Again, this would also make it easier to see everyone’s screen at once. The right distance would be tough to figure out though.

I talked to my partner, who was a bit more aware of his surroundings during the test, and he said you guys did a better job than most supervisors at other invitationals when checking screens. I wouldn’t worry too much about it - just maintain the same test quality you guys had, and Astro should continue to run smoothly.
I'm not sure that cheating is a gigantic concern at invitationals and I think you're overthinking this - I've encountered two reported cases of suspected cheating on my team's behalf. One of them turned out to be completely baseless, and another one was because our people did so well NJSO thought the proctor (one of our HS teachers) had passed on the exam key to our competitors.

There's really not much incentive to cheat, and certainly not among most of the schools I've competed with and against. A simple check once at the beginning and occasional monitoring should be sufficient.
This matches with my experience. Instances of actual cheating are exceedingly rare.
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Re: Science Olympiad at Penn Invitational 2019

Post by masterWIZ »

Unome wrote:
whythelongface wrote:
poptrop459 wrote:It’s not easy, so I’m just going to throw out some ideas. Maybe checking for airplane mode in the beginning? Taking the time to check for airplane mode once, even if it's only in the beginning, might be enough to scare teams planning on cheating.

The auditorium setup probably made it harder for you guys to see our screens. If its something under your control, maybe try a room where everyone sits level? This might make it easier to see everyone at once, so you guys could stay more or less in the same area for the entire exam. Walking around can give teams opportunities to look something up when a supervisor is the other side of the room, but staying in one place and being able to see everyone's screens makes it more difficult to cheat.

Another strategy could be to seat teams a tiny bit closer - not too close that they can easily see each others screens or hear what others teams are whispering, but enough to make cheating appear riskier. Again, this would also make it easier to see everyone’s screen at once. The right distance would be tough to figure out though.

I talked to my partner, who was a bit more aware of his surroundings during the test, and he said you guys did a better job than most supervisors at other invitationals when checking screens. I wouldn’t worry too much about it - just maintain the same test quality you guys had, and Astro should continue to run smoothly.
I'm not sure that cheating is a gigantic concern at invitationals and I think you're overthinking this - I've encountered two reported cases of suspected cheating on my team's behalf. One of them turned out to be completely baseless, and another one was because our people did so well NJSO thought the proctor (one of our HS teachers) had passed on the exam key to our competitors.

There's really not much incentive to cheat, and certainly not among most of the schools I've competed with and against. A simple check once at the beginning and occasional monitoring should be sufficient.
This matches with my experience. Instances of actual cheating are exceedingly rare.
No one should be cheating anyways. I hope that everyone is following the Science Olympiad Pledge :) :) , lol.

SciOly Pledge:

I pledge to put forth my best effort in the Science Olympiad tournament and to uphold the principles of honest competition. In my events, I will compete with integrity, respect, and sportsmanship towards my fellow competitors. I will display courtesy towards Event Supervisors and Tournament Personnel. My actions will exemplify the proud spirit of my school, team, and state.
Mr. Builder :) :)
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Re: Science Olympiad at Penn Invitational 2019

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jonmui28 wrote:
meilingkuo wrote: Hi, I am not in your area, but have a general question on fossils. Since you wrote a fossils test, I am wondering where you get the information on temporal range of fossils for the answer key and what is considered main resource for regional/state/national test. We checked several resources and noticed that the range varies from source to source. We consulted a paleontologist and was told that fossilworks database is what scientists in the field use. However, we noticed that answer keys for lots of old test packets are not based on fossilworks database. Our regional is near and we really need to find out.
For the temporal range of fossils, we googled the specific fossil and multiple different websites gave a pretty similar range. Wikipedia was the easiest to find as it had temporal ranges for nearly every fossil on the list, and we fact-checked it with other websites. This probably wasn't the most accurate way we could have done it but we weren't aware the fossilworks database existed. Thanks for letting me know so next year I can fix that!
Thanks for your input. The fossilworks or PaleoBiology database (which pulls data from fossilworks) has cited references for all fossil specimens. I would think that this is more trustworthy than Wikipedia which often does not have references. But, it looks like most of the answer keys are based on Wikipedia. I am an fossils event coach. My students are confused about what to answer for the upcoming test. I would like to teach them to trust the cited information, but they are worried that the test writer are not aware of the database and they will not get the score that they deserve!
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Re: Science Olympiad at Penn Invitational 2019

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meilingkuo wrote:
jonmui28 wrote:
meilingkuo wrote: Hi, I am not in your area, but have a general question on fossils. Since you wrote a fossils test, I am wondering where you get the information on temporal range of fossils for the answer key and what is considered main resource for regional/state/national test. We checked several resources and noticed that the range varies from source to source. We consulted a paleontologist and was told that fossilworks database is what scientists in the field use. However, we noticed that answer keys for lots of old test packets are not based on fossilworks database. Our regional is near and we really need to find out.
For the temporal range of fossils, we googled the specific fossil and multiple different websites gave a pretty similar range. Wikipedia was the easiest to find as it had temporal ranges for nearly every fossil on the list, and we fact-checked it with other websites. This probably wasn't the most accurate way we could have done it but we weren't aware the fossilworks database existed. Thanks for letting me know so next year I can fix that!
Thanks for your input. The fossilworks or PaleoBiology database (which pulls data from fossilworks) has cited references for all fossil specimens. I would think that this is more trustworthy than Wikipedia which often does not have references. But, it looks like most of the answer keys are based on Wikipedia. I am an fossils event coach. My students are confused about what to answer for the upcoming test. I would like to teach them to trust the cited information, but they are worried that the test writer are not aware of the database and they will not get the score that they deserve!
I recommend cross-referencing several sources, and noting the differences. The arguments over taxonomy and range are quite important, and over time your students will learn what sort of answer the particular test writer is looking for.
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Re: Science Olympiad at Penn Invitational 2019

Post by meilingkuo »

Unome wrote:
meilingkuo wrote:
jonmui28 wrote:
For the temporal range of fossils, we googled the specific fossil and multiple different websites gave a pretty similar range. Wikipedia was the easiest to find as it had temporal ranges for nearly every fossil on the list, and we fact-checked it with other websites. This probably wasn't the most accurate way we could have done it but we weren't aware the fossilworks database existed. Thanks for letting me know so next year I can fix that!
Thanks for your input. The fossilworks or PaleoBiology database (which pulls data from fossilworks) has cited references for all fossil specimens. I would think that this is more trustworthy than Wikipedia which often does not have references. But, it looks like most of the answer keys are based on Wikipedia. I am an fossils event coach. My students are confused about what to answer for the upcoming test. I would like to teach them to trust the cited information, but they are worried that the test writer are not aware of the database and they will not get the score that they deserve!
I recommend cross-referencing several sources, and noting the differences. The arguments over taxonomy and range are quite important, and over time your students will learn what sort of answer the particular test writer is looking for.
We are making a table from different sources and hopefully we will find a way to solve the problem. Thank you!
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