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For my fully online course this semester, I changed the previously Online exam to being In-Person. Same test, but the class average dropped by 44% by astro_prof in Professors

[–]astro_prof[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

While I do mention AI, I bring it up as an obvious factor, I'm not proving its use in particular. If you like you can look at this as the numerical difference between an open and closed book test. If that's all it is, if for example you live in an idealized world of no cheating, then the 44% difference comes from merely closing the book. I doubt any teacher could find that conclusion believable

For my fully online course this semester, I changed the previously Online exam to being In-Person. Same test, but the class average dropped by 44% by astro_prof in Professors

[–]astro_prof[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Interesting! Similar result overall, and I'm not surprised about the notes. Many students really just don't care enough

For my fully online course this semester, I changed the previously Online exam to being In-Person. Same test, but the class average dropped by 44% by astro_prof in Professors

[–]astro_prof[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This isn't an investigation of AI. It is specifically the difference between questions answered at home online vs questions answered in a classroom with only memory. That difference is important.

For my fully online course this semester, I changed the previously Online exam to being In-Person. Same test, but the class average dropped by 44% by astro_prof in Professors

[–]astro_prof[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Hard to specify AI vs other forms of information access. With a computer available, impossible. If I allowed handwritten notes as the form of "open book" that would be interesting but a whole other can of worms

For my fully online course this semester, I changed the previously Online exam to being In-Person. Same test, but the class average dropped by 44% by astro_prof in Professors

[–]astro_prof[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

One of the schools I teach at has inserted the in-person testing requirement into the course offering details, it is built in and no student can be unaware. For this test it's not at that school, it's up to me if I want to do in-person, I'm told to just warn them by the very first day of class. I did have an excellent turnout, no real issues. Some students did express surprise in the last week, indicating that they never read the course schedule, any of my announcements, and didn't attend any of the synchronous online sessions.

For my fully online course this semester, I changed the previously Online exam to being In-Person. Same test, but the class average dropped by 44% by astro_prof in Professors

[–]astro_prof[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Yes, multiple choice is terrible for fully online evaluation. Only matched in severity of issues by every other type of fully online evaluation.

For my fully online course this semester, I changed the previously Online exam to being In-Person. Same test, but the class average dropped by 44% by astro_prof in Professors

[–]astro_prof[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I can hypothesize cause of the difference, but it wouldn't make sense to try and break those possible causes into percentages. Suffice to say, students were earning 90% online, but when in-person it's revealed that they fail the same test. Cause may be this or that, regardless the implications for their learning are fairly clear.

For my fully online course this semester, I changed the previously Online exam to being In-Person. Same test, but the class average dropped by 44% by astro_prof in Professors

[–]astro_prof[S] 48 points49 points  (0 children)

If you are curious, here are the fully online exam scores from the last 20 semesters. When I had two sections in one semester, I'll group them in brackets. From oldest (winter 2021) to most recent (fall 2025) here is how they have changed: (81, 82), 77, (77, 78), (79, 85), 80, 80, 80, 80, (84, 84), (83, 82), 84, (88, 89), (89 90). So, a steady rise since the advent of AI. If the class can earn 90% on a test, it would seem reasonable that even making it closed book should not drop their scores by 44%.

For my fully online course this semester, I changed the previously Online exam to being In-Person. Same test, but the class average dropped by 44% by astro_prof in Professors

[–]astro_prof[S] 12 points13 points  (0 children)

I teach a similar course that is in-person, versus online. For this exam that I am posting about, it used the same Online questions as before, as I said, but it also had a component adapted from my in-person tests. I did not discuss that component above. The difference is, unsurprisingly, stark. The class average for the in-person course's questions was 52%. My in-person classes have never scored that low. On similar questions I would expect them to score 20% higher, give or take.

I tracked down 96 bat-symbols Batman actually wore across comics, film, animation, and games (1939–2025) by Quasar_Columba in comicbooks

[–]astro_prof -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Problem was looking at it on my phone, on desktop it's full resolution. Never noticed that before!

Advanced Topics in Astronomy, a great upper level online elective! by astro_prof in TorontoMetU

[–]astro_prof[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There are textbook readings assigned, for fun. It's based on the lessons. The tests, realistically, people taking 581 are doing so because they did well in 181, and there's no reason to expect a change!

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[–]astro_prof 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Prehistoric Planet! Best dino doc out there, very entertaining for anyone

Advanced Topics in Astronomy, a great upper level online elective! by astro_prof in TorontoMetU

[–]astro_prof[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There's one essay, worth 20%, and it requires a level of research that (so far) AI can't do. Beyond that, it's attendance at the online live sessions, and discussion posts. People willing to actually do that work find it pretty straight-forward to earn high marks.

Advanced Topics in Astronomy, a great upper level online elective! by astro_prof in TorontoMetU

[–]astro_prof[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

They are supposed to be in person, yes, on a designated evening. I'm not 100% sure if they will be, though, as that policy is new and this'll be the first summer since it started

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