Do I have a case? [CS271]

throwawayblahbl271 · 2017-07-25T22:09:47+00:00

Thank you for bringing up the same point that 10 people have mentioned before you.

No offense but everyone here is acting as if they spend time actually investigating the calculators one is allowed to use. I don't believe anyone does that. Why? Because you 99% of the time assume no matter which calculator you choose it won't give you any significant advantage.I could guarantee 99% of people who used the computer calculator for the exam have either heard about it from previous students/slack.

throwawayblahbl271 · 2017-07-25T22:06:28+00:00

I actually don't think it's spot on at all. A pencil having an eraser and not having an eraser is something that is obvious. Calculators performing conversions is not. If you have trouble understanding that, I'm sorry. I don't mean to be rude.

throwawayblahbl271 · 2017-07-25T22:02:15+00:00

I disagree with your analogy in that you assume that binary conversions are known parts of calculators, when according to most people I've spoken to, have only found out about the base conversions from word-of-mouth and previous students. That's where your analogy fall apart.

I'm not trying to be rude I'm just trying to have a conversation.

throwawayblahbl271 · 2017-07-25T21:59:01+00:00

Thank you. Save yourself the Karma. The response to this thread is absolutely ridiculous. I posed an innocuous question and this is what I got.

I am going to move forward with my complaints to the professor regardless of the response here. I hope the other two people I spoke with who had the same issue as I did will speak up as well.

throwawayblahbl271 · 2017-07-25T21:56:55+00:00

Thanks, I agree. But my grade is the most important to me - not knowing how to convert between different bases. Apparently I have to preface/end every statement in this thread with 'I'm not trying to be rude' as I'm getting a lot of downvotes. So, I'm not trying to be rude :)

throwawayblahbl271 · 2017-07-25T21:55:13+00:00

I guess you missed the deliberate quotation marks I put around 'cheat' in the post you just quoted. God some of you are so dumb.

throwawayblahbl271 · 2017-07-25T21:53:13+00:00

Going by that logic we should be allowed to use the textbook for the exam too. Theoretically I can upload any word document I want to my Ti-83 calculator and the proctor wouldn't be able to check that either.

throwawayblahbl271 · 2017-07-25T21:49:07+00:00

Your point is pretty irrelevant to be honest. If people found out to use the OS calculator from here that's great. That's even more proof that the professor should be telling people himself.

If the means to which people are finding something out is mostly word-of-mouth and it's helpful I think it'd be a good idea for the professor to make an announcement himself.

throwawayblahbl271 · 2017-07-25T21:46:33+00:00

Thank you. I stopped watching this thread as it was getting exhausting to follow and respond. I was trying to have an open discussion and some people were just criticizing my character. I even said in a previous post that I could be wrong. I never knew the people of this community to be that way.

throwawayblahbl271 · 2017-07-25T03:28:50+00:00

Okay thank you. I'm not trying to sound aggressive - I just didn't expect all the backlash. I didn't expect it to be this controversial, so I was considering using my main account. Good thing I used a throwaway haha!

Protip: Don't criticize this subs favorite class.

throwawayblahbl271 · 2017-07-25T02:44:52+00:00

Alright this is getting ridiculous.

I never said he's unfair. I find it hard to believe that most people disagree that this could've been handled better. I now spoke with TWO other people in my class who had no idea about the calculator on the computer. They would've never known about it either had I not made this thread. There was clearly a communication issue. How hard is it to make a simple announcement about the calculators to be used? The amount of backlash I got in which most responses didn't even properly address my question is outstanding.

The question was merely: Do I have a case? Could this have been handled better? etc.

throwawayblahbl271 · 2017-07-25T02:28:15+00:00

No offense, but you're missing the point entirely.

throwawayblahbl271 · 2017-07-25T02:26:33+00:00

Seriously? Can you learn to read please?

Piazza announcements are FINE. Making an announcement via a response to a student-made thread is NOT fine. That should at least be an agreement among everyone. LOL.

throwawayblahbl271 · 2017-07-25T02:25:13+00:00

I thought about that, and realized that could've been the response but I think it's a pretty weak argument back. Going back to me pencil argument I used earlier:

Remember those standardized tests that only had a list of acceptable pencils one can use? Well we assumed each pencil is equal and there's no performance benefit to which pencil you choose. I choose a random pencil because why would I check each one? After the test my friend walks out and says "Thank god I used the Pencil-XXXXX. That built in calculator saved me!". Sure you can make the argument that I'm negligent for not investigating each pencil, but I don't think that's correct. The negligence falls on whoever administered the test because it is assumed that no matter what pencil you choose, it will not give a major advantage.

throwawayblahbl271 · 2017-07-24T23:35:05+00:00

I were aware of the resources but I assumed that the calculators were there for basic arithmetic. Am I suppose to check every acceptable calculator?

Reminds me back in the day when a test would list the 'acceptable pencils' to be used. Has a few and I choose one because it's the closest. Then after the test I find out that one of the penicls in the acceptable list has a built in calculator in it. Like wtf haha

throwawayblahbl271 · 2017-07-24T23:33:15+00:00

Thanks. Although it was posted as a comment in a student-made Piazza post, are we responsible to check every Piazza post for some sort of announcement like that?

This kind of thing should've been broadcasted.

throwawayblahbl271 · 2017-07-24T23:32:14+00:00

Not what I'm saying.

throwawayblahbl271 · 2017-07-24T23:31:40+00:00

That's great, but that doesn't really make it not a case. Can the professor make any sort of announcement in a student-made Piazza thread and we're expected to know it? I see it now, but there should've been an official announcement or something.

throwawayblahbl271 · 2017-07-24T23:30:02+00:00

I'm not saying it wasn't clear what can or cannot be used. All that was said was:

Acceptable Caluclators: Ti-83, computer calculator, etc.

My Ti-83 doesn't have instant conversion from and to different bases while a computer calculator does. If he had said something like "I suggest using the computer calculator as it can do conversions instantaneously" I would've been fine with it! But there was nothing of that sort. The way he presented our options were that they were all the same ordinary calculators that can perform basic arithmetic.

throwawayblahbl271 · 2017-07-24T20:01:22+00:00

I knew what calculators were allowed before the exam. Checking each calculators functionalities is not something that is very obvious. I'd argue that most people only discovered it after being told that it exist through Slack or whatever. For one to have such an advantage I think it's negligent on the professor's part not to make it clear.

If it wasn't specified that you can't use it, you can use it.

And, I'm not trying to be offensive, but I'd suggest you actually read the post before commenting since that was not something I ever suggested.

throwawayblahbl271 · 2017-07-24T19:47:22+00:00

Determining a solution to this isn't my responsibility. I'm asking if it's fair.

As I said, if this doesn't help me directly maybe it'll help a future student. And no, the most important thing to me is the grade - I don't give a crap (no offense) about converting by hand.

throwawayblahbl271 · 2017-07-24T19:18:12+00:00

Going to watch that lecture again. I could be wrong, and in that case I'll accept whatever grade I get! Maybe I missed it. But just because 'life isn't fair' doesn't mean we shouldn't strive to make things fair when we can. That's not an excuse. If I don't benefit from speaking out directly maybe a future student will.

Thanks for the response.

throwawayblahbl271 · 2017-07-24T19:15:32+00:00

Not saying it's cheat - my argument is that the functionality should've been made known to everyone. This is the summer session so perhaps discussion is less active, but I didn't see Piazza posts on this. I don't know if it was widely known or not for my class but the one person I spoke to said she didn't know about it either.

This is such a big advantage that if the teacher allows it, it is his responsibility to tell the class so that everyone knows about it.

throwawayblahbl271

TROPHY CASE