Education 2015

Lie Detectors Stall Information Conspiracy

In 2010 there were significant improvements in the accuracy and reliability of lie detectors. Portable detectors are now incorporated within all multi-media workstations. The computer questions the user about aspects of a composition. Where it is uncertain about the origin - the inbuilt lie detector (sensing the sweat glands on the userŐs forefinger) then generates a truth rating.


Teacher
Assessing the originality of student work is not a new problem. Even now, with a wordprocessed assignment, I can't guarantee originality - misquoting, paraphrasing, failure to acknowledge sources, cutting passages from the essays of peers - it all happens now and many students get away with it. I would need to viva everyone to detect the truth.


Teacher
The question of assessing the originality of student work is irrelevant. You are failing to recognise the essence of the learning process. Learning is about individual fulfillment - if you cheat, you are only cheating yourself. There is no satisfaction in adequately completing an assignment in which you have, in effect, conned the tutor who marks it .


Teacher
I have a problem with authority. I know from talking to a student who is currently working in multi-media that 90% of the content of her assignment is pasted in from other reputable sources- she has added the occasional comments of her own. I have been seduced into believing these are equally authoritative statements. I can't see the joins - its just all to glitsy. Perhaps all original work should appear in a hand written font.


Teacher
There isn't a word of originality in this assignment, it is all pasted in from elsewhere. I can't possibly pass it.


Student
I've read 30 books, looked at over 100 pictures, listened to the works of over 20 composers and synthesised all that to produce a very focussed essay. In the process I've learnt a great deal from all these sources - what is the point of then rewriting it all in my own words? I've learnt as much from the materials that I've rejected as those that I have included.


Teacher
I have been asked to arrange for all exams, within a 5 year timescale, to be conducted on networked multimedia machines. The argument is if you teach students to be brilliant at researching, handling, selecting and presenting information then you can't be serious in setting them a 45 minute written test! This is a nightmare scenario, but the lie detector will solve the problem. If we can validate the authority of course work there is no need to set exams.