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I had engineering tests as take-home before. It wasn't super common, but some professors did do that for seniors on occasion for small classes where cheating wo

I had engineering tests as take-home before. It wasn't super common, but some professors did do that for seniors on occasion for small classes where cheating wouldn't be a problem. They were so stupidly hard that even with multiple text books and the internet, the best I could often do was a "B". There's simply no way to google an answer for something that requires multiple pages of analysis and so forth per problem. I think this was a fairer representation of the real world too. I think a take home test would be harder for those subjects that are more about rote memorization.

LASR 6y ago
> something that requires multiple pages of analysis and so forth per problem. I think this was a fairer representation of the real world too. Exactly. This is exactly what engineering is about, isn't it? If any one thinks they're being smart/sneaky by googling to "cheat" in their take-home exams, I don't think they understand what exactly they're being tested on. Said another way, I wouldn't drive on a bridge designed by a civil engineer who didn't "cheat" by googling everything everwhere.
stordoff 6y ago
My university had an interesting solution for a couple of modules for computer science - there were six programming assignments spread throughout the term, and you do them at home and submitted online. It'd be (obviously) very easy to cheat, and being programming a certain degree of similarity would be expected. However, for the final assignment, you had to go for a viva. You had to explain how it worked and why you'd chosen to do things in a certain way, and that formed the bulk of your assessment.
raxxorrax 6y ago
For some math problems that works, but the set of possible questions is shrinking every time such questions are posed. But for programming? I think having to explain the solution is the best was to determine possible cheating.

LASR 6y ago

> something that requires multiple pages of analysis and so forth per problem. I think this was a fairer representation of the real world too. Exactly. This is exactly what engineering is about, isn't it? If any one thinks they're being smart/sneaky by googling to "cheat" in their take-home exams, I don't think they understand what exactly they're being tested on. Said another way, I wouldn't drive on a bridge designed by a civil engineer who didn't "cheat" by googling everything everwhere.

stordoff 6y ago

My university had an interesting solution for a couple of modules for computer science - there were six programming assignments spread throughout the term, and you do them at home and submitted online. It'd be (obviously) very easy to cheat, and being programming a certain degree of similarity would be expected. However, for the final assignment, you had to go for a viva. You had to explain how it worked and why you'd chosen to do things in a certain way, and that formed the bulk of your assessment.

raxxorrax 6y ago

For some math problems that works, but the set of possible questions is shrinking every time such questions are posed. But for programming? I think having to explain the solution is the best was to determine possible cheating.