Exam Feedback Posts & Academic Integrity

[raniol]

I finish my first CLEP Intro to Soc. I primarily used REA and some IC Flash Cards and IC Exam Feedback. My question pertains to the Exam Feedback section of this site. Isn't it considered against CLEP or DSST policy to talk about the questions you had on the exam? For example people will post what kind of questions they had and what answers they chose. I just figured that would be some violation there since when we all sit down to take the exam we have to acknowledge a few screen with a bunch of testing jargon regarding no cheating, and other policies, etc.

Anyways..any insight would be great.

-R

[Publius]

To my understanding it is illegal to say “On my test they asked me what tribes were involved in this treaty ______, the options they gave were, etc.”
I believe it’s in “the rules of play” to say “Make sure you know which different treaties and the parties that were involved”.

There’s definitely no quoting, and going into minute details is prohibited. However, discussing topics themselves and what concepts you’re may encounter is fine

For Biology stating “Make sure you know the structure of plants cause it popped up like 6 times!” would be fine because
1.You aren’t directly quoting
2.You aren’t going into any detail
3.It was left as a “topic”

Or at least that’s how I see it... I'm sure there's more to be added...

[jt003806]

To my understanding it is illegal to say “On my test they asked me what tribes were involved in this treaty ______, the options they gave were, etc.”
I believe it’s in “the rules of play” to say “Make sure you know which different treaties and the parties that were involved”.

...

"Illegal" would require a law to be broken.

[Lindagerr]

i agree with Publius. From what I have read here before ( This subject has been debated many times) The CLEP/DSST people keep a close eye on us and they have not found anything "illegal" yet. Most of us are just trying to point people in the right direction in the exam specific feedback.

[cookderosa]

I'm opposed to question sharing for ethical reasons, I don't know if there is a CLEP or IC policy, but I think the forum does a good job policing this issue.

A few thoughts- the questions are from a large bank of possible questions, so the likelihood of someone here remembering enough questions to bring to the forum, then the likelihood that you'll get some of those same questions are very slim. And is it the same question? Exactly? Or similar? Who here has a photographic memory?

In addition, you still have to look up the answer, because there are 5 possible answers- and likely no one can remember what all their possible answers were. You never know if you got it right or wrong- so in essence- it's still just a study tool. For instance, if I told you the answer to "the question about the rainbow" is BLUE, why would you believe me? CLEP doesn't tell me if I got it right or wrong- I might have missed it. Also, there could be a dozen questions in the question bank "about the rainbow" making it highly irresponsible to just choose "blue." And if I do, what about the other 89 questions? OTOH, I might go READ about the rainbow, and study it better. Knowing the info isn't cheating, it's knowing the info.

So, sharing ANSWERS is a waste of time. So, at the end of the day, is it unethical to share questions? There are zillions of practice tests, including ones put out by College board doing just that, so I'd have to say no. You still have to remember the answer. ...wait, remembering answers....that sounds an awful lot like STUDYING lol.

Can we all go back to grade school for a second? Who here ever had to take a multiplication tables test? What about a states and their capitals test? In those cases you knew 100% of what the questions would be, and yet that didn't score you any points. You still had to learn the info.

I've said to my students a zillion times "you to bring in all the notes you can stuff in your brain."

Happy testing and good luck!

[dcan]

I'm opposed to question sharing for ethical reasons, I don't know if there is a CLEP or IC policy, but I think the forum does a good job policing this issue.

I recall a thread last year where the OP promoted sharing answers to the free FEMA tests. That idea was quickly shredded by everybody else.

So, sharing ANSWERS is a waste of time. So, at the end of the day, is it ethical to share questions? There are zillions of practice tests, including ones put out by College board doing just that, so I'd have to say no.

Are you saying it isn't ethical because there are practice tests, or depite the fact there are practice tests? Just curious.

I see the forum as akin to the old teacher "foot stomp" when talking about a topic, as in "you probably should pay attention to this topic." That doesn't mean you know what the question will be, just that you should know that topic pretty well. For example, I can say "be sure you understand how to cite sources and how to read citations" for the Composition CLEP because it is a very significant percentage of the test and has an entire essay requirement based on the subject, but you still have to study it on your own.

BTW for OP I have had a few questions appear on a few CLEPs that were either verbatim or almost verbatim from the official CLEP practice tests. But I won't say which tests or questions.

[cookderosa]

I recall a thread last year where the OP promoted sharing answers to the free FEMA tests. That idea was quickly shredded by everybody else.



Are you saying it isn't ethical because there are practice tests, or depite the fact there are practice tests? Just curious.

I see the forum as akin to the old teacher "foot stomp" when talking about a topic, as in "you probably should pay attention to this topic." That doesn't mean you know what the question will be, just that you should know that topic pretty well. For example, I can say "be sure you understand how to cite sources and how to read citations" for the Composition CLEP because it is a very significant percentage of the test and has an entire essay requirement based on the subject, but you still have to study it on your own.

BTW for OP I have had a few questions appear on a few CLEPs that were either verbatim or almost verbatim from the official CLEP practice tests. But I won't say which tests or questions.

Good catch, I went back and fixed my statement. Thanks!

[Publius]

Somethings to note (these are NOT reasons in and of themselves, but they're still noteworthy)...

Instantcert would be putting themselves into a dangerous spot by creating and promoting a place to provide feedback if it was against testing policy. The two major things that they "advertise" is 1) Their flashcard database and 2) The Exam Feedback Section(both excellent IMO). I'm sure that IC spent quite a bit of time in their research stage going over this very topic.

Also, just as there are businesses on here, it's extremely likely that someone, somewhere, affiliated with CLEP and/or DSST is on here "monitoring". Anything that went against testing policy would be quickly routed out (some posts have been edited because they did go against testing policy).

[Chebasaz]

Agreed with the bulk of the comments here. IC does a great job at keeping things above-board and that's in large part due to the members self-policing.

College Board and Prometric want you to know the material, not just the answers. Identifying the topics needed to study is no different than the study material that each company offers themselves. The specific feedback forum may cover more topics than those study materials, but it's still just the identification of the topics, not the actual questions and answers. If you study the topics, you'll be well-equipped to answer the actual questions on the exam.

[Publius]

"Illegal" would require a law to be broken.

Good point... Proper phrasing would be "against testing policy" or "unethical".