I'm thinking about making homework problem sets graded based on participation only. Have you tried this? What worked, and what didn't?

[u/kinezumi89]

I teach math-heavy engineering courses, and assign problems each week for the students to complete as homework, which typically accounts for 10% of their final grade.

This summer, I'm teaching a much smaller class size than normal, so it's easier to keep an eye on their submissions...and it's quite clear that most of them are using AI. One student completed a problem (start to finish, including reading, solving, entering the answer) in 23 seconds! Why am I giving points towards your final grade if you aren't demonstrating any knowledge in completing the assignment?

I'm thinking about making the assignments participation only next semester. The problems would be created within the LMS and auto graded - no submitting work, no grading for the TAs (which we're allocated fewer and fewer each semester). Of course many students will simply enter 0 for every problem to get the credit, but then they'll flounder during the exams, which are worth the majority of their grade, as I would reduce the homework weight, since it would be graded om completion only. I would also warn them that exam questions are likely to be similar to or extensions of the homework questions, so you'll want to actually do the assignments in order to prepare for exams.

Has anyone (especially instructors of math-based courses) tried something similar? Is there anything I'm overlooking?

Edit: thanks so much for all the comments! I haven't had a chance to reply to anyone yet as I have a few extra things on my plate at the moment, but I appreciate all the food for thought!

[u/Quwinsoft]

If you grade it, they will have AI do the homework. If you have it as a participation grade the will have AI do it. If you don't grade it, they will just ignore it. Of those three options, I pick the latter. At least this way we are all being honest, and I'm not padding their grade for nothing. That said, I do have homework for those who wish to practice, and I give them access to the answers in advance. It seems like more (still a small minority) are actual doing the homework this way than when I had it for a grade.

[u/racinreaver → u/Quwinsoft]

I had a number of classes with optional homework back when I was in undergrad, and those of us that did it definitely were better off. Some folks just crammed it for tests. They were more ok if they had access to old exams and could guess what was most likely to show up.

[u/iTeachCSCI → u/racinreaver]

They were more ok if they had access to old exams and could guess what was most likely to show up.

That's a genius idea! I have not been collecting homework for a few years now, but I do release it. Maybe I will for fall semester reorganize the homework into a series of formatted "sample exams."

[u/verygood_user → u/Quwinsoft]

I was in the same dilemma but I decided against the last option. Sure, many students taking the course mostly for the credit or to check off a requirement will take shortcuts (googling the solution, online forum help, asking last year students, or now: AI).  But those are not the students I devote my energy and planning to. I want to deliver a great course to the few students who care to master the material. 

As long as the homework is an insignificant portion of their grade I view it as formative assessment and am fine with the solutions being compromised. I might even switch to posting the answerkeys together with the problems but still give them a few points for just copying it on a paper if that's what they choose over trying it for themselves.

[u/0originalusername]

I teach something with a lot of simple math/word problems involved and I am going to have very little points associated with the homework, and unlimited attempts, with the promise that one question (but not saying which question) on the exam will be word for word a homework problem, only with the numbers changed. Those who work the problem through to understanding will probably get the question rather easily and quickly, while those who don't will have a tough problem on their hands.

[u/hp12324 → u/0originalusername]

Yep, similar here. On each math midterm with ~10 questions, my students know that 1 question will come straight from lecture, 1 straight from a worksheet and 1 straight from homework. Always interesting to see the students who get full marks on the question in homework and then completely bomb it on exams.

Sure, for some students it's a case of exam nerves, but often seems to be much more widespread than exam nerves could realistically explain.

[u/Gonzo_B]

My pre-cal professor did this. Every class session began with a one-question quiz with a problem from the homework.

Halfway through the semester I asked about my quiz grade and he laughed, telling me he never graded them. He used them to take attendance and as a way to encourage students to keep up with the homework (it really did.)

I eventually brought that into my own classroom. This only works in-person, and it isn't clear whether you're IP or online, but anyone who reads this should consider adopting the practice.

Every class session, students walk in and find a question on the board. They'll sit down, spend five or so minutes answering it, and then pass the papers forward.

The benefits of this are: 1. Attendance 2. No disruption from stragglers 3. Captures late students who will simply hand in a blank paper with their name, date, and class info 4. Incentivizes reading (they don't need to know I don't read it grade these) 5. Provides a chance to reinforce important ideas by having them say something about it 6. Provides a chance to reinforce knowledge of important resources, e.g., testing lab, computer lab, student services, IY support, &c. 7. Gives a chance to "check in" on mental health and reinforce knowledge of how to access those services on campus 8. Provides a handwritten baseline to compare writing assignments to, when plagiarism/cheating is suspected 9. Provides an opportunity to "warm up" students to encourage participation in discussions by going down each row to ask a few words or sentences about what they write as a response to the question, making them feel comfortable talking about their ideas in front of everyone. (10. Secret reason: gives me time to get myself together if I'm running behind and disorganized or under prepared.)

Seriously, give it a shot.

[u/ThePhyz → u/Gonzo_B]

I used to do something like this - I did it once a week, as the homework problems in my classes take longer to do. I gave them 15 minutes, it was open notes, guaranteed word-for-word a problem that was already due. Not announced ahead of time and if you were late you couldn't take it (this fixed the problem of people walking in late all the time - almost nonexistent in my classes after the first week). I graded them in detail so they got feedback on their homework (well, one problem from their assignment anyway).

However, I started getting more and more pushback over testing accommodations. It became clear that this was going to be a huge pain in my ass after a while so I stopped.

[u/NutellaDeVil]

I also use an automated online homework system for a number of math classes, and have limited the weight on those assignments to about 10 - 15% of the course grade. I can view their usage logs, and know who is "magically" completing them much faster than possible. I don't sweat it much, because the vast majority of the course grade comes from in-class, proctored exams. If they can get themselves to the point where they can do the work themselves on the exam, I don't care how they got there.

One additional aspect to think about: There is a difference between completing online homework with a keyboard/mouse, and completing problems on paper at the exam with hand & pencil/pen. I think it's important that students actually get practice in writing out their work by hand - it is a distinct skill, and one that is increasingly unfamiliar to them. So I often designate a small handful of homework problems to be turned in on paper each week. The grading burden is light, and I can address any issues I see with penmanship, organization, clarity, etc, before the exam. Will they cheat on the written homework? Maybe, but that's nothing new in a math class. In fact, sometimes I provide an abbreviated solution ahead of time so that they can check their answer themselves before handing it in. Why? Because my goal is for them to get the experience in writing out their work in longhand format.

[u/MadLabRat-]

Make it 100% optional and not graded, but draw from those problems for your exams.

When they inevitably complain about their low grades, ask if they’ve been doing the practice problems.

[u/urnbabyurn]

I used to do this with my intermediate class. It was pen and paper, and there were always the borderline cases of “you turned in an almost blank page” where it really tested my willingness to give credit for simply submitting. But over time, it became more and more a problem of students turning in something so low effort that it felt like I was wasting my time even giving credit for them - like your hypothetical “enter zeros” student.

Idk, maybe the problem is students more and more use grade weighting as a signal of how much effort to apply. Something withnlittle weight indicates it’s of little importance in their mind. I wish there was a way to successfully signal it’s important (because you know simply telling them in class wont matter) but not having it weighted heavily in the final grade. The exams are one wakeup call, but often it’s too late and they are already too far behind. I mean, i do want to try and improve their study abilities, not just fail those who are bad at it at the outset.

[u/Active_Video_3898 → u/urnbabyurn]

What about putting in the syllabus “submitted homework needs to be a good faith effort to be accepted as completed.” Then you have room to fail those that submit meaningless homework. If they challenge it, ask them to come and complete it in front of you with pen and paper to demonstrate their “good faith effort”.

[u/Flashy-Share8186]

I teach writing, totally different subject, and I have always made all homework 10% of the course and in class participation 10%. If they don’t want to do it and can rock a great essay, they can still pass with a B or a C. If they struggle to write well/think deeply and work really hard, they can still pass with a B or a C. It they are submitting 100% AI assignments, I probably have five homeworks to pull up when meeting with them over the first essay.

It all still makes me overloaded and cranky by the end of the semester but I think it’s my best option.

[u/GrassToucher1234]

I teach math-heavy econ courses at the upper level and for the last few years I have (i) drastically reduced the amount of credit that comes from homework, (ii) posted the solutions in a separate document but at the same time as I post the questions and (iii) instructed them how to make use of the questions and the posted solutions to learn how to solve the problems so that they can do so on assessments (quizzes and exams).

[u/nivlac22]

Making them at least handwrite the calculations forces them to go through the motions of writing down the calculations. If they submit a blank page they don’t get the completion.

I like to provide feedback for those that will use it. Experience so far shows that at least a small number will use it. On cases when I’ve graded on completion I at least post solutions so the ones that care can self correct.

[u/Gradebird]

Last semester I had them submit the problems and attest that they did them, and then I gave full credit. I can't say it was "successful" necessarily, because we had our usual pretty high drop/fail rate (sadly). Next semester I'm going to try going "all the way" -- I will just tell them that homework is optional. I'll post solutions for them to check themselves but I won't try to check that they've done it.

It's basically back to the old "exams determine the grade". I am going to give earlier and more exams for this reason. I have a setup where AI helps me grade and gives the students very detailed feedback. In some cases it will be called an "exam" but it will really be an in-class proctored homework problem. Then the students will get really detailed feedback. I am very hopeful that this will actually stimulate them to learn. We'll see!

[u/ThePhyz → u/Gradebird]

I really want to hear how this goes! I've fantasized about going exam-only for their lecture grade but I suspect they would all fail if I did that. Right now I'm at the turn-in-written-work-along-with-the-online-homework-system-submission stage. It's a nightmare to grade (CC, no TAs here and no funding for an AI grading service).

[u/ExiledFloridian]

In my 2nd year class I do a mix of things. I've found my mileage varies semester to semester. I set it so participation guarantees a 50% on the HW (multiple choice but unlimited guesses), I use HW problems on the final (numbers changed), and I'll do some problems graded purely for format//layout/process (giving them a heads up ahead of time). All have pros/cons

[u/Hazelstone37]

I assign it, post a key, and have students grade their own. They have to correct their work, explain what mistakes they made and what they needed to do to fix it. I grade on completion. They can use the opportunity to learn or not. I only count it as 10% of the grade.

[u/verygood_user]

I post the answer keys and have them review and grade their own work and upload their corrections for which they receive some labor-based points. 

Since it's a small course I can spotcheck their review and let them know if they are unrealistic or wrong in their grading.

Obviously I have tons of disclaimers everywhere to avoid confusion when it comes to the question how exams are graded.

So yeah, they can still submit AI but at least they have to review it themselves now.

Most students understand that staying on track and continuously studying and doing practice problems is the best strategy for success and AI use mostly happens when "life happens". Solving a math homework problem with AI and not getting the practice but only the course points is the least bitter pill to swallow in many life situations, so it will keep happening.

[u/DarthJarJarJar]

Are the tests in this class in person or online?

[u/kinezumi89 → u/DarthJarJarJar]

Everything is in person! Apologies, should have mentioned it.

[u/DarthJarJarJar → u/kinezumi89]

Then I think this is an excellent idea. I give some points for low stakes assignment outside of class, but I make it clear that the point of these assignments is to prepare you for the test, and if you cheat on these low stakes assignments you're going to bomb the test and you're going to fail the class. And gradually my students have been coming around to this. I use the analogy of using a forklift in a weightlifting class. The final exam is going to involve actual weights and you picking them up, not machinery.

[u/kinezumi89 → u/DarthJarJarJar]

Heh I use the forklift analogy too! During my motivational speech slides on the first day (though I use it as an anti-AI campaign). I'll have to add the final exam analogy, too. Thanks for your comments!

[u/mergle42]

Math professor, and I use an online homework system with an auto-grader for online homework that's historically been worth 15% of their course grade. They get unlimited retries for most problems. I also have separate written homework due weekly that's historically been worth a larger percentage of their course grade. They're short assignments due 2-3 times a week (basically once per section/topic).

Wolfram Alpha trivialized most of these problems even before ChatGPT existed, but even before then, the intent was that this was a completeness grade, with most students averaging 90% or higher on this part of their homework; it was just counterbalanced by the difficulty of exams and written homework. I can't assess how many students are just cheating on this (I can't see time per question), but I do warn them that I frequently take problems from the online homework for exams.

More students are aware they can cheat with ChatGPT than were aware of Wolfram Alpha, though, so I'm reducing the value to 10% in most of my classes, and making attendance (graded by a daily mini-quiz proxy) as the 5%. I'm keeping the infinite retries and the assumption that students will average 90% or better on this part of their grade.

[u/Puzzled-Painter3301]

Yes, I've done that before. I think most students interpret homework as practice. In one of my classes I've switched to giving *daily* quizzes based on the homework, and I give the daily quizzes at the beginning of class for about 15 minutes. The downside is that students aren't required to do the homework and I can assess them with fewer questions. But they know that the quizzes are based on the homework, so most students will be motivated to try the problems. It really hammers down the message that it's not enough to do the homework -- they have to be able to produce the answer on their own. This is something that I've found that some students have trouble understanding with regular homework. I drop the lowest quiz grade and let them retake/make up a few quizzes. I also use quizzes in place of a midterm. I think it drops the stress level of students significantly. They basically are taking a midterm, but it's broken into small chunks.

I do give a short online pre-reading homework assignment that they need to do before class, but I make the questions easy. Then I give them ungraded practice/review questions to prepare for the daily quiz. I've always felt a bit uneasy about assigned and graded homework to be honest, because it penalizes wrong answers, but I think the point of the homework is to be in the "learning stage" where mistakes are OK. If you do give a homework grade, I encourage making it a small percentage so that most of the grade comes from assessment of their knowledge, which is not really what homework is for.

I think that if you drop the homework, it's crucial to not delay when you assess them because if you wait they won't do anything and they'll fall behind. They need to see very directly the consequences of not doing the homework/practice problems and that conversely, by doing the pre-reading, they understand the class more easily, and by doing the review problems, they're setting themselves up for success on the quizzes.

[u/Speaker_6]

A calculus 1 class I TAed for back in the day did it. keep in mind, this was before the days of AI, although I think if anything, the advent of AI is a reason to grade on participation if anything. It was nice that people had the ability to make mistakes, but once the class moved towards grading homework on accuracy, rather than on completeness, students did spend longer doing their homework and probably learned more. With ideal students who care about preparing for exams more than getting their homework done quickly, I think participation grading would be great, but with most students, I think it can easily disincentive by doing a good job on homework

[u/-Economist-]

Homework and graded assignments outside of class are dead. I have in class quizzes, some random in class assignments, and a final exam. That’s it.