Students and parents learn to game Edgenuity algorithmic grading system
After discovering that the online platform for virtual learning Edgenuity uses an algorithm to grade tests comprising short-answer question, students and their parents have learned to game the system by writing extra sentences and adding a list of keywords that the algorithm is likely to be scanning for. Edgenuity offers more than 300 online classes for secondary school students that include instruction videos, virtual assignments - and tests and exams. Others have discovered that simply copying the question into the answer box gives a perfect score; still others have learned to use search to find the relevant keywords. Short-answer questions are only a small portion of the work students are assigned. Six months into the pandemic, more than 20,000 US schools were using the platform, including 20 of the nation’s 25 largest school districts.
Writer: Monica Chin
Publication: The Verge