Students Game AI Detectors and Grade Appeals
Instructors are struggling with a rising tide of student excuses, requests for leniency, and the challenges of detecting and addressing AI use. This creates a stressful environment where educators feel pressured to balance learning rigor with student evaluations and face persistent attempts to circumvent established rules. The core issue is a disconnect between expectations and student behavior.
SOURCES (60)
“I don't know why but I have been unable to do anything today. I finally got to the point where I completed 1 essay/day over the past 2 days but today I got obliterated. It could be partly because I finished a certain school's essay…”
“I personally love students asking “did you grade that yet” two minutes after turning in weeks-late assignments, or else demanding their grade be higher because they finally completed a five page warm up from the second day of school.”
“The zero is not because of behavior but their inability to show knowledge of the content. If talking during a test, if using the internet, if using a cheat sheet, the assumption is cheating. If they want to retake the test they can get one more chance, admin can administer. Otherwise they haven’t demonstrated knowledge or skill.”
“Because they have a bunch of other stuff to review, and often review it in the order it comes in atleast the ones that are the most organized. Typically in this situation I would just communicate and ask if I have an extra day, most will say yes and that artificial deadline they gave you was just so you dont put it off till later and prioritize someone elses project.”
“Everyone will say they love it. I would ignore that completely. Figure out where they stopped using it. Have you asked them?”
“They don’t retain anything. In my experience from around 2019 on school turned into “I turned in your little assignment for you now you give me a grade.” They think it’s a fair exchange and the only outcome is the grade. To “learn” is not what school is anymore. It’s a step along the way. They treat college the same too. They just want that piece of paper so they can go be rich not being a “worker” at a “9-5” while making “6 figures” (but only over $500k) before the age of 22”
“Student emailed me saying they have 4 kids and would be giving birth halfway through the term, and has asked for leniency about turning in assignments. As far as an excuse, this is the first time in 8 years this has come up. There is no accommodation for this through any accommodations office. How would you handle this? submitted by /u/Beneficial-Jump-3877 [link] [comments]”
“Research Dylan Williams and grading feedback. Dude will change your way of thinking about marking papers.”
“This has an issue of students do not see their mistakes to learn from them. Granted, most students just look at the score and move on but this doesn't mean we should create barriers to learning for the ones who do wish to deepen their understanding.”
“"I didn't ask why" is a great response. It shuts down any attempt for a student to argue.”
You can always change those zeros to 50s later in the semester.
“Hand them back the test with markups, but no grade written on the front. Put the grade in the online gradebook and they can check it if they want to.”
“finished 46/48 but didnt answer the last two. is this a bad look? submitted by /u/Friendly_Guard1159 [link] [comments]”
“Actual subject line of email I received this afternoon. 300 level mandatory attendance class (third class meeting of the term). Text of email asked me to let them know what they were missing. Sigh. submitted by /u/Miserable_Tourist_24 [link] [comments]”
“I had this exact analogy in my syllabus, under my AI policy. My director (who reviews all our syllabi before the semester) told me it "didn't land," so I ended up removing it. Glad to know I'm not the only one who thought this comparison made sense!”
“How is your planning? Also don’t let it get to you! That’s the worst thing right now you have to let it go. You make mistakes in practice so you don’t do them during the real thing. You have to believe be positive don’t sweat it!”
“Something I did was take a step back after when you are correcting it yourself and look at the feedback guide especially for MA. Look to see okay if I hit this, this and this is that sufficient to get a Y in that section and so on. You should start to understand a pattern and trust me it’s always a game of did I do enough. However once you narrow it down to pros cons I always aimed for 3 of each (try for case facts always case facts) and then your quant if needed try to get the main numbers it w”
“What in the holy hell is happening this semester? Five students registered a week late for one class. Another class had four week-late registration students. Another had effing SEVEN. I usually get a couple each semester, but jeez. I move quickly in the first week and these late students are panicking about feeling lost. submitted by /u/shehulud [link] [comments]”
“Ive used tech and a shared document students had to read article and make x number of comments and y number of responses on peers comments. Provided just enough annonymity i got some super insightful stuff from kids who would have never spoken out loud. Might be a way to break the ice”
“What kinds of emails have you received from students that immediately made you think they were immature or naive, creating a bad first impression? submitted by /u/MammothComposer7176 [link] [comments]”
“Did you listen to the advice you were given? If they do something, they get the points. Did they say, "Give 5/5 if they have capitalization and punctuation?" No? Then give the points. I don't understand why people act like there are only so many points to go around and they have to be rationed. Assign the work, receive the work, give the points, move on. At no point should you find yourself caring, that only leads to dissatisfaction and eventually bitterness, resentment and burnout”
“Before you ask, yes, it’s in the syllabus. Edit: if your policy is different, good for you, I guess. It’s kind of irrelevant here, in my opinion. submitted by /u/ladyabercrombie [link] [comments]”
“Many of us do live in such a world. It’s called having a spine and knowing how to write a professionally worded yet firm email. Unfortunately, most teachers are pretty spineless and/or martyrs who have Stockholmed themselves into actually enjoying their own suffering.”
Students have also been doing this with AR reading for at least 10 years.
“You can, but in a different way. “On my end, I haven’t seen any work come in. Did <student> happen to mention anything about their work when you discussed this with them? If the posted grades are in error, please let me know.””
“The same thing happens to me, I had a bunch of work I had to attend to and then along overdue Overseas trip and I came back to pick up the course again and yep suddenly he’s changed his whole story and it’s all paid content except for the first two weeks Weeks”
“Thanks, i’m going to try to focus on my timing over the next 2 weeks, i think time is really my worst enemy + my inability to leave an AO until it feels like a C to me which i’m basing off the feedback guides but i’m not sure if those exact requirements apply in an exam setting”
“TBH, i’m worried about MA on all the days just simply because its such a time sink & each quant takes so long. Then trying to provide a bit of qual feels like u wasted so much time”
“That’s bull. I’ve always gone by the flag rule on the diagnostic. If it was red it was auto reset, if it was yellow I would cross check the score with their last one and if it was an improvement I’d leave it unless the kid said they could do better”
“Exactly what was emailed to me today when a student reported problems with content in my asynchronous online class. Trouble-shooting through the problem revealed that the student is trying to complete entirely online courses using a phone & a notoriously problematic browser. Specifically, the program we use for interactive lectures doesn't work on cell phones (I didn't pick this program, I'm just expected to be able to use it). Prior to start of class, students receive a "te”
“like is this a thing I should be concerned about 😭 submitted by /u/Recent_Performance47 [link] [comments]”
“Frankly, this sounds like the most actionable and usable lesson a kid could be taught in a vocational sense: set the bar low when you start and people will appreciate steady, consistent growth. Starting as a Rockstar is just a constellation of punishment.”
“Whether explicitly or not, a bunch of my students this year know that admin values that thicc, juicy data. They have figured out if they intentionally bomb the beginning of the year test, they can look like they're crushing it and growing by giving half a shit on the MOY. The well is poisoned. This i-ready lawsuit can't go fast enough. submitted by /u/smugfruitplate [link] [comments]”
“This is fair. Kicking them off immediately is a bit harsh, but they should have to miss a day or two of practice to focus on their studies.”
“What do you all do when students wait until the last day an assignment is due and then say they couldn’t upload it to Canvas because of technical issues? I want to nip this in the bud this semester. Last semester, I had students sending me screenshots and videos of computers supposedly shutting down, Canvas not working, files not uploading, and all kinds of creative technical issues right before the deadline. The evening the assignment is due. All assignments are given one week to complete. I’m”
“Rant: Essays were due Friday at 11:59 pm. I check email over the weekend but never respond. Why have I received so many messages saying “I turned in my essay why hasn’t my grade changed yet?” Or I get “My essay hasn’t been graded. Can you check to make sure it was turned in?” I have almost 200 students and each one (allegedly) has turned in an essay. I’ll get to it when I get to it. (Grades will be completed by Wednesday) Rant over. Need a drink now. submitted by /u/Separate_Turnover”
It still is why it’s important to have proof, not just know.
“unfortunately i agree, it's too hard to reel them back if they think that the quizzes don't matter at all and they just get a new one tomorrow.”
“The students aren’t committing fraud, if that’s what you mean. The course is a fraud, and your district doesn’t care. They are saving money by showing that ON PAPER these students are caught up and on track. These credit recovery courses are killing education imo. I was a long term sub for one at a high school in Texas. Students spend 1-2 periods a day clicking through these multiple choice questions and get credit for years of skipped classes, unfinished homework, and learn that they will not b”
Math. Definitely. Show your work and I don’t mean graffiti.
“Hi all I made a really bad decision and cheated on a coding project in freshman year in a class, got the grade deduction to a B+ and pretty sure I got an IA. I emailed my college's administration to see if this is something they would report but assuming it is, how fucked am I for MD? I plan on applying next cycle as I've graduated this past spring, so it'll be about 4 years between the incident and applying. I've maintained a clean record with a 3.6 freshman year brought up to a”
“Gonna vent for a bit because I've been studying this whole week and I'm exhausted Last thing I have to do is data analytics but I am completely lost because the homework has excel steps that were not explained clearly in the readings. I got no idea how to properly filter/clear data for example, the instruction just says I need to do it but doesn't explain how to do so. And when I try to experiment options the dataset is so large Excel keeps crashing on me. And the textbook itself gla”
“She explicitly told me she didn't mention it anywhere on her end but i don't know if she's like implying that I shouldn't mention it or what submitted by /u/Recent_Performance47 [link] [comments]”
“I used to have a lot of trouble with this too. I finally just told them if I notice it and it isn't mine and it stays there for more than 48 hours it becomes trash. That's on you. Obviously you aren't using it to study the way it's intended, so you won't miss it if I throw it out.”
“Give the disruptors a zero, since you said you would. Communicate with their family members so they understand what’s going on. Give the non-throwers bonus points.”
“My lead teacher put it to me this way just yesterday: if you're giving out a worksheet (or whatever) you can't expect them to master it just after you taught it so why would you grade it. Made sense to me at the time.”
“That concept actually sounds way more engaging than just reading another philosophy book. I always zone out halfway through a chapter but arguing with a simulation of Nietzsche would probably keep me focused. The comeback question is the real test though. Ive downloaded plenty of apps that were cool once and then just sat there. If the debates feel different enough each time or the feedback actually reveals blind spots in my thinking I could see myself returning. Curious if the philosophers adap”
“If you said it, you need to do it, or they will assume from now on they can do what they like and will always get another chance.”
“Throwers get zeroes. Why give a second chance? It wasn't a mistake like "oh i didn't know i couldn't do that"”
“Maybe she doesn’t feel comfortable being put on the spot in front of peers when she isn’t confident.”
“Mechanical engineering junior. I write my reports myself, and I still get points chewed off for gaps I didn't notice: unstated assumptions, a methods section that skips a step, a conclusion that overreaches what the data actually shows. So I built a prompt that plays the harshest TA in the department and tears into my own draft before I hand it in. You are a skeptical, detail-obsessed lab TA grading my report. Do not rewrite it. Interrogate it. Here is my report: {{paste your draft}} Here is”