University of Ottawa & Publisher Tie-ins

This last year I challenged what I deemed to be unethical behaviour by the University of Ottawa. I didn’t write about it until now for my own protection.

On a most superficial level, the issue was that tuition did not cover the cost of grading assignments. Students were instead required to pay a third party, chosen at the discretion of the professor, an exorbitant fee. If you didn’t pay this third party, you got a mark of zero.

That in itself was objectionable. Tuition should at the very least cover the cost of grading school work. Now there was a way to wave this fee, which was to spend over $200 on a new textbook. A used one wouldn’t do. Because you see, the third-party was the book publisher, and this was all part of a tactic to kill the used book market. You could either buy a used book for $140, and then spend $60 to have your assignments marked – or you could just buy a new textbook.

Of course it doesn’t cost $60 per student per semester to run a web-based automated marking system. The actual fee would be less than a single dollar. Some professors at the University of Ottawa had taken a stand against this kind of unethical relationship. They still employed automated grading systems, but their use was covered by tuition. Furthermore, those grading systems were not run by the book publishers.

So without further ado, here is the communication between myself and the University of Ottawa. Names have been removed. Below is the initial email I sent.

Hello Mr. [Dean of Science Faculty],
You appear to be the most appropriate contact for this, but please let me know if I should consult someone else.

As it stands now, tuition in my physics class does not cover the cost of grading assignments. That’s an extra fee that’s collected outside the University. This fee is collected by a company that runs the automated marking site to which these assignments are submitted (MasteringPhysics.) If I do not pay this fee, I get a mark of zero on all assignments, even if I paid tuition/incidental fees owed to Ottawa U.

It seems to me that the grading of assignments should be covered by tuition. I don’t mind paying more for tuition if it means my assignments will be graded. Is it possible that it could be made policy that tuition also cover the grading of assignments/midterms/exams?

Thank you,

Julien

That elicited the following reply.

Dear Mr. McArdle:

Thank you for your letter and for bringing this issue to my attention.  I will look into this matter and get back to you ASAP.

Regards,

Followed by another reply.

Dear Mr. McArdle,

I was forwarded your e-mail regarding your concerns over the purchase of MasteringPhysics. Actually, a professor cannot require you to purchase a software license or an access fee to a website. We can require you to purchase things such as lab coats and safety glasses to do labs and, for all intents and purposes, the nature of our exams require you to purchase a calculator so as to be able to complete them within a given time. We cannot penalize a student with a mark of zero for not buying a license or paying a website access fee. Your points are therefore extremely well taken. I agree with you.

However, a professor is within his rights to incorporate such a piece of software or a website within a course if it is academically warranted. MasteringPhysics does indeed grade your assignments, but it also offers tutorials on physics topics, interactive simulations that try to relate physics to everyday phenomena, virtual experiments, and math reviews. We use MasteringChemistry in our general chemistry course (on the English side…the French equivalent does not exist) and it really does help the students who use it more than just as a tool for submitting and grading assignments. The same applies to interactive in-class response systems (“clickers”).

So we have informed Professor [Redacted] that he cannot impose the purchase of MasteringPhysics. However, he can offer it as a choice. Therefore, the marking scheme will be adjusted so that the students have a choice:

1) They use MasteringPhysics as within the existing formula to generate a final mark

2) They do not use MasteringPhysics and the weight of the assignments is displaced to the final exam

Regardless of the choice made by a student, a final mark of 100% for the course is possible and the weighting scheme used to generate the final mark is a result of a choice made by a student.

This is actually a difficult issue that many universities are facing and with which they are now struggling, and I really do thank you for bringing this point to our attention. Academically speaking, I strongly urge you to use MasterPhysics as I would any chemistry student to use MasteringChemistry. Your name has been kept confidential, so you really are free to now make the choice that you feel is best for you.

Take care,

Professor/Professeur [Redacted]
Vice-Dean (Undergraduate Studies), Faculty of Science / Vice-doyen (Études de premier cycle), Faculté des sciences
Professor, Department of Chemistry / Professeur, Département de chimie
University of Ottawa / Université d’Ottawa

My response.

Dear Mr. [Vice-Dean],

I appreciate your in-depth response and having looked into this matter.

I agree with your assertion that a professor is entirely within their rights to call upon external resources not covered by tuition that may assist the student in learning. I view online resources to be akin to the role of textbooks in that regard.

My objection, which I believe you correctly characterized, was with students receiving a grade of zero on their assignments had they not paid this third party a fee. I was uncomfortable with the implication that tuition didn’t cover the cost of grading work, though perhaps that’s just a new reality. I greatly welcome, and am entirely satisfied with, having the option between the two weighing schemes.

Thank you for the confidentiality that was afforded to me,

Julien McArdle

As you can see, it wasn’t a full victory. If you didn’t pay the book publisher, you weren’t allowed to hand in assignments. But at least you weren’t given a mark of zero.

I’m disappointed that the University of Ottawa chooses to cooperate with book publishers to coerce students to undermine their own financial interests. It’s not just being able to buy used textbooks – it means that options like taking textbooks out from the libraries are no longer possible. It all punishes those who can afford it least. Of course there are benefits to automated grading systems, and I wholeheartedly support their use. What I object to is the abuse of that role to undermine students in something that ought to be entirely unrelated.

The appropriate response moving forward, in my mind, is to enact a policy in which book publishers and the company that runs the grading system cannot be one and the same. If you want an automated system, you’ll have to get it from someone that doesn’t have it in their financial interest to exploit that relationship.