The SimChecker allows you to run a report across all submissions to a zyLab to detect students with similar submissions and to quickly see those similarities and differences.
To get started, scroll to the bottom of a zyLab and expand the card labeled "Lab statistics and submissions".
Once the card is expanded the following options will be available.
"Add known solution to consider in similarity check" allows the person running the check to provide a known solution. When the box is checked, a new input field will appear to name the solution and a code field will appear to enter the solution.
"Anonymize names" converts student names to id numbers. Anonymizing submissions can be helpful for showing the tool to students and letting them know how the tool works without revealing the identity of any students.
"Run similarity checker" begins the check and navigates to a new page where results are displayed.
(The names above were auto-generated and do not represent real students).
Scores range from 0-10. The higher the score, the more similar the two submissions are. Scores are sorted from highest to lowest.
Scrolling down shows a pair's similarities highlighted. Note that by default, the first pair is shown. Different pairs can also be selected to compare the similarity of those submissions.
The similarity checker strives to consider code that is similar but uses different variable names. At this time, these similarities aren't highlighted but are still counted towards the overall score.
The options to anonymize names can also be toggled from this view in the upper corner.
Much effort was spent on making the tool fast even for very large numbers of students. Contact support@zybooks.com for comments/suggestions regarding speed, highlighting, or other features.