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Re: Bimodal Grade Distributions



Brian Wegley writes:
It has been relayed to me often that University professors see a bimodal
distribution in the grades they assign to students.

Frank Lanzafame writes:

My distinct impression is that a large part of the lower group consists of
students who do not put forth the effort required to be successful.
Determination and a strong work ethic contribute significantly to success.


I always described the phenomenon as being the result of the coach "being
able to make a winning team out of all all-American level players."

If you pre-test the same group of students, you'll get the bimodal
distribution BEFORE you ever teach a single concept. At the University,
this often DOES translate into where they went to school, since it implies
that they learned the material BEFORE they entered our winning team of
physics coaches. Those who are already prepared do far better than those
who haven't a clue.

To my students who say they "understand the material" but wonder why
physics is so much more difficult than other university courses, I remind
that you spend 12 years in pre-college taking "English, history, math, etc"
before taking that very same course at the university level. Now, why
would they expect to have the same mastery of a course they spent, at best,
1-2 years studying? And WRT the winners made from winners--they're the
ones who took the 1-2 years as opposed to the other part of the bimodal
distribution attributable to those who took ZERO courses--or the equivalent
of zero in terms of quality of the instruction.

Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe the numbers still show that (with
composite certification still allowed) over 1/3 of all teachers who teach
physics in high schools in the USA have NEVER taken a physics course in
their lives!!! Science, with 3 times as much new vocabulary as a foreign
language, should be harder than teaching a foreign language without ever
taking it!!!

But I'll bet you that you can teach (say French) to French exchange
students in a USA university French course--and that they'll outperform the
students who never took French in school---and probably, the kids who took
French in high school (especially those who took it from a "strong language
dept" will outperform the ones who never took such a course!

My 2 cents worth...Karl

____________________________________________________________________________
Dr. Karl I. Trappe Desk:(512)471-4152
Physics Dept-Mail Stop C1600 Office: (512) 471-5411
The University of Texas at Austin FAX: (512) 471-9637 (other building)
Austin, Texas 78712-1081 E-Mail:trappe@physics.utexas.edu
____________________________________________________________________________