Re: what's a grade, anyway?

["Daniel L. MacIsaac" <Dan.MacIsaac@NAU.EDU>]

> I think there is a big difference between grading and teaching, and having
> the teacher do the grading tends to drive a wedge between teacher and
> student.  There is an alternative:  At some well-known places they don't
> give significant class grades, and rely instead on exams that are set by
> third parties.  That tends to push the students and teachers together;
> "let's work together to show those examiners a thing or two".
You can still do some of this in most any class.  Place your old finals
in the library. Use them to help students to prepare and study for finals
with similar questions for the most part, with one or two large departures.
Post your solutions and the grading rubric.  It can still be you helping
the students to master the material required to do well on a well-defined
test.  Students are greatly reassured by exams on file, and you CAN still
examine them and be on their team.  Even when you make hard exams.

Dan M

Dan MacIsaac, Assistant Professor of Physics and Astronomy, Northern AZ Univ
danmac@nau.edu          http://purcell.phy.nau.edu         PHYS-L list owner