Re: Exam do's and don'ts (formerly RE: Projectile Motion)

[Tim O'Donnell <odonnt@CELINA.K12.OH.US>]

> My first year teaching was in a private school where the
> only grades we gave was PASS or FAIL. Amazingly, most
> students did very well when we took the grade pressure off
> of them. A few didn't and we asked them to not come back at
> various times during the year. (I, unfortunately, wasn't
> smart enough at the time to realize what a great idea we had
> and left for a more traditional school.)

I often have thought that pass/fail is the way to go. I do
think students would then focus better on learning.  I
have often thought about a check list. A student does
receive credit until all topic are checked. A lot of students
(some who want to be engineers) avoid my class because
it might hurt their GPA. It seems that the GPA is
increasing in importance. How important is a GPA? I
don't think things will change much and I will continue
to try to convince student the importance of the class is
not the grade, but the knowledge - wish me luck.


Tim O'Donnell
Instructor of Physics and Chemistry
Celina High School
715 East Wayne Street
Celina, Ohio 45822
(419) 586-8300 Ext 1200 or 1201
odonnt@celina.k12.oh.us

"Chance only favors the prepared mind." - Louis Pasteur