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Re: Pedagogy



This is an interesting topic. Many of us give online, multiple choice questions as homework. When
I know that the assignment should generate a lot of questions, I tell my students that the
assignment will take more time than usual and that they will have questions. I tell them to take a
look at the assignment early enough to have time to come and ask questions. What I get in response
to that is students starting the assignment sometime between midnight the night before it is due
and ten minutes before it is due. The system lets students have three or four chances to do the
assignment (18 questions chosen 6 at a time, for example). Many students complete the assignment
in less than 2 minutes, then try again for another two minutes. None of this results in any
learning. I will not be using this next semester. I've never had such low homework grades as with
the class this semester. They then wonder why quiz and exam problems are "so hard." Had they
taken my advice and started early, giving themselves time to ask questions, a lot more learning
would have occurred. Then, we can say "this is easy."


Re: PedagogyCarl Mungan tangentially made an important point that cer=
tainly happens in my teaching... students asking questions about easy=
problems on the day before they are due.

What this boils down to is not about a student with a conceptual prob=
lem, but rather a student with a time problem.

One answer I would give for Carl's question about how to help student=
s is to get them to start on the assigned problems sooner. Of course=
this might be an impossible task.

I typically assign problems at least three days in advance and often =
as much as a week in advance. I rarely get questions until late afte=
rnoon before the 8:00 AM next-day due time. Problems become a lot mo=
re difficult when you are out of time to solve them. On the other ha=
nd, if you can try the problem, get stuck, but have time to let it go=
, then come back... and also have time to talk to others... and also =
have time to read the textbook...

You get the point. I wish students would get the point.


Michael D. Edmiston, Ph.D.
Professor of Physics and Chemistry
Bluffton College
Bluffton, OH 45817
(419)-358-3270
edmiston@bluffton.edu