Yup, I've seen the error in calculation excuse recently as well in
college. And its only cropped up recently. I usually write a comment
along the lines of "why didn't you correct this" then go crazy.
________________________
Joel Rauber
Department of Physics - SDSU
Joel.Rauber@sdstate.edu
605-688-4293
| -----Original Message-----
| From: Forum for Physics Educators
| [mailto:PHYS-L@list1.ucc.nau.edu] On Behalf Of Wes Davis
| Sent: Friday, April 29, 2005 12:07 PM
| To: PHYS-L@LISTS.NAU.EDU
| Subject: Re: Human Error?
|
| In defense of the high school curriculum and practice, I
| don't allow "human error" to be used, either. I tell my
| students that the phrase just means they're too lazy to
| analyze the real sources of error.
|
| In addition to the above, I get "errors in calculations",
| which drives me crazy.
|
|
| Wes
|
|
|
|
| -----Original Message-----
| From: "Edmiston, Mike" <edmiston@BLUFFTON.EDU>
| Sent: Apr 29, 2005 9:13 AM
| To: PHYS-L@LISTS.NAU.EDU
| Subject: Human Error?
|
| I'm grading lab reports, and it is time to vent some frustration.
|
| How do you feel about students listing "human error" as one
| of the possibilities for why their lab results are not as
| good as hoped for?
|
| One thing that especially frustrates me is that I tell them
| early in the term that I won't accept it. By the time the
| third lab report is handed back, I tell them that if they
| mention "human error" in future lab reports I will dock a
| significant number of points. Here I am, grading the tenth
| lab report of the term, and I am still getting poor results
| labeled as human error from about 20% of the class.
|
| How did this become so ingrained in their lab-report writing?
| Has it become standard in high-school reports to list human
| error as one source of error? It sure appears I am trying to
| get students to "unlearn"
| something, and I am not winning.
|
| FYI, the rationale I give for never listing human error is
| that by the time you publish your results (i.e. hand in the
| report) you should have eliminated any human error. If you
| feel the "straight-line graph"
| should be straighter, or the points should have less scatter,
| and you truly suspect you might have goofed... then go do it
| again. Keep doing it again and refining your technique until
| you are convinced human error is no longer a likely candidate
| for the problems you see. If you still feel compelled to
| list human error, that is, if you still believe human error
| is a likely cause of your poor results, you are not ready to publish.
|
| I actually have had students tell me their results might be
| poor because they punched the wrong buttons on their
| calculators... and they ask, "Wouldn't that be human error?"
| Well... yes... I guess so. But would you publish (do you
| want to turn your lab report in) without checking for that?
|
| I should also point out that I work in an environment in
| which sending a student back to the lab is a possibility, and
| it has become routine. I realize some teaching environments
| do not allow this.
|
| Anyway... my question to this group is... How did reporting
| "human error" as a source of error become so prevalent? Do
| any of you want to defend it as a reasonable thing to write
| on a lab report (or in a publication)?
|
| Michael D. Edmiston, Ph.D.
| Professor of Chemistry and Physics
| Bluffton University
| Bluffton, OH 45817
| (419)-358-3270
| edmiston@bluffton.edu
|
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