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[Phys-L] Re: Ambiguous Question



"That's one of the reasons I do so much on-the-board
lecturing and very little "PowerPoint-like" presentations. I'm thinking
on my feet and letting the students participate in that. I (and my
students) make mi ..."

Is anyone on this list willing to admit using power point except w/
colleagues?

bc, has PP in computer ONLY to read such docs. from the web.

p.s. I attended a private boarding HS w/ a similar honor system, and
similarly "run" (return periodically for questions). It still does, as
I learned at the recent 50 year reunion. I never heard of (or saw) a
violation. Curiously I never remember signing anything. It was very
cultural; it involved much more than just exams. I did hear of an
expulsion for being off campus w/o permission after dark.


Michael Edmiston wrote:

John D. commented on my statement that the prof modeled bad behavior.
Yeah, I don't like that wording either, and I agree we can't be 100%
infallible. I like John's wording about sending out ill-posed problems.
It's not exactly bad behavior to send out ill-posed problems, but we
should try to avoid it. A prof might cross into bad behavior if he
creates ill-posed problems with reckless abandon; and worse, refuses to
admit it or deal with it.

John is also right on target about admitting mistakes. Not only does
that exhibit proper behavior and allows students to respect your
character, it really creates some of the most effective learning
situations. That's one of the reasons I do so much on-the-board
lecturing and very little "PowerPoint-like" presentations. I'm thinking
on my feet and letting the students participate in that. I (and my
students) make mistakes in class all the time. I occasionally make a
common mistake on purpose to see if students catch it. If they do, it's
great. I they don't, I go a bit further before stopping and saying
"something's wrong... how do I know that... where's the mistake." But
believe me, I don't do it intentionally as often as I do it
accidentally. It's also a teachable moment when I realize something is
wrong, say so, and ask the students if they see why I see that something
is wrong.

Bernard wondered if the professor left the room during the test, leaving
a TA-type behind. Yep. In fact the professor never showed up in the
first place. The exam was completely administered by the TA. I don't
have TAs because we don't have graduate science programs at my
university.

However, consider this. I don't stay in the room during the test.
Indeed, I am not allowed to stay in the room. We operate on the honor
system. The students sign a pledge on each exam (and lab report)... "I
am unaware of any aid having been given or received on this exam."
Unsigned pledges are investigated. Does the system work? Not
perfectly, but pretty well.

I don't even stick around for the full exam. Exams are in the evening
and I allow students to work up to three hours. After handing out the
exam I tell the students to read over all the questions before beginning
to work any particular problem. I tell them I will be back in 10
minutes, then leave. In 10 or 15 minutes I go back and ask if there are
any questions. If so, I first deal with them in private. If that
discloses an error or ambiguity in the exam, I announce it to the whole
class. Then I tell the students I am leaving and I will return in
one-hour, or 90 minutes, or whatever. When I return, I again ask if
there are questions.

The biggest problem is when an error or "ill-posed problem" is
determined at the later visit, and some students have already left.
They don't get the benefit of any announcement about the error or
ambiguity. But my exams are not multiple choice, and I always tell
students to feel free to write down comments about anything that is not
clear or seems wrong. "Show me what you're thinking. Maybe I can give
you some partial credit for that."

In spite of my visits and encouraging students to "think out loud (i.e.
in writing)" I basically am not there, and I have to read and reread the
exam to eliminate as many errors and ill-posed questions as I can. I
tell my students, especially the "teacher wanabes," that the only thing
more time consuming than grading exams is writing exams.

I don't have to throw out questions very often, but even after 28 years
of doing this... it occasionally happens. One of my favorite cases of
students misunderstanding what I intended happened I think three times
in the first few years of teaching, when I was writing exams on a
typewriter using ditto masters. I miss-numbered the questions and ended
up with two problems with the same number. Every time that happened, at
least one student only solved one of the duplicate-numbered problems and
commented (after they were graded) that he thought the reason there were
two problem with the same number was because he was supposed to answer
his choice of the two.

The thing that upset me was no one said anything after 10 minutes or
after 90 minutes. Most students realized I miss-numbered the questions
and solved them both. But in a class of 20-30 students, no one said
anything about there being two problems with the same number when I
checked in at 10 minutes, nor during the next check. The typical
student didn't bother because they just made the correct assumption and
didn't worry about it. I suspect the odd student seized the opportunity
to solve one less problem, particularly if he didn't know how to do one
of them.

What did I do? I reluctantly graded only the problem that was answered,
and calculated that student's percentage based upon the problems he did.
But after the first time this happened I started proofreading more
carefully and especially tried to make sure I checked the numbering.
The second and third time it happened I was just too tired and too
rushed when I wrote the exams. I was lucky the numbering was the only
ambiguity on those two exams. Today the problems are automatically
numbered by the outline feature of my wordprocessing software.


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

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