Chronology Current Month Current Thread Current Date
[Year List] [Month List (current year)] [Date Index] [Thread Index] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Date Prev] [Date Next]

Re: [Phys-l] not our majors now!


----- Original Message ----- From: "Rick Tarara" <rtarara@saintmarys.edu>
To: "Forum for Physics Educators" <phys-l@carnot.physics.buffalo.edu>
Sent: Friday, October 06, 2006 8:15 AM
Subject: Re: [Phys-l] not our majors now!


----- Original Message ----- From: "R. McDermott" <rmcder@gmail.com>

Is there some rule that requires assigning and grading homework? Seems to
me that the tests would indicate how well a student has learned. As to
having the test solutions, I can see where this would be an issue with
multiple choice, but problems can be modified, and it is unlikely that a
student can memorize all possible permutations of problems (keeping in
mind that most students see problems as all being different whereas
we know they fall into only a couple of general categories).


There are several points to be considered here. Number one, IMO, is your
educational philosophy, your educational goals. Is your mission to help and
guide students to a better knowledge of physics, or is it as a 'gate-keeper'
to see that only the self-motivated and sufficiently 'intelligent' make it
to the next level? The point of assigning and grading homework is normally
to HELP students towards that better knowledge of physics recognizing (and
this really hasn't changed all that much over the decades) that most
students need assignments, need deadlines, need feedback to motivate their
work.

Certainly true, but to what extent is this being accomplished if the kids are copying the stuff just to get a grade? And why grade it at all? My two cents: I assign homework, problem sets, etc. I go over them, I have the students present and explain their solutions, etc. Obviously you have to do what is pedagogically sound here. Just grading it certainly doesn't ensure that the students know what they're doing, and in some cases, the bogus homework grades boost their overall test grades. You see this happening a lot at the high school level in some courses. The kid has an 80+ average because s/he particpates, hands in homework, etc, but the kid can't get more than a 75 on any test!

Also, suppose, as many of my colleagues do, I assign an (estimated) half-hour of homework a night. Five or six courses, that's 2.5-3 hours a night. A reasonable expectation to have? And some kids can do it in the half-hour, and others it takes an hour (or they can't do it at all). Some kids "got it" after the first problem (or in class) and then wasted 25 minutes to some extent. Other kids did what you asked and that wasn't enough to "get it", but because that's all you gave, they figure that's enough. Should I take a kid who has a 90+ average on tests and drop his grade because he didn't do his homework?

I don't pretend to know the answers, and I can get away with a lot more as a physics teacher than a colleague teaching 9th grade math. I've had good success with the following sequence: I tell my students and their parents that I expect them to study OR do homework (when assigned) EVERY night. I look, occasionally, to see who has attempted the homework. Because I don't grade it, I can easily see who is trying hard and who isn't (the real goof-offs aren't going to bother even to copy it). I inform the students that if they do poorly on tests, AND aren't doing homework, I'll be in touch with their parents - and I follow through on that. I tell them that for some of them, a couple problems is enough, and for others, what I specifically assign may not be enough - more is available if you need it. We go over, in some fashion, most if not all of the assigned work.

On a separate (but related) issue, I don't subscribe to the current theory that kids should know their averages at all times. This discussion has indicated that, even at the college level, there is some grade inflation going on. When kids know their average is 80, and they're content with that, they aren't going to increase their effort level. But WE know that "80" isn't really an accurate indication of what THEY know (see homework grades, effort grades, etc). I want every kid to be challenged, but challenging the top kid means that the bottom kid gets hammered. The default position seems to be to gear everything to the middle. My tests have stuff only a couple kids can get, lots of stuff competent students can get, and a couple things anyone who has a working brain can get. The kid gets a test back with a number on top (points accumulated); for example 63 points. Test has a possible 87 points. Kid assumes the "grade" is 72, but I know that a kid who knows his or her stuff (is competent) is likely to only get 75 points on that test; a top kid only 82 points. The actual grade in my book, then, might be 80. Kid wants to know what the "grade" is. I tell her that it really doesn't matter at this point because it's too late to do anything about THIS test. What's important is the 19 points you DIDN'T get. That's where the focus should be, not on what the score "means". Over the years (many), I've found this approach has a number of beneficial results: The first is that kids tend to try harder because they have some insecurity about what they are going to get as a grade. The second is that I can challenge all levels without disadvantaging the weakest kids. The third is that no one ever argues with their report card grade because it's higher than they thought it would be (and they're maybe afraid that if I look closer it will go down).

I've been fortunate over the years to have administrators who either understood my explanations for how and why I do things the way I do (or pretended they did), or saw that the results were good and left me alone. Part of my job is to bridge the gap between high school demands and college demands (since I have 11th and 12th grade students). They're going out on their own. People aren't going to be looking over their shoulders making them work (although, Rick, your post makes me wonder if that's still true for colleges). THEY have ultimate responsibility for their learning, and we, their instructors, have responsibility to facilitate that learning. Maybe I'm just a dinosaur and it's time for me to retire...