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Re: [Phys-l] Time Outside of Class [was Mary Burgan's Defense of Lecturing]



Class meets MWF for 50 minutes, 50 minute recitation on Tuesday, 140
minute lab on Thursday.
Before each MWF class, students are supposed to read one chapter from
the book and do an on-line quiz as many times as needed to get 100%.
(After five on-line quiz grades below 100%, the course multiplicative
grade is reduced by 1% for each on-line quiz grade under 100%.) The book
is fully customizable--it is written in MS Word and each chapter
contains exactly that material that I would cover in a lecture if I were
to give a lecture. I modify it after each semester based on feedback
from students, Phys-l discussions, etc. I use Blackboard for the
quizzes. The quizzes are available for download in Blackboard format at
<http://www.anselm.edu/internet/physics/cbphysics/>
under 1st semester downloads and 2nd semester downloads. They are
available for perusal at the same site in pdf format and they are
gradually becoming available in Moodle format at
<http://www.cbphysics.com/moodle/>
where the key for both courses is cbphysics
Almost every quiz question includes feedback. A person who gets one
wrong is quickly able to get information on why she or he got it wrong.
I start almost every MWF class with an in-class quiz. The quiz is
typically 3 questions. By design, anyone who has done the reading and
the on-line quizzes should be able to answer two of them correctly. With
10% for showing up, this gets the student to 70% for the quiz. The
other question is supposed to be more of a test of conceptual
understanding. Every once in a while we have a pop no-quiz. In class,
after going over the quiz, we jump right into Eric Mazur's peer
instruction mode but with no mini-lecture. I use a computer-driven
audience response system. The questions are available in pdf and Power
Point format at the first site listed above. Sometimes the first
question is, "Did you do the reading?--Yes, No, Sort of." The
(anonymous) responses indicate that students are doing the reading
(although I have only gotten a 100% "yes" on that one once). After
class, students are supposed to do 3 assigned problems, check their
solutions against mine (provided as "movies" and in other cases scanned
paper copy--see first site above), correct their solutions in a
different color ink, rate their work from 0-5 or nc, with zero meaning
"I copied yours," 5 meaning "Mine was perfect before I looked at yours"
and nc meaning "not checked". They submit them and if the solution is
not right despite having access to the solution, they get a 0 for that
problem, otherwise they get a 1. After zeros on 18 problems in one
semester, each additional zero from me reduces the multiplicative grade
for the course by (1/3)%. The student's own rating of her or his own
work does not directly affect the course grade but I talk to students
who assign themselves 0s too often. Except for the occasional pop
no-quiz, each recitation session starts with a quiz consisting of a
recent homework problem. The labs are mostly glorified homework
problems--students use what they have learned to explain what will
happen and why, then do the experiment to see what does happen, and, if
necessary, revise their explanations. During the first semester, I
start each lab session (except for the occasional pop no-quiz) with a
quiz designed so that a student who read the lab handout does well, and
one who hasn't does poorly. After the quiz students work on new
problems in groups. Students get in the habit of reading the handout
prior to the laboratory session.
I give 4 exams each semester. The first one comes early and for grading
purposes counts as half an exam. A typical exam consists of 8
conceptual questions for 50% and two problems for 50%. I try to make
them brand new questions and problems that the students have never seen
before. Students find out pretty early whether or not what they are
doing outside of class is enough for success. I talk to students
one-on-one when they seem to be slipping. (I talk to them one-on-one
when they are doing well too.)

I teach at an institution that has worked hard to avoid grade
inflation--never had it, and the plan is, never will. The policy is,
the student gets the grade that the student deserves.

Jeff Schnick
Saint Anselm College

-----Original Message-----
From: phys-l-bounces@carnot.physics.buffalo.edu
[mailto:phys-l-bounces@carnot.physics.buffalo.edu] On Behalf
Of Rick Tarara
Sent: Tuesday, February 20, 2007 2:41 PM
To: Forum for Physics Educators
Subject: Re: [Phys-l] Time Outside of Class [was Mary
Burgan's Defense ofLecturing]

Next question...what did you do?

My experience is that students WILL DO things if the
assignments are specific AND if they are graded (or otherwise
count in a tangible way towards their grade). Graded
homework is a simple means as long as you don't have huge
classes. Getting them to read the material is tougher--you
need to be more creative on how to assess their reading.
Getting them to think about the material, that's the really
tough one. Please let us in on your solutions.

Rick

***************************
Richard W. Tarara
Professor of Physics
Saint Mary's College
Notre Dame, IN