Re: [Phys-l] Reading Questions / Memos

[Steve Highland <shighlan@uslink.net>]

I've usually assigned about one reading memo per chapter in my classes.  I
went with Edwin Taylor's promise of increasing his students' letter grades
by one full letter if they turned in all of their reading memos on time.
That was strong motivation for them to do them.

Sometimes I collected them via email but most of the time the students just
produced a sheet of paper with questions and comments.  You are right about
being inundated with a lot a material, but I find reading memos much more
interesting to read than homework assignments.

I usually picked some of the most intriguing questions and shared them with
the class.  It got some good discussions going.  I also wrote my own answers
to selected questions and shared those essays with the class.  Then we did
"reading memos on reading memos"!

Steve Highland



> " I'm glad you've found out what "reading memos' can do -- they're
> great!"
>
> I teach h.s. physics.  I am curious about how folks use reading
> questions or reading memos.  I've read that some college courses use
> them.  I can't imagine that anyone has the time to review 1-4 reading
> questions from each student in their course(s).
> - do students email their questions, put them on note-cards, other?
> - do you simply draw a few at random to see what the recurring themes
> are?
> - how do you give points to students for completing the questions?
>
> Thanks for any insight into your methods.
>
> Paul Lulai . . . To wonder is to begin to understand
> Physics Instructor
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>
> Steve Highland
>
>
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