Re: [Phys-l] teaching physics conceptually

[William Robertson <wrobert9@ix.netcom.com>]

Rick,

I fail to see how developing a rubric makes one bound to a rigid set  
of rules. It's simply outlining what you expect from a complete answer  
to a question. What should the person grading the question look for  
that demonstrates understanding of concepts? Setting that out does not  
mean that the grader is closed-minded as to how one explains their  
understanding, and of course one can always come across unexpected yet  
correct answers that the person developing the rubric did not  
anticipate.

Bill



On Feb 12, 2011, at 3:51 PM, Richard Tarara wrote:

> What I find confusing is that while we want our students to become  
> less
> mechanical and less bound by a rigid set of rules in their problem  
> solving
> and learning techniques, many educational people are striving to  
> make the
> assessment of that learning ever more mechanical and every more  
> bound by
> rigid sets of rules!
>
> Rick
>
>
> Richard W, Tarara
> Professor of Physics
> Saint Mary's College
> Notre Dame, IN 46556
>
> FREE PHYSICS SOFTWARE
> www.saintmarys.edu/~rtarara/SOFTWARE.html
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: William Robertson
> Sent: Saturday, February 12, 2011 5:16 PM
> To: Forum for Physics Educators
> Subject: Re: [Phys-l] teaching physics conceptually
>
> > From Wikipedia:
>
> A rubric is a scoring tool for subjective assessments. It is a set of
> criteria and standards linked to learning objectives that is used to
> assess a student's performance on papers, projects, essays, and other
> assignments. Rubrics allow for standardised evaluation according to
> specified criteria, making grading simpler and more transparent.
>
> You could use this to evaluate a church service, I suppose. ;o)
>
>
> Bill
>
>
>
> On Feb 12, 2011, at 3:09 PM, Jack Uretsky wrote:
>
> > And before yoou do that, you'd better decide what a "rubric" is.
> > According to my dictionary, you may choose among:
> > • a direction in a liturgical book as to how a church service
> > should be conducted.
> > • a statement of purpose or function : art of a purpose, not for its
> > own sake, was his rubric.
> > • a category : party policies on matters falling under the rubric of
> > law and order.
> >
> > If you speak as you would to a 5-year old, you will probably not be
> > misunderstood.
> > Regards,
> > Jack
> >
> > "Trust me.  I have a lot of experience at this."
> > General Custer's unremembered message to his men,
> > just before leading them into the Little Big Horn Valley
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > On Sat, 12 Feb 2011, William Robertson wrote:
> >
> > > Just a couple of suggestions. First, take the time to develop a
> > > rubric
> > > for each question. If you don't know what you're looking for in the
> > > students' answers, then how do you know you're assessing their
> > > understanding? Second, head to diagnoser.com for many examples of
> > > conceptual questions that get at students' understanding. I'm sure
> > > others here can guide you to many other sources of such questions.
> > >
> > > Bill
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > On Feb 12, 2011, at 1:55 PM, Kirsten Manning wrote:
> > >
> > > > For my graduate class at UVa, I am working on an assignment that I
> > > > will use with my high school students.  This assignment increases
> > > > the amount of questions in tests and homework sets that are both
> > > > qualitative and conceptual in nature .  I’ve always tried to
> > > > incorporate some conceptual aspects to my labs, homework, and test
> > > > questions, but I struggle with it in several areas.  Obviously,
> > > > “plug and chug” is easier to teach than the conceptual nature of
> > > > physics.  Show the students the pattern to a formula and they can
> > > > find numbers to plug into an equation with very little effort.
> > > > Some areas that I would like to work on are:
> > > > 1) I’d like to increase the conceptual nature of my class without
> > > > losing the quantitative component. What is an appropriate balance  
> > > > to
> > > > the number of conceptual type questions versus the number of
> > > > quantitative problems found on a test (or even a homework
> > > > assignment) for a high school physics class?
> > > > 2)  Remaining objective in grading questions that are qualitative.
> > > > I don’t always have time to make out rubrics for every question.
> > > > What characteristics do you look for in short essay answers?  What
> > > > about grammar and spelling issues?
> > > > 3)  Preparing students for these types of test questions.  What
> > > > techniques do you use to help them develop the skills necessary to
> > > > think conceptually?
> > > > 4)  Finding resources that show the conceptual nature of physics.
> > > > Typically, when I look for conceptual type questions, I either use
> > > > Hewitt’s book or use <physicsclassroom.com>.  What other resources
> > > > are available for this type of assessment?
> > > > Any suggestions that you could offer would be most appreciated.
> > > > Thank you.
> > > > Kirsten Manning
> > > > _______________________________________________
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> > >
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