Re: a different test scoring policy?

[Steven Robinson <robinson@matra.com.au>]

> James Mclean wrote:
>
> > I recently had an nebulous idea on a test scoring strategy to discourage
> > blindly applying equations (perhaps chosen simply because the symbols
> > match), rather than thinking through the physics.  The basic idea is to
> > *subtract* points when this occurs.  That is, a really botched problem
> > could actually garner a negative score.

A strategy that I find effective that discourages "plug-and-chuggers" is to
give extraneous but plausible data - stuff that looks as if it might be
needed to solve the problem, but really has nothing to do with it.

Students who know what they are doing soon get used to ignoring it, but it
is hugely tempting to the ignorant, and they find some wonderful ways of
incorporating it into solutions. After a while, they start to realise that
maybe a better strategy would be to come to grips with the concepts, because
"plug-and-chug" no longer works. Which is, of course, exactly what I want.

I am surprised this strategy is not more widely used - I can't see any
downside to it (except when first introducing a concept, when it is clearly
not appropriate).

I also like the strategy because it is more like real life - there are lots
of things we could measure, some of which seem not relevant - we have to
make decisions (and maybe get shot down in flames for them).

Regards,

Steven Robinson
robinson@matra.com.au