I will offer my $2E-02 worth even though my situation is not
common (i.e., I teach a college course at a regional school for high
school students). On the issue of grades I will confess that the
average grade was a B+ for 63 students last semester. Then again my
school is a selective school.
My policy has been to offer extra credit only in the lab portion
of the course (which counts for more than yours, ~45%). The rationale
here is that in a laboratory situation, if student has a bad experiment
for whatever reason, then the desired outcome is that the student do
more work not just write off that lab. I will agree, BTW, with the
observation that female students are much more likely to avail
themselves of the opportunity to make sure that their lab grade is as
high as possible. There is no extra credit for quizzes, projects or
tests in my course.
Which bothers me.
My favorite class in college (Analytical Chemistry) operated on
a "contract for grade" basis. There was a list of activities (including
labs, tests, quizzes and homework) and a set number of points for each
final grade. You worked until you got your desired grade. I never was
interested in becoming an analytical chemist, but I remember that course
and instructor with fondness. I certainly feel that I mastered the
material of that class. (Caveat: the class was small, ~20 students and
for majors)
So I will ask the question that has always bothered me: Once a
physicist/chemist/engineer/scientist leaves school, when will he/she/it
ever take another test? Because the issue of extra credit and testing
assumes that testing is a better method of evaluating student mastery of
the material. Tests revolve around solving known problems with limited
resources in a fixed time. Most professionals that I am aware of, do
not approach problem-solving with those skills. Indeed, the first step
to successful professional problem-solving (What has been done on this
problem by others?) is called cheating in a test context.
If a person was actually good at test-taking, how does that
translate into useful professional skills? I certainly believe that the
mastery of the material must be demonstrated by the student, but is a
two-hour exam the best way to do it? Put it another way, does doing
well on the Physics AP or Physics SAT II correlate with success in a
scientific or engineering career? Should colleges (particularly the
sciences) move to some other method of evaluation? Because I figure
that I am emphasizing testing because my students will encounter it at
college.
Note that I do not have answers to these questions and I do use
timed tests in my class.
THO
Thomas O'Neill
o'neill@csvrgs.k12.va.us
Physics
oneill@csvrgs.k12.va.us
C Shenandoah Valley R Governor's School