Re: DIAGNOSTIC/REMEDIAL TESTS IN INTRODUCTORY PHYSICS

[bill rachinger <bill.rachinger@SCI.MONASH.EDU.AU>]

Jack
Virtually nothing was done to validate the tests which were produced as a
"sideline" to my normal University activities.  They were trialled at a local
high school and handed back to me with teacher and student comments, but this
exercise was primarily to locate bugs, errors, unclear statements,etc.
Appropriate changes were made, but the tests were not re-trialled and, in
fact, gathered dust for a considerable time prior to being unleashed on the
Web.
Bill
Jack Uretsky wrote:

> What was done to validate these tests?
>
> On Wed, 20 Feb 2002, bill rachinger wrote:
>
> >  DIAGNOSTIC/REMEDIAL TESTS IN INTRODUCTORY PHYSICS
> >
> > 11 tests are available on the Website of the School of Physics and
> > Materials Engineering, Monash University, Australia
> >  http://www.spme.monash.edu.au/community/tests.html
> > These Tests are, in part, directed towards unearthing and attempting
> > to correct some of the many preconceptions/misconceptions which
> > students bring to their initial studies of Physics.
> > The tests are:
> > 1 The Nature of Light
> > 2 Images and Plane Mirrors
> > 3 Images and Curved Mirrors
> > 4 Images and Lenses
> > 5 Movement—Basic Ideas
> > 6 Velocity and Acceleration
> > 7 Vectors
> > 8 Kinematics and Forces
> > 9 Newton’s Laws
> > 10 The Nature of Heat
> > 11 The Transfer of Heat
> > The tests are in Word 97 format (about 3.9MB in all) ready for
> > downloading and subsequent printing (preferably double-sided) and
> > distribution to students.  From this point onwards the tests can be
> > self-administered by the students.  The tests are "take home" and can
> > be done at the student’s convenience as he or she comes to the
> > appropriate section in class
> > The students  work through the questions on the left hand
> > (even-numbered) pages, keeping the right hand (odd-numbered) pages
> > covered and at various stages check their responses against the
> > answers on the right hand pages which, in addition to giving the
> > correct answer, has a commentary on wrong answers, hopefully
> > initiating remediation of an unearthed misconception. In addition to
> > the “questions and answers” there are a few instructional sidelights
> > and “interludes”.
> > Alternatively students may choose to download from this Website, in
> > which case they might, in the interests of economy and the forests,
> > choose to print only the even-numbered (question) pages and do their
> > answer checking “on screen”.
> > Teachers are, of course, able to edit the tests in any way they think
> > fit excising any material perceived as extraneous or “over-kill.
> >
> >
> > Bill Rachinger,
> > School of Physics and Materials Engineering,
> > Monash University, P.O.27, Vic 3800 Australia
>
> --
> "But as much as I love and respect you, I will beat you and I will kill
> you, because that is what I must do.  Tonight it is only you and me, fish.
> It is your strength against my intelligence.  It is a veritable potpourri
> of metaphor, every nuance of which is fraught with meaning."
>                      Greg Nagan from "The Old Man and the Sea" in
>                      <The 5-MINUTE ILIAD and Other Classics>