Re: test grades

[Rick Tarara <rtarara@SAINTMARYS.EDU>]

-----Original Message-----
From: Joe Heafner [mailto:heafnerj@CTC.NET]
Sent: Sunday, January 11, 2004 7:03 PM

> A theoretical question: Should a student who earns a failing grade on
> every test (including the final exam) have any possibility of passing
> the course even if quizzes, homework assignments, labs, and attendance
> (and any other pertinent factors) are all in good order? I'm leaning
> heavily toward "no" but I'm interested in others' opinions.

I'll buck the trend and say that in most cases the answer should be 'yes'.
However, to pass the course with failing test scores, a student needs to
have demonstrated that he/she CAN do the work (here I assume you mean
primarily problem solving) in a non-test setting.  That is, not only must
their homework be very good, but it must be the work of the individual
student.  Likewise with lab work.  Let's be 'fair' here and recognize that
some students simply don't do well in a timed test situation and/or in a
memory intensive situation.  How often in your professional career have you
had to solve a new problem in 10 minutes without references in a make or
break situation?

I'm not suggesting that a student who can't perform in the test scenario get
a high grade, but a C-D grade might be appropriate for some who work hard,
try hard, CAN do the assignments given time and resources, but can't perform
in a timed, limited resource situation.  Even though I can schedule two hour
exams (by giving a compensatory class day off) and allow students to have a
sheet of paper with information of their choice (sans any sample problems) I
still find students who simply panic in a test situation.

I had just this situation in my first semester course for science majors.  A
couple of students simply couldn't do well on the two tests and
problem-solving part of the final but both did well on homework (and came in
enough for help that I knew they were really working it), did well in lab,
and did OK on conceptual quizzes and the conceptual part of the exam.  In my
mind their grades of C and C+ were proper, especially in the C+ case where
the student simply got flustered in the test situations and tended to 'blank
out'.

Rick  (who's Cs are considered to be failing grades by the students)

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Richard W. Tarara
Professor of Physics
Saint Mary's College
Notre Dame, Indiana
rtarara@saintmarys.edu
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