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Re: [Phys-l] not our majors now!




----- Original Message ----- From: "R. McDermott" <rmcder@gmail.com>



Is there some rule that requires assigning and grading homework? Seems to
me that the tests would indicate how well a student has learned. As to
having the test solutions, I can see where this would be an issue with
multiple choice, but problems can be modified, and it is unlikely that a
student can memorize all possible permutations of problems (keeping in mind
that most students see problems as all being different whereas we know they
fall into only a couple of general categories).


There are several points to be considered here. Number one, IMO, is your educational philosophy, your educational goals. Is your mission to help and guide students to a better knowledge of physics, or is it as a 'gate-keeper' to see that only the self-motivated and sufficiently 'intelligent' make it to the next level? The point of assigning and grading homework is normally to HELP students towards that better knowledge of physics recognizing (and this really hasn't changed all that much over the decades) that most students need assignments, need deadlines, need feedback to motivate their work. [How many of us have submitted that abstract at the last minute, stayed up all night finishing the report due the next day, pleaded for more feedback as to our performance--something I've seen become more and more formalized here at the college over the years.]

The 'do the problems to do well on the tests but none are formally assigned' _can_ work for upper level classes in the major, but I think the consensus is that it doesn't work well in any intro course or courses for non-majors. At the graduate level, it is probably the norm to work this way, and at that level the 'gate-keeper' function of the instructor is probably justified. But at all the lower levels, there are just too many potentially 'good' students who need that extra push of assignments (with grades) and feedback to dismiss.

The problem of students having access to solutions, as has been stated, is probably as old as Aristotle (students with all of Plato's old notes getting an advantage!) The problem today is that the technology has made it much more difficult for us. For whatever reason (mostly not having any physics majors I suspect), I don't seem to have that problem with our calc-level intro class as I can assign the same problems year to year and they continue to come in with all the same old errors. But, I am always watching for signs that students have old homework sets or even a solution manual. The latter would be a dead give-away since the style of those solutions is sufficiently different from how we do things. I also throw in a number of outside problems (drawing from the Heller sets) and I write my own test problems. Final exams can be reviewed but are not returned so that the exams themselves stay out of student hands. Ultimately though, I suspect that the only way to effectively use homework as a graded work in many upper level major's courses, would be to draw from outside texts (maybe out of print editions!) or write your own. At least the technology can help there. I have a printer/scanner on my desk that I can use to scan, copy, and paste problems from various sources into a text document to distribute to students. Of course, then you (or I) have to actually do the problems!-- but then I find that it is important for me to do so, even year to year with the same problems, so that I can better help students who run into difficulties.

All of the above though speaks to another problem (as I see it). Doing a really good job teaching is a FULL TIME JOB! It has always been that at the HS level, has sort of been that at the College level, but has always been part-time at best (and often quite secondary) at the University level. Even at a small College like the one here, I see the science faculty having less and less time available for 'scholarly activity' as the demands of 'pedagogically sound'' instruction seems to be demanding more and more time and effort. Partly this is a reflection of the nature of the students, partly the (largely self-imposed) demands of technology use, and for many the demands of changing instructional styles as dictated by all the kinds of discussions that we have on this (and other) physics lists. Is there a need for a new paradigm in higher education that reflects the increasing 'teaching load' on faculty?

rambling as ever...

Rick

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Richard W. Tarara
Professor of Physics
Saint Mary's College
Notre Dame, IN
rtarara@saintmarys.edu
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PC & Mac
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