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Re: [Phys-l] a different kind of math background quiz

John!

You didn't "take seriously" JD's

claim:


"The following does *not* answer the question that was
asked ... but list members may find it amusing and/or
useful anyway."

regarding:

JL's request:



I'm looking for an online, self-grading quiz that students can use to see if
they have the mathematical background to do well in trig. based introductory
physics course.


bc not amused, instead frustrated.

p.s. Now that John C. has give the criteria,** is there a volunteer?

p.p.s As freshmen, on entering UCSB, we were given the 1954 Thurstone aptitude test . I scored Q = 28 and L 98, T 88. I confounded the intro. physics instructor's expectation (drop out and switch to English) by earning a B (midterm) and the best grade on the final -- small class. So much for the predictive power of Thurstone.



On 2009, Dec 28, , at 16:59, John Clement wrote:

On problem with this quiz is that it does not really hit the sorts of things
that students need to know. For example can they order mixed fractional and
decimal values all of which are less than 1?

Then there is the admonition to give numerical answers. Math teachers would
consider 5 sqrt(2) to be a numerical answer. Would fractional answers also
be acceptable? I think they want decimal answers, but that is not spelled
out.

broken, not cut

**
It does not properly test proportional reasoning, or 2 variable reasoning,
both of which are vital to understanding physics. One can give seemingly
simple questions which test the important things without giving very
complicated problems. I see this test as being skewed towards things that
will not evaluate whether students have the necessary paradigm and thinking
to be able to do physics well.

John M. Clement
Houston, TX

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