Re: [Phys-l] Cramster et al.

["Anthony Lapinski" <Anthony_Lapinski@pds.org>]

This topic has come up before. I teach in a private high school, and do
not grade homework any more. Kids were doing it just because they had to
-- not because they WANTED to. Others would simply copy answers from other
classmates. This is becoming more common these days.

I regard homework (conceptual and mathematical -- answers provided) as
PRACTICE work. Doing it will help you understand physics, which should
make you perform better on tests. Why penalize a student for trying and
not getting all the answers immediately?

Students are very clever and will do anything to make their life easier
and get the best grade possible. We always have to be one step ahead of
them! In my opinion, you need to change your teaching paradigm/philosophy.
STUDENTS are ultimately responsible for learning the material, and this
homework policy I outlined gives them ownership of their knowledge. There
will be students who don't do the work. And the smart ones will do well,
and the weak ones won't. But you can offer extra help to anyone before the
test comes around. Of course, you can always make up your own problems,
but this takes a HUGE amount of time initially.

This has worked very well for me. Students like the "freedom," and I spend
less time grading. I also do not let my students keep their tests. They
can see them to review with me at any time. Few do this. This helps
maintain the integrity of my course, and I can improve my tests over time.

Forum for Physics Educators <phys-l@carnot.physics.buffalo.edu> writes:
> I've seen a smattering of it in the past, but this year, the existence of
> services like cramster.com et al. really hit my upper-level courses in
> force.   Seems they have pretty thorough coverage of most popular texts. 
> (Even for books that aren't available at cramster, a quick google search
> turned up downloads of the solutions manuals for every single quantum
> mechanics text I'm contemplating using next Fall.)
>
> I've always rewarded homework pretty heavily because doing it is where
> most of the real learning comes from in junior and senior level
> mechanics, qm etc.   I am loathe to change this approach.   I am,
> however, being forced to consider alternatives.
>
> It's a bummer.   Either I go to writing all the problems myself (maybe
> not a bad idea in principle, but a MASSIVE time sink), or to choosing
> books just for their obscurity, or to devaluing homework and just giving
> a bunch of tests.    The latter doesn't really seem much of an option ..
> I don't generally find students will do anything that isn't actually
> required, no matter how much they "ought" to.   They just wait until the
> tests to realize they don't understand how to do it.
>
> Anyway ... as I contemplate what I'm going to be doing with my quantum
> course in the Fall, how are the rest of you coping with cramster.com and
> the rest?   
>
> David Craig
>
>
> <http://web.lemoyne.edu/~craigda/>
>
>
>
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