65
votes
Accepted
Is it worth grading calculus homework?
The evidence says no
What research I'm aware of is all about how giving any overall data about their own performance is actively harmful in promoting further learning. They learn considerably more ...
- 1,912
46
votes
Accepted
How to deal with a "protest" assignment?
You need to slam him on the grade. That is what he earned. Don't be so easily manipulated by his comments on your teaching.
Also I would not have sent an email apology. Just offered to meet with ...
- 484
38
votes
Accepted
How to solve the problem of Wolfram Alpha?
First of all, I believe this question is quite similar to the question "How to give homework for integration technique?". I avoid the temptation of repeating my answer for that question. Instead, I ...
- 4,316
27
votes
How to solve the problem of Wolfram Alpha?
Imagine you had to look up every word you wanted to use, because you had a poor vocabulary. This would get old, very quickly.
The trouble is, many people don't have a genuine need to internalize ...
- 5,877
21
votes
Accepted
Do you have an efficient way to view student responses to remote assignments allowing them to type math symbols and steps? (Middle + High school)
In a Google doc, one can "Insert/Equation" (marked by $\pi^2$). Then tiny pull-down menus appear in a top bar:
Using these menus, I just typed this nonsense:
- 28k
16
votes
Accepted
Midterm in Mathematics Courses
"Cheating Lessons" by James M. Lang argues (and has many references to back up) the claim that smaller, more frequent, lower stakes assessment both improves student learning outcomes and decreases the ...
- 19.5k
16
votes
Do you have an efficient way to view student responses to remote assignments allowing them to type math symbols and steps? (Middle + High school)
Consider to just review scanned or photographed handwritten homework. Yes, this is not as easy as looking at typed work, but consider: would you require typed work normally? So why now?
If your ...
- 235
13
votes
Accepted
Exam philosophy
Since you remark that your question is "deliberately non-specific," here is a (necessarily) incomplete response: First are two links to documents about assessment that might be of interest, and then ...
- 18.1k
13
votes
Accepted
Separating the roles of "teacher" and "assessor"
A question that occurs with a project like this (broader than one department, as you put it) would be: Who is qualified to make those assessments? Probably not any other department at a particular ...
- 20.9k
13
votes
How to deal with a "protest" assignment?
I am not a mathematics educator but I feel the need to chime in from the student side of this. I have taken numerous hard math classes during my BSc, and I have had my fair share of feeling hopeless, ...
- 231
12
votes
Teaching arithmetic operations ($+ - \times \div$) to a 3 year old
My immediate response is 'wait a few years'. I've spent a fair amount of time with 3 year olds, and most of them are busy learning how to be a person in their own right, how to have a conversation, ...
- 5,540
12
votes
How to solve the problem of Wolfram Alpha?
It doesn't exactly solve the problem, but one way to make positive use of Wolfram would be to use some Wolfram Demonstration Projects.
There are some that attempt to gamify calculus calculation ...
- 5,540
12
votes
The Undergraduate Responsibility Gradient
Here's another too-long comment posted as an answer:
We tell undergraduate students that they should study two to three
hours for every hour they spend in class. We know that many students
don'...
- 20.9k
10
votes
Accepted
Asking students to define "unique"
To avoid misinterpretations, I'd give it to them in a mathematical sentence and ask them to explain what they believe 'unique' means in this context.
For lack of knowing where you are in the course, ...
- 3,477
9
votes
Grading homework problems on completion vs. correctness, and overall grading
There's a compromise between "correctness" and "completion" called "Standards-based grading". Here's a few links about it with various people who have tried using it for Calculus: http://blogs.cofc....
- 1,950
9
votes
Project/Assessment based on Flatland for Secondary Geometry Class
The book goes into detail giving the two-dimensional cross-sections of a sphere. You could ask the class to find the cross-sections of a cube or of another 3D object more complex than a sphere. It ...
- 2,496
9
votes
How to design multiple choice questions
Personally in my own math courses, I have found that the gold-standard is to have an advance cycle of short-answer responses, document the most common student responses, and then turn those into the ...
- 20.9k
9
votes
Efficient methods to receive and grade online mathematics assessments?
If you have access to a device capable of touch input (like a tablet), then I would highly recommend using a stylus to annotate the pdf document. It should take almost the same time as if you were ...
- 191
8
votes
Accepted
Requiring basic skills to pass a course without increasing their grading weight
The notion of "gateway" (exam or other thresh-hold) is not universal, and generates some conflicts, but addresses the issue head-on. That is, throughout a course (perhaps at the beginning, but this is ...
- 13.5k
8
votes
Is every number a multiple of one?
Welcome to the site, Donna. I hope you find my answer helpful to your situation. Please let us know if there's another aspect of the situation you'd like to think about with our help.
Test question: "...
- 17.3k
8
votes
How to solve the problem of Wolfram Alpha?
You can also use Wolfram Alpha to look up definitions of words. So by reductive reasoning, there is no need for infants to learn vocabulary because when they are old enough to use a smartphone, people ...
- 7,585
8
votes
How do you incorporate the results from a final exam into evidence of learning in a valid and justifiable way (i.e. grade determination)?
I have always found this to be an extremely hard proposition in the US system of grading (hw + 2-3midterms + final=Grade).
All of the systems I've seen were imperfect, but some were better than ...
- 906
8
votes
Accepted
What do you look for in a student presentation?
I have students present (in classes ranging from grades 7 to 12) and use the following rubric. It is not original, and googling various snippets suggests to me that it has been pieced together from ...
- 18.1k
8
votes
How to design multiple choice questions
Use them for what they're best at testing, like conceptual understanding questions.
One way to do this is by having students evaluate statements they would never be expected to come up with on their ...
- 1,881
8
votes
Teaching undergraduates who expect a high-school-like learning environment
I find class voting/clickers a good way to get students used to thinking about conceptual stuff. In fact, I often frame my lectures around three progressively more challenging conceptual questions. ...
- 2,916
8
votes
Should we assess ability to use specific problem solving methods, or general ability to solve problems?
As a fellow college algebra (et. al.) instructor, I think that knowing specific methods is a necessary thing to confirm. That's what I do on my tests. If you want and have time to add yet another ...
- 20.9k
7
votes
How to assess an undergraduate mathematics program?
Two questions from Lynn Arthur Steen are perhaps not addressed frequently,
but seem important to me:
(1) Are students learning how to use mathematics in other
subjects? Do students recognize ...
- 28k
7
votes
How to solve the problem of Wolfram Alpha?
Show your students some simple questions that Wolfram Alpha cannot answer.
Wolfram Alpha currently cannot satisfactorily answer some problems stated in words. For example, the query "find the ...
- 10.2k
7
votes
The Undergraduate Responsibility Gradient
I think that your point here is spot on: "Qualitatively, colleagues have noticed that when faculty over-organize student work, students continue to expect this and don't take on adequate ...
- 1,109
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