In article <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>,
dennis roberts <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>At 09:58 AM 4/26/01 -0500, Herman Rubin wrote:
>>For the important part, it is ALWAYS appropriate. An
>>argument against open book is that they spend too much
>>time looking things up, but I always allow crib sheets.
>>This way they know that they will get no credit for
>>memorizing definitions and formulas.
>i would put a different spin on this ... if students use the crib sheet
>(which i let them have too) AND have to depend on it TO remember important
>formulas/definitions ... then this works against them since, they will then
>be spending time on "consulting" their card ... and hoping to find
>something ... when they could be using that time to work on other problems
>or items ... or give more time to problems that are a bit more complex
I suspect that the difference is in the emphasis on what
is expected from the course. I consider the important
part, especially in a beginning course, is the understand
the concepts, to be able to formulate problems, and to
understand the solution, but not necessarily to be able
to obtain the solution.
>crib sheets are like the college degree that some athletes get (so they
>say) ... it is a fall back position ...
I would say it is the other extreme. College athletes
typically take courses in which memorization and routine
is all.
I would far better have someone taking calculus understand
what derivatives and integrals are, even if they have to
use a computer program for all but the simplest, rather than
the usual courses where they learn how to compute, but have
a complete block against ever learning what it means. This
is the case in probability and statistics.
>the allowance to use or not ... and the benefit from use, if crib sheet use
>is allowed ... is an interesting area of inquiry that has essentially been
>ignored in the literature ...
>i hypothesize that ... crib sheet use CAN have a + impact NOW and THEN ...
>but, it is essentially a random effect ... and, if it does help ... the
>help will be minimal for any given test
>i think that more often than not, it mainly "eases" ones mind ...
>but, it can have a down side too ... if one spends too much time on MAKING
>a crib sheet and not enough time on understanding the content ... then over
>reliance on the use of a card can be detrimental
>in any case, it would make for some interesting data fodder to have a close
>look at such things as:
>1. what is ON crib sheets ... and relate types of content on cards TO test
>performance
>2. look at how OFTEN students actually access their cards
>3. look at how much TIME is spent looking at their cards compared to total
>test time
>4. do some comparisons (nice highly controlled experiment of course)
>between classes where crib sheet use is or is not allowed ... and how use
>changes (if any) what they do to prepare for tests ...
>i know in my classes, when i just causally observe students working on
>tests and using their cards ... it is interesting ...
--
This address is for information only. I do not claim that these views
are those of the Statistics Department or of Purdue University.
Herman Rubin, Dept. of Statistics, Purdue Univ., West Lafayette IN47907-1399
[EMAIL PROTECTED] Phone: (765)494-6054 FAX: (765)494-0558
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