Herman Rubin ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) wrote:
: What is the purpose of homework? It should be to help learning,
: and this cannot be combined with being used for a grade. Those
: problems which do not contribute to learning are a waste of time.
I agree completely. In my class, homework gets graded, but students are
told up-front that grades are based on midterm and final examinations with
homework used rarely to decide borderline cases. They are also told that
if they don't do the homework, there's no way they can succeed on the
exams. The purpose of the homework is to give them a chance to
explore and fail without penalty if that's what it takes for them to
master the material.
One year, I tried letting the homework weigh into the grade (something
like 25-33%) because the previous year's class said there was so much
effort involved that it should be formally rewarded. The TAs spent more
time arguing over grades than they did grading homwork (I
exaggerate...slightly) and it was stressful for student, TAs, and
instructor alike.
