Hi
On Sat, 25 Dec 1999, Jerry Dallal wrote:
> 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.
Herman's assertion just seems too strong to me. What is it that
makes it impossible for a task to contribute to both grades and
learning? Does this mean that studying for a test never produces
learning?
> 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.
In teaching honours statistics to psychology students, I have
students do 3 largish assignments each of two terms for only 6%
each, which thus contributes 36% to their final grade. The
assignments are multi-part exercises that involve the analysis of
a study using SPSS-generated data and a different seed for each
student. I encourage the students to work in groups and change
the studies every year (although constructs are largely the
same). We have also covered sample studies in lectures and
smaller examples in labs. I emphasize to students that the
homework assignments are weighted modestly (relative to the
amount of work), that their primary purpose is learning and
feedback, that even substantial changes in assignment marks have
minimal impact (assignments are marked out of 100), and that the
two tests (worth 25% each) will involve similar activities on
novel data sets. I also tell students at the start of the year
that no one will be left "close" to the boundary for the next
highest grade (in essence I always adjust students within 1 mark
of next grade up). This combination works well for me, judging
by feedback at end of course and from students who have gone on
to graduate school. Its primary benefits might be to teach
students how much effort it takes to learn challenging material,
the value of working with other students, and that such effort
does pay off.
Best wishes
Jim
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James M. Clark (204) 786-9757
Department of Psychology (204) 774-4134 Fax
University of Winnipeg 4L05D
Winnipeg, Manitoba R3B 2E9 [EMAIL PROTECTED]
CANADA http://www.uwinnipeg.ca/~clark
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