For much of last semester, I gave conceptual exams and computational homework. The low scoring students (on both homework and exams) didn't like that approach. They said that the exams were too difficult. They also wanted more practice on the conceptual questions. The 'good' students loved it. I switched to half conceptual/half computational homework and exams toward the end of the semester, and the low scoring students liked that much better, while the high scoring students did not seem to care about the switch.
At 4:33 PM -0500 1/8/03, Marte Fallshore wrote:
I teach an introductory statistics class where homework is meant to be a learning experience, so is graded very lightly (especially the computations). Meanwhile, on tests, students can compute 'till the cows come home but do not understand the concepts I feel are more important than computations. They also often run out of time on the tests. It occurred to me the other day, that I could grade the homework much harder on the computations, and make the exams conceptual only. I am wondering if anybody out here has done this, and what the result was. My fear is that they will merely flunk all the tests because they cannot make up for misunderstanding through their ability to blindly compute. Thanks,Marte Fallshore --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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