In response to the poster who had a large number of students fail their
first exam: I had this happen when I first taught intro. psych. as well.
I have since begun giving a 10 point quiz 2 weeks into the semester. The
quiz is extremely difficult, but certainly manageable if they know how
to study. Since most don't know how to study, the distribution is
usually pretty sad. However, I tell them that I give this quiz for only
one reason, for them to catch themselves early in the semester and
realize that they are not studying correctly. If anyone has less than a
6 out of 10, I require them to come to my office within a week to
discuss what happened. We work out a study plan and I give the whole
class a handout on study skills that should improve their grades.The
individual meetings would be hard at a larger school, but if you have
TA's, it can be done. Truthfully, though, I find that only about 10
students or less ever come to take me up on my offer. I explicitly tell
them that if they don't take action now, any further failing grades are
their own responsibility. I have gotten very good comments about the
quizzes and students feel that it's a good way to test how they're doing
without totally blowing a huge midterm. They appreciate receiving the
shock early on, before too much damage has been done to their GPA. Good
luck!
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***********
Tasha R. Howe, Ph.D
Assistant Professor of Psychology (Developmental)
Transylvania University
300 N. Broadway
Lexington, KY 40508
(859) 233-8144
FAX: (859) 281-3507
Website: http://www.transy.edu/homepages/thowe/ftpdpages/index2.html
