Hello everyone,
I sent this note to Mike, but I haven't seen this approach alluded
to in other posts, so I'll send it to the list.
I have a similar problem in my Intro class, and what I do is to
simply tell the class that, if their other exams are all higher than the
first one, I'll make the first one the average of the others (I give four
exams). In this way, the first exam serves as a reality check, and
motivated students can improve their performance. I do not, of course, tell
them this *before* the exam. It's simple, I get few people who simply give
up, and test scores generally improve a great deal between the first exam
and the second.
joe hatcher
Ripon College
Ripon, Wi
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> ----------
> From: Linda Walsh
> Sent: Wednesday, September 20, 2000 9:25 PM
> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Subject: Grades, Curving
>
> I've appreciated all the great responses to Mike's questions since I, too,
> am
> struggling with a similar distribution in a large introductory class. Most
> of
> the students are new freshmen with poor study skills, so I've really tried
> to
> work on those since day 1. Nevertheless about 70 of the class of 210 got
> D's
> and F's. Anyone have particular suggestions workable in a large class? I
> tried
> written test corrections but felt guilty that I couldn't meticulously
> correct
> their corrections (some still hadn't gotten it right).
> Linda Walsh
> One other small suggestion when you are considering [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> routinely take a special look at those questions missed by more than hal
>
