>From Mark Eastman:
>I was intrigued with a discussion a few weeks ago regarding whether or not
>to drop the lowest scoring exam of a student's battery of exams. Someone on
>the list suggested replacing the first exam with the average of the
>remaining exams. I would like more information on the pro and cons of this
>approach.....from someone who has tried it. Philosophically I don't like
>the idea of dropping the lowest exam, but I do like the motivational
>benefits from having students try much harder on the remaining exams in
>order to replace the low scoring first exam. This policy would be announced
>after students have taken the first exam.
>
I take a different approach in my Intro Psych class. I use a "grade
forgiveness" policy. I give 4 exams and give students the option to take a
challenge exam for 2 of the first 3 exams. Challenge exams are the same
length and format as the original exam but have different questions. I
construct both exams from the item pool and try to create parallel forms of
the class exam when I do this. That is, I try to select qustions that test
the same topics equally with the two exams. Students are allowed to take
the challenge exam only if they took the original exam. If they are sick
or absent for a university function, the challenge exam serves as their
make-up exam and they are not allowed to challenge that exam. I use the
best of the two grades when computing the average for the 4 exams. This
works well in maintaining motivation among students who did badly on an
early exam while still holding students accountable for the entire course.
I find it is not difficult to construct 2 exams at once.
Claudia
________________________________________________________
Claudia J. Stanny, Ph.D. e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Department of Psychology Phone: (850) 474 - 3163
University of West Florida FAX: (850) 857 - 6060
Pensacola, FL 32514 - 5751
Web: http://www.uwf.edu/psych/stanny.html
