Archive for the ‘Teaching Techniques’ Category
Back to School Stress
Posted on: August 4, 2014
I’m getting grief from my wife. After 11 years of teaching, she’s starting to give me grief about my current career. She doesn’t like that we can’t take vacations anymore, not like we used to. She works all summer and I am finally not. I don’t make the money I used to make in sales, not even close. I’m not working in the summer and she’s heading off to work.
I’ve found a couple of articles about teachers going back to school, but they are mostly written for women teaching elementary school. Male teachers married to women who aren’t teachers – we need a support group. I need to talk about some of this, I’m stressed out. My wife is asking me about getting back into manufacturing sales. I don’t want to do that, I love what I do. If I can make it just 10 more years, I’ll should have a pension that pays me half my meager salary every year.
So I’m not stressed out about shopping for my classroom, putting up posters (I had kids do it the last week of school), or oversleeping.
Here’s what I am stressed out about:
- Just being ready to start teaching 6 different courses (2 are at the community college). Once again, I’m teaching a course for the first time, Trig/Pre-Calc. That means a lot more work, especially since I will be using Standards-Based Grading in the course. More importantly, having the mental focus to do all of it well.
- A lack of control – of who I have as students, the number of students in the class, the class schedule, having time for exercise and a healthy meal.
- The first couple of weeks are brutal on my body – finding time for bathroom breaks, teaching non-stop, talking until my throat is raw, being “on” at 8am, and teaching until 9pm on Mondays and Tuesdays.
- Back to school orientation where we learn about administrative changes, new paperwork, rule changes, and basically sitting too long doing nothing when I have a million things to do.
- Putting on long pants and shoes. Seriously, I’m going to look like one of those scratchy sweater kids for the first couple of weeks. I’m not sure my school clothes will fit. I’m sure I can teach in shorts and flip-flops, I’ll wear a shirt with a collar if that will help.
- Grading.
- Keeping my mouth shut when I want to chew out a lazy teacher for being beyond useless.
I’ve tried to get started on my lesson planning, and it helps a little, but I really need the routine to get underway. It’s kind of the same feeling before playing a team sport. You can practice all you want and you are nervous waiting for it to start, but once the whistle blows, you are in the zone and it all just clicks. Can I do this 10 more times?
Student Created Lab
Posted on: January 6, 2014
I had been wanting to add a lab where the students determine friction on an inclined plane. Students seem to struggle with the complexity of the problem and I thought a good lab would help. I wasn’t really happy with any of the labs I found on the internet, but I also wasn’t really up for creating one of my own. (Having four preps really sucks the life out of your creativity.) What I decided to do was to put the kids into groups, give each group a variable inclined plane (exactly the one in the picture), a couple of blocks, and lab weights. On the board I drew the force diagram of the block on a plane being pulled upward along with the appropriate formulas. The goal of the lab is for the students to be able to calculate the coefficient of friction between the incline and the block.
I gave the class the following instructions:
“You are creating a lab for next year’s students. You are going to need to decide on the lab procedure, required data and graphs, and the analysis questions. You need to write up the procedure and the lab results, but I only want one per group. I am going to take the best parts of each of your labs and use it next year.”
I asked them to start with only a single block, but they could add another if they think it will improve the lab. We discussed setting the incline from 0 to 40 degrees in 10 degree increments. They are using their phone to take pictures to include in their instructions and write-ups. They have one more day and then the paperwork is all due at the end of the week. I’m hoping for work that is a step above their usual lab write-ups.
I’m thinking maybe I lied to them. I originally did want the students to create a lab for next years’ students, but I might just give next years’ students the same assignment.
Our school has added a number of iPad and Mac carts. The technology push is on and I’m not generally excited about it. You have to understand, I am the technology guy. I sold top of the line engineering software to the defense and manufacturing industry. I’ve presented technology solutions to the Secretary of Defense’s office, Senators, Congressmen, Admirals, Generals, and heads of fortune 500 companies. I am not afraid of technology, I love technology. I have an engineering degree; I can program in half a dozen computer languages, and I’m competent in 3-D CAD. But handing me an iPad and telling me to use it in class is like buying a 12-piece screwdriver set and hoping screws will suddenly get loose. It’s a solution in search of a problem.
It took a brain-storming session with my department head to realize I do have a screw loose, I have a problem that technology might just solve.
I have been really unhappy with lab reports. I’ve gone full circle with what I want from the kids. Here is a brief history:
- Year 1-2 – The students were required to have hard-bound composition notebooks. Students were required to type the report (3-4 pages) and the notebooks were graded. I had about 100 students – grading was a nightmare and the work was poor when it was even done. Many of my students didn’t have a computer or a printer a home.
- Year 3-4 – I changed over to one-page labs where the students would fill in responses as they went. They were much easier to grade, but the rigor was gone.
- Year 5-7 – Students purchased Carbonless Lab Notebooks. They were to record observations and show their work as they went through the lab. This never worked as planned. It was a constant battle to get them to only write in the lab notebook; they wanted their report to be neater, so they took notes on the handout. Reports were hard to read because I was reading a copy of unreadable students’ handwriting. Students didn’t like that they couldn’t edit, mistakes were to be crossed out.
It is time for a change, again. Maybe technology will by my answer this time.
Here is the plan as it currently stands (in my head). Students will be given a basic report layout on the Mac using iBook Author. They will build on the layout to construct a full lab report. Having the Mac in their hands during the lab will allow them to take pictures of the set-up and the results. Ideally, they will be able to record data directly into tables and turn it into graphs, charts, and anything they feel is appropriate. Reports will be turned in electronically. What they turn in will be a unique, well-documented report, hopefully of a much higher quality than I received in the past.
The down-side is quite significant. First, there is going to be a learning curve for iBook Author. Second, the students don’t have their own Macs, so the entire lab report will have to be created during class time. What was a one-day lab will probably turn into two or three days of class time. Third, I’ll have to figure out how to transfer data from the Vernier to the Mac. I’m hoping the quality the iBook reports will make up for the lost teaching time.
If you are a follower of this blog, you may have noticed I posted this entry and then promptly unposted it. I thought the software I saw demonstrated was called iBook, but I couldn’t find the application for the iPad. I spoke with my principal today and she confirmed that I had it right. However, the authoring app does not exist on the iPad, only on the Mac. When I went to download the app for my Mac, it said it needed to be running OSX 10.7.4 and I’m running 10.6.8. I tried to update my Mac but it says no update is available. I admit, I’m a bit confused. The tech guy from school is the one pushing the app, so I’m sure he will get everything taken care of once we are back. I was just hoping to spend some time this summer exploring this idea.
If this works out, I should have some really nice files to post here in about two months. I’ll let you know either way.
Sharing the SBG Wealth
Posted on: May 22, 2013
I have a steady stream of teachers asking if I would be willing to share my SBG files and spreadsheets. My answer is always a qualified ‘yes.’
I have over 300 Physics quizzes, 200 AP Calculus quizzes, and various spreadsheets and other files. If I dumped all of those files on you without a detailed explanation, you would probably be overwhelmed and get nowhere. So what I ask is that anyone requesting my hard work do a few simple things:
- Go back and read over all of my SBG posts from the beginning. I spent hours on research and reading before being convinced SBG would work for me. I documented the how and why pretty thoroughly here.
- Ask me questions, as many as you want. I promise to answer promptly and thoroughly. Only with some discussion will SBG really start to make sense. You can’t buy in part way. As Yoda might say, “SBG – do or do not.” Sort-of doing SBG doesn’t work.
- Don’t make changes to the system without discussing it with me. After research and discussions with other teachers, I was able to avoid a lot of mistakes. I have tried many tweaks and made a number of incremental improvements each year. Don’t reinvent the wheel.
- As you implement this and come up with your own tweaks, add to the dialog here. I want to learn from your successes and failures.
- Once I provide you with my files, do not publish any of the questions. They came from textbooks, I do not own the rights to most of the questions, so I can’t give you permission to publish them.
That’s really it. I’ve done all the work for two courses, now it looks like I’m picking up Algebra 2 Honors next year. Time to start work on a third course.
It’s been a pretty mundane year. No drama, no great leaps, no alien invasion or Mayan apocalypse, pretty much the same stuff, new year.
Hey, this would be a good time to assess the pro’s and con’s of standards-based grading (SBG) in my physics and calculus classes.
The Good
My spreadsheets are working great. It may seem like a small thing, but it isn’t. A well designed spreadsheet is the key to keeping SBG running smoothly.
It’s nice to have a bank of questions and quizzes at the ready. My first year of SBG was non-stop quiz creation. Now I need to make maybe one or two new physics questions a week. I probably have 300 individual physics questions divided among the C, B, and A-level quizzes. The hard work is done, weekly quizzes cause me no stress at all.
The kids all love standards-based grading. One of my students told me she couldn’t imagine taking calculus using a traditional grading system. The kids are all on board.
The Meh
Probably the biggest problem with SBG is determining who is in danger of failing at the interim report. Half way through the quarter, the class average is in the 50’s or 60’s. One of my students emailed me over Christmas break asking me to call her mom. She is an A student, but her 60 average at the interim was going to get her grounded for the break. This is after I sent home letters at the start of the year and at the interim explaining why the averages are low. The kids who plan on failing just don’t come in to take quizzes or get help.
I’ve noticed that the lack of testing pressure has caused the kids to put off studying for the weekly quizzes. Now they look over the problems right before class. It’s hard to determine if this would be any different with traditional grading; this year’s class is academically quite lazy. They have been warned, there is no curve. They can all get A’s and they can all get F’s. Amazingly, it will be a normal distribution curve.
What’s Next
I’ve been thinking about what changes I would like to make. I’m considering a small change to the calculus grading system. Right now it takes two correct problems to master a concept. The first perfect quiz gives them 40/50 points. The second moves that to 50/50. I’m thinking of scoring the second 45/50 and the third 50/50. My concern is that they are earning the label of “mastery” before they really get there. On the other hand, the kids probably understand the material so much better than they would through traditional grading. Any thoughts?
One little thing I would like to do is color code the physics quizzes. I’d like to copy all the C-level quizzes onto a pale yellow or pink paper. Maybe a light blue for the B-level, and leave the A-level quizzes white. The colors would give the student and me a quick visual check of everyone’s progress.
Considering SBG?
If you are, I am willing to share everything I’ve created; my spreadsheets, quizzes, experiences and ideas. Just ask.
A few weeks back, my principle asked me to talk to the faculty about my experience with Standards-Based Grading. Our professional development begins this week and I will be presenting on Tuesday (8/28/12). This is my first public talk on the topic, I hope to present a more refined version of this talk at a conference later this year. The slides aren’t glamorous and it’s a lot wordier than I like, but it feel the PowerPoint needs to stand on its own without me talking over it. I’ll embellish with anecdotes and energy.
There are some comments in the note section on some of the slides, so you probably want to download the slide show rather than just view it directly on Dropbox. I’ve also included an annotated set of spreadsheets that I will be using during the presentation. Hover over the commented cells to see my thoughts on the patterns that show individual student development.
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/s9f2r2jjko65ehs/5ooodjg10L
I would really appreciate any feedback, negative in particular. If you find slides are unclear, confusing, any typos, or if I’m you think I’m missing something, I need to hear from you.
I Love TED Talks
Posted on: August 14, 2012
I do. They frustrate me a bit because there are just so many and I don’t know most of the speakers. You can spend an evening jumping from one talk to the next. I prefer recommendations, here are two I recommend.
The first talk is by Dan Meyer of the dy/dan blog. His blog was the source I used to get started on Standards-Based Grading. Plain and simple, this talk is an eye opener.
The second TED Talk is by Simon Sinek. His talk was recommended by Frank Noschese at the AAPT meeting. Excellent recommendation Frank.
If you have some favorite TED Talks, please share the link or the name of the speaker.
I’ve been a member of American Association of Physics Teachers for about 6 years now. If you teach physics, please join! The journals and posters alone are worth the tax deductable annual dues. I attended my first AAPT meeting a couple of weeks back. I learned one or two great new things, met some super people, but I was also a bit disappointed.
Let’s get the negative stuff out of the way.
- I’m used to NSTA, so maybe my reference is unfair. AAPT was small, really small for a national conference. I felt like everybody knew each other because it was the same people every year. You could get through the entire exhibit areas in about an hour.
- It also felt like the conference was aimed at college educators. I know the organizers claim it’s not, but I’m giving my opinion here based on attending one day of a much longer conference.
- I had hoped that the talk on video in the classroom would give lots of useful tips; how to integrate video, success at flipping the classroom, etc. Most of the discussion was why video lectures won’t replace colleges.
Now the positives:
- The first timer special and lunch was a great idea. Lunch and the company was terrific, I’m glad I went. The first timer $75 one-day special is a great way to try it out.
- I got to meet some great people, some new, some who I had previously met online (Kathy, Frank). Everybody was warm and there to interact and learn from each other.
- I met local AAPT members who are trying to suck me in to local activities. I am interest, but they always do them on a Friday night and Saturday. I may submit, I do need local physics buddies but I love my weekends.
- Andy Rundquist demonstrated a great use of Jing. He has his students take a picture of their homework, then narrate the work on video. The video is their homework submission. Jing limits them to 5 minutes and when they talk, you can immediately tell if they know what they are talking about. Andy has them do this for every homework, I’m going to use it sparingly. Super idea.
- There is free software out there called Tracker that does video analysis. One cool use was to take a moving object, like a person jumping into the water, identify several points (hands, feet, head) through each frame, and let the software determine the center of gravity and plot the motion. Did I mention free?
- I really like the sessions where there is a new presenter every 10 minutes. Lots of great stuff, and if it isn’t, it’s only 10 minutes until the next one.
AAPT was worth my time, I wish I had done the entire week. It was close enough to home that I was able to take public transportation. Here’s the problem: if you can get your school to pay for you to travel to one national conference, which do you choose – AAPT or NSTA?
For me, it would be an easy choice. NSTA has so much more to offer, so many more strands, talks, exhibitors, and people to interact with. I would love to do both, I don’t see how. I will get involved locally, AAPT is too good of an organization to ignore, they are worthy of our support.
I’m Done With Sig Figs
Posted on: August 10, 2012
This is not a new topic for me, it’s been a burr in my saddle for some time now. All of the introductory physics textbooks address significant figures in much the same way. The problem is – nobody in the “real world” uses sig figs. At the same time, introductory physics isn’t the time to introduce complex error analysis models.
I’m having this discussion with Andy Rundquist of Hamline University. I asked Andy how they handled this at the college level. He told me they don’t teach significant figures and pointed me to a very lengthy article discussing why significant figures are all wrong. The article suggests the use of Monte Carlo analysis its place. That may make sense on a lab, but not on classwork and homework problems. The uncertainty article did have a suggestion; use six significant figures for calculations and round the final answer to three sig figs. The article does a good job explaining the reasoning, and I’m fine with it. The three extra “guard digits” preserve the accuracy, and the rounding makes the answer more reasonable.
The next step is trying to explain uncertainty and significance of our data. I came up with an activity I think will work:
- I will project an archery target on the board.
- Students will move back about 20 feet and shoot a round of Nerf darts at the target. They will be far enough back that most of them will shoot a 6, or 7 and not a 9 or 10, at least at first. Each student will take a turn.
- We will plot the overall results. We should get something resembling a normal distribution curve, but I won’t tell them that.
- I will ask the kids to average the data and come up with a value of x.x +/- y.y and start a discussion on whether or not that represents the data.
- We will then put a ring or other object on an electronic scale and write the mass with the error in the same way.
- After some discussion, I will bring up slides of normal, rectangular, triangular, and maybe exponential distribution curves. I want them to discuss the fit of the models to the data.
- My goal is that they understand that error is probability.
- About a week later we will drop rulers and calculate individual reaction times. This would be a good time to bring back the distribution graphs and perhaps even input our data into a statistical analysis program to find the best fit.
I think this will work and go over well. I’d love some feedback. It’s a first pass, what did I miss?
25 Female STEM Superheroes of Today
Posted on: June 19, 2012
REVISED:
I’m not one to reblog. Once in a while I get an email asking me to post something. I usually ignore the request or politely tell them, “No thanks.”
This is from one of those spamish emails I get. I have searched the site and it links mostly to University of Phoenix. Regardless, ignore the rest of the site if it bothers you, but the article is worth your time. It’s called the “25 Female STEM Superheroes of Today”, here is the link: (http://www.onlineuniversities.com/blog/2012/06/25-female-stem-superheroes-today/).”
I know if you asked me to list influential female scientists and engineers, I’d be very hard pressed to name five, let alone twenty-five. It’s kind of a shame, but it’s nice to know someone is keeping score.
This is me. It’s been a good year.
This has been an incredible year for my students and me. They continue to give me unsolicited positive feedback over the courses and me as a teacher. I’m not going to lie, it feels great to know they appreciated me. The students have seen a direct correlation between their effort and their grade, no more learned helplessness. Even better, they’ve really learned the material. I’ve become a better teacher by doing less and letting the students control their outcome. It’s the kind of story you want to shout from the mountaintops.
So how does a year of SBG wind down? The AP exam is done, so the students are done, right? Nope, they are working harder than ever and I’ve become an observer. Those last few concepts that we started in the fourth quarter were probably the hardest of all. The kids want those grades to improve. Every day, they come into class, join up with a classmate or two, meet at the whiteboard and work out problems on whatever concept they want to improve. This has been going on for over two weeks now and it blows my mind. The routine has been to stop when there is 15 minutes left in the class. They erase the boards and I hand out a concept quiz to anyone who wants one. Everyone is working bell-to-bell and I’m sitting back and watching them help each other master integration. This is teacher heaven. As we enter the last week of school, I’ll allow two concept quizzes in a day, not just one. The quizzes have to be on two different concepts. Its crunch time and they are feeling it. I don’t want to pull the rug out from under them now.
First time through using SBG is a hell of a lot of work. I’d say I got 80% of it right, the other 20% needs tweaking. Some of my early quizzes were too hard, others were too easy. I gave some insane quizzes on domain and range. I’m sticking with WebAssign for Calculus, but I’m giving it up for Physics. I’ve added a few inquiry labs to my physics routine and I’m hoping to add one or two more next year. Calculus has been officially approved for the AP label, but honestly, the class isn’t going to be much different.
The biggest difference to me is the connections I have made with these students. Usually by now I want them gone. Not these kids. I don’t think they are really much different from previous years students. I think the real difference is the way they were mentored through the classes, rather than just lectured to. I have more students going on to study engineering than in any previous year. When the pressure of every quiz or test is gone, the classroom becomes more relaxed. This year we covered more material in every course and had a lot more fun doing it. Best of all, I have relationships with these kids that are stronger and more lasting. I’m going to miss them but I’m also going to keep in touch.
I can’t wait to do it all over again in September.
Let me start by saying that I have yet to take a course in teaching through modeling. I want to, and I will.
I never loved my pulley lab. I was never pleased with the learning, the kids seem to focus on trying to set up the pulleys and not on what is happening.
Two days ago I handed them this revised instruction sheet: Pulley Lab Rev D – Discovery Lab. The instructions are simple, “Your job is to come up with a set of rules that explains what is happening with the pulleys, ropes, and weights.”
Besides the ring stand, support, pulleys, weights, and string, I gave each group a Vernier and force meter. They set to work trying to figure out what is going on.
After they finished with the first setup, I asked them to tell me what happened. The weight was the same, so what was the purpose? Finally one of them said it changed the lifting up to pulling down. So a single pulley can be used to change directions. I gave them a few applications, like pulling something up into a tree or the mast of a ship.
Next they started on the other pictures. They noticed the force changed. I mentioned that there is a cost to the reduced force, what is the cost? Their response was less work. No, work is conserved. Keep going.
When they got through picture 3, I explained that they were experiencing Mechanical Advantage. If you hang by one arm, you hold all of your weight. Add the second arm and you are splitting the weight. Add a third arm… you get the picture.
As they got through the rest of the diagrams, two challenges remained: 1) what is the cost, and 2) figure out how to rig this up to get a mechanical advantage of 5. I gave them a hint – picture 2. They worked for a while without success. End of the first day.
I came into class and was pleasantly surprised to see all of the groups were already set up and working. They were twisting the ropes all over the place. I gave them 15 minutes to play. They still didn’t understand the cost, so I drew the solution for the MA of 5. We put a bunch of weights on the pulleys, almost 10 lbs, and I had them all take a turn lifting. I wanted them to experience the mechanical advantage. Then we measured how far the weights moved and how much string was pulled to make this happen.
That was all it took, they got it. In a perfect system, work is conserved. This led to a discussion of efficiency and how a lever also provides a mechanical advantage. It was a good day.
Note: Here is the solution to the challenge at the end of the lab: MA 5 Solution
Writing About Physics
Posted on: March 25, 2012
Scared, and for good reason
When we did the egg drop challenge a couple of weeks ago, I asked the students to write about their design and the concepts involved in safely landing the egg in their structure.
For them, they had fun and were rewarded for their hard work with no lab report, just a dialog of what they built, why they built it, and the concepts we’ve been studying. I wanted them to talk about forces, gravity, momentum, impulse, collisions, and any other concept we’ve studied in order to explain the physics behind the effort to save the egg.
I’m thinking the egg got off easy. I had to read phrases like “depending upon how fast you dropped the egg,” and “the impact of momentum, ” and best (worst) or all, “the egg has many things to be concerned about it not to break”
Other than labs, I haven’t given a writing assignment before and I now think it needs to be a regular event. Clearly the students can not talk about the concepts. Although we spend weeks problem solving, discussing, and working in the lab, they can’t put the concept into an intelligent sentence. How did this happen? I feel like I’ve failed.
Advice with Significant Figures
Posted on: January 18, 2012
Teachers – how are you handling significant figures? I’m a bit at odds with my textbook and I’m wondering what the rest of the world is doing. I’ve discussed my issues with our chemistry teacher, he tends to agree with me, but it’s just the two of us. Let me explain.
I teach from Holt Physics. The book treats sig figs mostly okay. When they provide numbers for problems, they are always precise. Usually the numbers are in scientific notation, so you know where you stand with your given information. The book does state that 1500 could be 2 or 3 or 4 significant figures because we don’t know about the two trailing zeroes. I tell the students to err towards caution in those cases and treat that number as though there are 4 sig figs. The book correctly states that the answers are rounded to the least significant number of figures. You all know what I mean.
Here is where we part ways. I teach my students to carry an extra place while doing calculations. For example, if I’m dividing 35 by 62, my working answer is 0.565. If this is my answer to the problem, I would round this to 0.57. If I’m using this number in another calculation, I would use all three digits. The textbook rounds this here along the way even when it is used later. I’ve even seen problems where they have rounded more than once in the same problem. (There is no way I can remember the actual problem right now.) The results are often an error of about 10% difference between my answer key and my calculations.
While we are at this, I have a question I’m stuck on. Suppose you read a meter stick and you get a reading of 8.65 cm. That is three significant figures. Now you move a little ways up the ruler and read 22.40 cm. The accuracy of the ruler hasn’t changed, but I’m now working with 4 significant figure versus 3 before. I wouldn’t round the second number, it is as accurate as the device, but the first number isn’t 8.600. How do you account for this when you are dealing with the significant figures of a problem?
Lame graphic, I know. Sorry.
As I mentioned in my 3-part update, my students absolutely love SBG in Calculus and have requested I move the system into my Physics classes as well. However, after studying the problem at length, I have to take the tact that Frank took. SBG as it is implemented in my Calculus isn’t a clean fit in Physics.
I’ve had to make some modifications, and I’m pretty sure there will be modifications in the future. Instead of solving two problems perfectly to achieve mastery, Physics students will have three, but they will be tiered. Here’s how it’s going to work:
- Most concepts will have three levels of problems: C-level, B-level, and A-level.
- Students must get a C-level problem perfect to take a B-level quiz. The B-level problem must be perfect to take the A-level quiz.
- If they get the C-level correct, they earned a 75% in that concept. A correct B-level gives them 85%, and a correct A-level problem boosts the concept score to 100%.
- C-level problems are basic. Everyone should be able to solve them. B-level problems are a little more advanced, but everyone should be able to get these correct with practice. A-level problems are challenging and most of the class will not get these unless they really put in the work.
- The 4 point grading system in still in effect, there is no partial credit. This makes grading much quicker. A 2 on a C-level is worth 60%, a 3 is worth 70%. (UPDATE Feb 2012) A 3 on a B-level problem is worth 80%, and a 3 on an A-level is worth 90%.
Quiz day will not have a standard group quiz. I have lots of 1/2 page concept quizzes. A student gets the quiz level for each concept based on what they have mastered. Yes, this is a hell of a lot more work, but my classes are small.
Here is how I divided up the concept “Upwardly Launched Projectiles:”
- A C-level problem is a projectile launched and landing on the same level. They are given an initial velocity and an angle. They have to find the time in flight, max height, and range.
- A B-level problem involves different elevations for the launch or landing, or a building or mountain to hit or go over.
- An A-level problem requires more math, like simultaneous equations or the quadratic to solve for initial velocity.
Points for the concepts are going to vary based on the depth of the concept. Projectiles will be worth 50 points while Relative Motion is only worth 30 points. Some of the topics will only have two levels, a B-level and an A-level, simply because there isn’t enough difficulty to warrant three levels. But those levels, like relative motion, will also not be worth as many points in the system. I’m still keeping grades for Homework (5 pts), Labs (25 pts), and the occasional WebAssign (around 15 pts).
We had our first quiz today and it went well. A few of the better students got 4’s on the C-level problems. I was able to grade about 15 full quizzes in under 15 minutes because of the 4-point system. I was also able to be a real stickler on the significant figures because the kids have time to correct their mistakes and get it all right.
I’m incredibly optimistic about the change. The students are a bit nervous, but they’ve heard so many good things from my calc kids that they know this is going to work to their advantage. I know they will be doing a lot more work and keep at the lessons longer than they would under a normal grading system. I’ll keep everyone apprised.
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