tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8092896.post111929793312533149..comments2023-11-13T04:15:43.184-06:00Comments on Cantànima: Banishing the curvejack perryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14681558050302289235noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8092896.post-43816977354633819642016-04-25T17:29:41.665-05:002016-04-25T17:29:41.665-05:00I agree that it is more work, but the bottom line ...I agree that it is more work, but the bottom line is that there should be mastery of the material to get an A. The curriculum can be (semiquantitatively) described and so can mastery. If less than the curved amount achieve mastery than less As should result. And the converse.<br /><br />A great example is the AP exam. Some schools may have lots of 5s and some schools nothing above a 2. But Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8092896.post-1119588942929390082005-06-23T23:55:00.000-05:002005-06-23T23:55:00.000-05:00So, for example: instead of asking them to diagram...So, for example: instead of asking them to diagram the phase plane for a given differential equation, I say: "Given the differential equation y'=y^2-2y+s, what values of s will give two, one, or no equilibrium points?" <BR/>-------------------<BR/><BR/>Right.<BR/><BR/>lol...Alessandrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13471481963237568388noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8092896.post-1119588678619006772005-06-23T23:51:00.000-05:002005-06-23T23:51:00.000-05:00One of my greatest pet peeves is any teachers that...One of my greatest pet peeves is any teachers that starts the test question as "tell me in your own words what author X said..." - which often means they want you to repeat EXACTLY what author X wrote (ideas/facts) but you have to change around words to not sound like them.<BR/>-----------<BR/>I understand what the professor is aiming for, but in math that backfires. :-) <BR/>------------<BR/>Alessandrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13471481963237568388noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8092896.post-1119584016677416442005-06-23T22:33:00.000-05:002005-06-23T22:33:00.000-05:00I hate my students. (Not really, but I want to.) I...I hate my students. (Not really, but I want to.) I'll write more about this tomorrow or over the weekend, but: it's pretty clear why they were asking for a curve. At least I'm done marking what's right and wrong; now I have to assign scores. Ughhhhhhhh...<BR/><BR/><I><B>Alessandra:</B> Are you asking your students to solve a problem that they have the math means to solve? They have learned how tojack perryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14681558050302289235noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8092896.post-1119454598190385332005-06-22T10:36:00.000-05:002005-06-22T10:36:00.000-05:00I think I understand what you mean. Although I don...I think I understand what you mean. Although I don't know exactly what problems one encounters when formulating math tests, some basics are the same as other subjects. Are you asking your students to solve a problem that they have the math means to solve? They have learned how to solve such a problem? Or they haven't been taught something and they are being asked about it? <BR/><BR/>I have never Alessandrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13471481963237568388noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8092896.post-1119408636382064562005-06-21T21:50:00.000-05:002005-06-21T21:50:00.000-05:00When teaching, I've always taken great care with e...<I>When teaching, I've always taken great care with elaborating fair questions and tests.</I><BR/><BR/>That's increasingly hard for me to do. I can of course ask students simply to regurgitate the methods shown in class, which shows that they're good machines, but not that they're good human beings. I always try to ask questions that make them think; the trouble is that students in a math class jack perryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14681558050302289235noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8092896.post-1119310160428015532005-06-20T18:29:00.000-05:002005-06-20T18:29:00.000-05:00It's amazing how well that works: most students re...It's amazing how well that works: most students really like the opportunity to show that they can learn the material, that they can earn points instead of having them given to them. They don't like the extra work, of course, but it goes a ways towards mollifying their frustration, especially since sometimes their failure to learn the material is, in fact, my own fault.<BR/>=======================Alessandrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13471481963237568388noreply@blogger.com