tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15868947.post2042952683053988278..comments2023-10-29T06:41:23.910-07:00Comments on Halfway There: OutnumberedZenohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09058127284297728552noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15868947.post-51564331067839998662007-05-24T06:50:00.000-07:002007-05-24T06:50:00.000-07:00Back when I was teaching calculus as a TA, I came ...Back when I was teaching calculus as a TA, I came up with a policy to encourage students to pay more attention to the homework problems I assigned: one problem would get used on the next quiz. No reworking the format of the problem, no replacing names of variables, no changes at all.<BR/><BR/>After one homework assignment, I was puzzled why people hadn't done so well on one particular problem. So, we discussed it in class and I worked out for them how to solve it. (I no longer remember anything about the problem other than I didn't consider it one of the more difficult ones.)<BR/><BR/>I thought the attention I lavished on the problem A) would've made them understand its solution, and B) given them a hint I thought it important and they might be seeing it again.<BR/><BR/>Of course, I put it on the quiz and their performance on that problem was equally dismal. We went over it yet again in class, they diligently wrote down every word I said and copied every scribble from the board, staring at me blankly when not writing.<BR/><BR/>You can probably guess the next development. I put the same problem, verbatin, on the next test. And, of course, you can guess the outcome.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15868947.post-39641928634790450452007-05-23T07:28:00.000-07:002007-05-23T07:28:00.000-07:00Zeno, I've seen similar, if not more perplexing, b...Zeno, <BR/><BR/>I've seen similar, if not more perplexing, behavior in the humanities classes I teach. This semester I gave a pop-quiz which half the class promptly failed. So, I told them that they would be taking the same quiz the next class, and reminded them what the questions would be. At the next class meeting, only one more student passed the quiz. <BR/><BR/>Perhaps "F's" are like tattoos--a mark of defiance and rebelliousness against "the man" and his unreasonable expectations that they read and then study the assigned material?PlatoisDerridahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13359099109925868324noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15868947.post-66241388144066901092007-05-22T00:05:00.000-07:002007-05-22T00:05:00.000-07:00Makes me wish I could roll up the exam paper and t...Makes me wish I could roll up the exam paper and tap the students on the nose with it.<BR/><BR/>"NO!"Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com