Re: My Editorial on Exams, Grades, and (Statistical) Education

Jerry Dallal wrote:

> I stopped giving open book exams 30 years ago. It happened at a
final
> exam when I head all those bindings being cracked for the *first
time*!
>
> I let students bring a *** of notes for in-class exams, one
additional
> *** for each successive exam. Many students have told me that
> preparing the *** was one of the most valuable exercises for the
> course. I even had one former graduate student tell me that her
"cheat
> sheets" were the only things (regarding analysis) that she referenced

> while writing her thesis. (I believe this was an exaggeration, but
you
> get the idea.)

I think this is one of the best ways to get otherwise unmotivated
students to think about the material, especially if you impose a limit
on the number of pages. When I have done this, the limit has been one
*** of 8.5 x 11" paper. This limit forces students to make
judgements about what's important and needs to be included on their
***. As Jerry's students suggested to him, the value of the exercise
is in studying the material sufficiently so that one can make those
judgments. Those who do a good job of preparing the sheets no doubt
need them the least during the exam. Also, those who simply obtain a
copy of someone else's *** usually do not prosper. ;-)


> The rules for take-home problems are a bit more liberal: "You may
refer
> to your notes and any textbooks or journals you choose. Human
> assistance is FORBIDDEN. You are not to discuss these problems with
> anyone, including your classmates. You may look for information on
the
> Internet but you may not post questions to chat rooms, bulletin
boards,
> and the like. It's okay if the information is already there. It is
not
> okay if another individual is posting something in response to a
query
> from you."

I wrote some take-home exams under exactly those conditions, and it
worked well, I thought.

--
Bruce Weaver
bweaver@xxxxxxxxxxxx
www.angelfire.com/wv/bwhomedir

.