Tag Archives: exams

Ph.D. Qualifying exams: what they do and do not mean

Posted on December 8, 2014 by

My youngest son went to a very progressive public kindergarten in Houston, La Escuela Rice, that was supposed to be highly technological, multi-grade, and bilingual in Spanish. This school also had a special grading system that did not have letter … Continue reading →

Posted in Graduate school | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

How to stop grading unfairly: 9 ways

Posted on September 7, 2014 by

It may be only the second week of class, but I have a stack of 45 tests to grade. The students had to answer 10 of 20 questions that generally could be answered in 3 to 5 sentences. Now I … Continue reading →

Posted in Teaching, Undergraduates | Tagged , , , , , | 6 Comments

Thoughts on easy and hard test questions for undergraduate students.

Posted on September 5, 2014 by

No this is not going to be a post on Bloom’s taxonomy of questions memorized or conceptual, useful as that is. Here I’m talking about the kinds of material students struggle with. If ever there was a clear book surely … Continue reading →

Posted in Teaching, Undergraduates | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Is it fair some students get extra time on tests?

Posted on August 30, 2013 by

If you are teaching in a class with tests, quizzes, or exams this semester in the USA, then you have told your class, probably on the syllabus, that you will follow the law and give students with documented issues over … Continue reading →

Posted in Teaching | Tagged , , , , , , | 12 Comments

What not to do on your first day of class

Posted on August 31, 2012 by

Are you about to teach your first class of the semester? Is your syllabus ready? Have you picked just the right texts, balancing content with cost? Are you a few PowerPoints ahead? Have you thought about how this semester you … Continue reading →

Posted in The joy of teaching | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments