[MATHEDCC] RE: Philosophical discussion

RWW Taylor (RWTNTS@RITVAX.ISC.RIT.EDU)
Thu, 18 Feb 1999 10:45:21 -0500 (EST)

Yes, it's important in judging (or predicting) student success in a
mathematics course to look beyond the (sometimes rather arbitrary) boundaries
of the current course. But often you need to look even farther than the "next"
math course, whatever that may be. For students heading to higher academic
tracks we may feel we understand what behaviors and understandings acquired in
a course we are teaching will pay long-term rewards. It may not be so clear in
the case of students heading toward non-academic employment, where practice
changes fastest and often runs ahead of formally-taught content.

The question of assigning appropriate grades is even harder in the case
of "non-traditional" students of whatever "stripe". Should a grade more heavily
represent an absolute accomplishment at a standard task, or should a grade be
seen as representing a _prediction_ of future performance, based on (say)
observation of creative application of a deep understanding to arrive at a new
approach to a problem? What value do you assign to a student's learning to "let
go" of an inadequate understanding or notational practice? Basically, what
behaviors are you going to _reward_?

It seems that the whole question of fair assignment of grades just gets
more complicated (and interesting) the longer you go on teaching!

RWW Taylor
National Technical Institute for the Deaf
Rochester Institute of Technology
Rochester NY 14623

>>>> The plural of mongoose begins with p. <<<<
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