> Does anyone have experience with the use of take home exams?
YES, IN MOST ALL MY COURSES AS A SUPPLEMENT TO AN IN-CLASS PORTION.
PRE-CALC) OCCASIONAL QUESTIONS THAT ARE A LITTLE TOO MESSY/LONG FOR
IN-CLASS
FRESH/SOPH COURSES) 1 OR 2 PROBLEMS WITH APPLICATIONS AND/OR NEED FOR
SOME
COMPUTER WORK (C.A.S.)
UPPER/MAJOR) 1/3-1/2 OF TOTAL EXAM POINTS, TYPICALLY COMPRISED A 2+ LINE
PROOF, AN APPLICATION TO LET THE CONTEXT "BREW" FOR STUDENTS,
A MULTI-PART PROBLEM, ETC.
>
>Do you think they are effective?
IF EXAMS ARE TO ASSESS STUDENTS "COMPETENCE" TO KNOW/DO MATHEMATICS,
I THINK
THAT AN IN-CLASS PART CAN INDICATE STUDENTS' TOOLS, ABILITY TO CONVERSE
WITH
PEERS, ETC. WHILE A TAKE-HOME PART CAN INDICATE STUDENTS' ABILITY TO
APPLY
TOOLS, DEVELOP/TEST SOLUTIONS, PROVE, ETC.
I WOULD BE UNSATISFIED IF I ONLY ATTEMPTED TO ASSESS THE FORMER SET OF
ABILITIES.(*)
>What about cheating?
I MAKE THEM SIGN A STATEMENT THAT THEY HAVE NOT CONSULTED ANY
PERSON.
THEN I HOPE...AND ALSO KEEP MY "RADAR" TUNED...
(MY CLASSES ARE TYPICALLY "SMALL", WITH STUDENTS OFTEN TAKING >1 CLASS
FROM
EACH PROFESSOR SO I TELL MYSELF THAT MY "RADAR" IS INDICATIVE.)
I ADOPT A (SMALL?) RISK HERE BECAUSE (*) ABOVE IS SO IMPORTANT TO ME.
POSTSCRIPT:
Anybody using Tom Banchoff's "2-phase strategy"?
How do you find it working in your situation?
-------------------------
Professor Ken Constantine
Eastern Nazarene College
Quincy, MA 02170
(617)745-3501
Email: constant@enc.edu
------------------------
edmund sears, 3'rd verse of "It Came Upon A Midnight Clear":
"And ye, beneath life's crushing load, whose forms are bending low
Who toil along the climbing way, with painful step and slow,
Look up! for glad and golden hours come swiftly on the wing.
O rest beside the weary road and hear the angels sing."