Anecdotal evidence from the students is that they spend much more time on
these exams then they do studying for in-class exams, and they claim they
learn more on these exams. The problems in classes like Calculus or
Discrete Math are much harder; in lower level classes I write problems
which are more involved, but usually not conceptually more difficult. In
the upper classes, the students who work together tend to do better than
those who don't , even when the soloists are the best students in the
class. The problems are often difficult enough that students have to spend
a little while figuring out what the problems are really asking. Sometimes
students get discouraged and seek out off-campus authorities, but that has
not been a major problem as far as I can tell. They also tend to do
research, scouring other books for similar problems.
I also give a lot of in-class "activities" or quizzes which the students
work on in groups, so the take-homes are not that out of character with the
rest of the course.
Karl Schaffer ---------------> khs2700@mercury.fhda.edu
OR khs2700@tiptoe.fhda.edu
(408) 864-8214 (offc) -------> De Anza College, 21250 Stevens Creek Blvd.
Cupertino, CA 95014