I am trying something this semester to get more students doing homework
which seems to be working. Of course, until a few semesters have passed so
I can truly compare, the jury is still out on its effectiveness. Often my
students complain that they fall behind in the homework because I don't
collect it for a grade. The success rates of my colleagues who _do_ collect
and grade homework speak for themselves. So while I firmly believe that I
would be a better teacher for doing that, the fact is I am too lazy to want
to do that much grading. I also believe that when I give a grade for
something there should be a reasonable gaurantee that I am grading that
student's work.
These things said, I am trying a compromise solution. When I compute
averages I take the top 4 of 5 hourly tests, add in the final twice and
divide by 6. So this semester I am collecting 1 or 2 problems from the
homework a week for a total of 18 problems. I assign a 1 or a 0 for the
grade and don't give partial credit. These points are added to their point
total before I divide by 6 so that they can improve their average by as much
as 3 pts. I never tell them in advance which problems I will collect and I
let them recopy their work to hand in while I'm checking the role so little
time is lost.
The effect seems to be that students feel they have more reason to stay
current with the homework, I'm not overwhelmed with grading, since they
recopy their work in my presence I feel I have a reasonable gaurantee of
authenticity and, since the points are bonuses, I don't feel like I might be
penalizing someone who has a valid reason for not having their homework
done. Also, since these problems are graded without partial credit,
students seem to be paying more attention to proper presentation. So far
I'm getting higher quality participation in class from a greater percentage
of students.
--Tony
At 08:28 AM 9/29/98 -0500, you wrote:
>My experience with students on the homework issue at the college level
>parallels that of Bret Taylor. I also found years ago that most students
>who asked questions may not have tried many of the assigned exercises. Now
>when I ask if there are questions on the homework, I require those students
>to produce their homework so I can see what they tried in their attempt to
>answer their own questions. If they have not tried, I remind them that it
>is difficult to help someone when I do not know what they need help with.
>If I see their attempted work, I then have a basis on which to build. Quite
>often I find that the student copied the exercise incorrectly from the book
>or has a "minor" arithmetic error (although errors are never minor!) such as
>5 times 0 is 5. As you can probably tell, I help those who have tried to
>help themselves.
>
>Obviously this technique frustrates those students who do not try to
>complete their homework...but after the first quiz/test, I normally find
>that more students are doing their homework.
>
>---
>Dr. William R. Schooley
>Professor, Department of Mathematics Sciences
>Division of Technology, Mathematics and Physical Sciences (TMPS)
>Harper College
>1200 West Algonquin Road, Palatine, IL 60067
>847-925-6699 (Office: D221) 847-925-6375 (TMPS: H119)
>847-925-6049 (FAX)
>
>
>email: wschoole@harper.cc.il.us
>
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