Students can earn up to 2 "bonus" points for each of five units to be
added to the final exam. I depend on students to complete a tally sheet
(which I provide at the beginning of each unit) which counts how many
exercises are completed, started but not finished, or not even started. I
use this to compute a weighted average. Even though the students prepare
their own tallies, not everyone gets a full two points!
As a quick check on their "accuracy", I select half of the students in
each class to "show me their homework". The first time, this selection is
random; after that it is (mostly) those below the median on the previous test.
Also I use sets of more-advanced problems, the kind I would like to put on
the test if time was unlimited, to grant bonus points on each exam. These
are given a week prior to the exam and to be done as "group-work". To
encourage participation in such outside-of-class team work -- which
commuting students say is difficult to arrange -- the bonus is substantial
(up to 5 points) and there is a one-point penalty for failing to turn it in.
This group-work is graded more stringently than the in-class exam and is
given more weight for those teams who have a member with a low exam score.
I know: that's just a scheme to re-distribute points!! But it does serve
as encouragement for the stronger students to work with their "weaker"
peers regardless of their ability. And students tell me they "love" these
problems.
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