Meet AndyMeet Andy Got D’s in College Algebra and Trig, “Flukes!” Took up through...
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Partial Credit: Friend or Frankenstein? Maintaining High Standards While Fostering Student Growth
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Transcript of Meet AndyMeet Andy Got D’s in College Algebra and Trig, “Flukes!” Took up through...
Partial Credit: Friend or
Frankenstein?
Maintaining High Standards While Fostering Student Growth
Meet Andy
Got D’s in College Algebra and Trig, “Flukes!”
Took up through Precalculus in High School, “No Problem!”
CC instructor allows Andy into Precalculus, with warning
Andy barely passes Precalculus; ekes out a C in Calculus 1
Flounders miserably in Calculus 2, drops course
Finally succumbs to nagging and takes College Algebra again in Summer 2013…
Why Andy Can’t Pass Calculus:
…Andy wrote this on yesterday’s test
Motivation #1: No More “Scratch Work”
Motivation #2: No More Haunting
Errors
The Coup de Grace
Zach’s Picture
Partial Credit: A Fundamentally Biased
Endeavor
“…but Professor Plum said this was OK…”
Cumulative Intolerance for Famous Mistakes
Some “careless” errors make a much easier problem
Double/Triple/Quadruple Jeopardy
The Luck of The Spot
Grading Fatigue
Reasons NOT to Allow Partial Credit
Potentially devastating results in the real world
Computation is just as important as conceptual work
Strong incentive to double-check work
False representation to student
False representation to future instructors
Likelihood of inequity and inconsistency
...but it makes grading easy!
Reasons TO Allow Partial Credit
Encourages students to keep trying
Strong incentive for students to organize written work
Concepts are more important than computation
Students like it, expect it
Graders learn more about students
Helps instructor’s grade distribution
Makes the grader feel good
Sample Student Errors
Every question is worth 5 points
Consider the course
Assume errors are “in character” for the student
Things Instructors Can Do
Decide on partial credit points before grading.
No partial credit for core objective errors (possible exceptions: very new or very difficult objectives)
Limited (or no?) partial credit for recent objective errors
Consider partial credit for tertiary errors (unless offensive)
Grade all page 1’s, then all page 2’s, etc. for consistency
Comments without penalty are instructive, too!
Things Students Can Do
Make your strategy clear to the reader; include words!
Write what you would do if you weren’t stuck.
Rely on what makes sense, not what you remember
Maintain concentration for the entire problem
Practice excellence on homework
Pay attention to the directions & notation
Apply the “sniff test” to answers
What Works for You?
Share opinions with colleagues!
Sources & Credits
Sean Riley, Miramar College http://faculty.sdmiramar.edu/sraleigh/partial_credit.html
Apex Math http://www.apex-math.com/314/should-partial-credit-be-awarded-on-math-tests
Far Side cartoon by Gary Larson
“Andy” photo from www.collegemagazine.com
About Me
Native Texan; University of Texas “faculty brat”
B.A. and M.A. in Mathematics Education from UTexas
High School Math Teacher at St. Stephen’s Episcopal School (Austin, TX) for 11 years
Associate Professor of Mathematics at Austin Community College for 12 years (and counting!)
