CS301 Class #4 Spring 2002
February 15, 2002

Testing/Grading/Cheating

Dan Garcia <ddgarcia@cs>
Christopher Hirsch <chirsch@uclink4>

Class outline

• Welcome (+ handouts)
• HowDidItGo(tm)
• Guest speaker:
  • Kathy Yelick <yelick@cs.berkeley.edu>
  • Her experiences/opinions on testing, grading and cheating
• Break
• Here are some thought questions. Let's discuss.
  • Do you believe in absolute or relative (i.e., curve) grading and why?
  • In a course with an absolute grading scale, do you think that students should be able to know their exact grade in the course at all times? Why or why not?
  • What if the grade were less specific (bigger buckets) (e.g. you're doing well, you're doing ok, you'd better improve)?
  • How do you think this knowledge might affect their stress level and/or their degree of "grade grubbing"?
  • Do you believe we should give grades at all? I.e., does the act of giving grades somehow mean that they're in school for the sole purpose of getting As instead of for the purity of acquiring knowledge?
• Conduct a TA evaluation with the students in your sections this week.
  • We've given you all a handout that you can use for your evaluation. Write down your class title at the top.
  • Think of one question that you'd like to add to the questionaire and add it in the space provided. If you want to add more questions, the MS Word source of the evaluation form is available.
  • This weekend, make copies of the form for each student in your section.
  • If you're giving a midterm this week, it will be better to get your evaluation before the midterm. However, if very few students come to section (much fewer than normal), consider repeating the evaluation in your next section.
  • About 15 minutes before the end of your section, give each student a form and ask them to fill it out.
  • Make sure to pick these forms up at the end of the section.
  • Summarize all of the comments and enter them in your journal for this week.
• Next week we hope to begin videotaping
• Homework:
  • Tools for Teaching
    • Chapter VIII (secs 28-34) "Testing and Grading"
  • How Children Fail by John Holt
    • Part I: Strategy. pp. 9-56.
    • Part II: Fear and Failure. pp. 57-128.
• Journal topics:
  • Summarize the comments from your TA evaluation.
  • How do you tell when your students are having difficulty, and what can you do about it?
  • How do you know when your students' needs are being met?