(Please don't e-mail copies of public follow-ups.)
Robert J. MacG. Dawson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in sci.stat.edu:
> An examination has
>little value *except* as a way of setting grades; and setting an exam so
>hard that a student performing at an excellent level will only get 70% would
>seem to reduce the sensitivity of the test as a measuring instrument in
>the range for which it will be used.
I agree with the latter comment, but not the former one.
The prospect of an examination forces most students to look again at
the material. It seems obvious that that cannot hurt retention.
As to whether it helps retention, my gut tells me "yes" but I don't
have any hard numbers to back that up. Does anyone have any studies
that go one way or the other?
--
Stan Brown, Oak Road Systems, Cortland County, New York, USA
http://OakRoadSystems.com/
"If there's one thing I know, it's men. I ought to: it's
been my life work." -- Marie Dressler, in /Dinner at Eight/
.
.
=================================================================
Instructions for joining and leaving this list, remarks about the
problem of INAPPROPRIATE MESSAGES, and archives are available at:
. http://jse.stat.ncsu.edu/ .
=================================================================
