Hi On Wed, 8 Jan 2003, Marte Fallshore wrote:
> I teach an introductory statistics class where homework is meant to be a > learning experience, so is graded very lightly (especially the > computations). Meanwhile, on tests, students can compute 'till the cows > come home but do not understand the concepts I feel are more important > than computations. They also often run out of time on the tests. It > occurred to me the other day, that I could grade the homework much harder > on the computations, and make the exams conceptual only. I am wondering if > anybody out here has done this, and what the result was. My fear is that > they will merely flunk all the tests because they cannot make up for > misunderstanding through their ability to blindly compute. Thanks, It would help to know more about your assignments and tests to appreciate how you are determining that students do not understand the conceptual stuff and what kinds of practice they are now getting. Perhaps assignments can be designed to help with the conceptual as well as computations. Also don't overlook the links between conceptual and compuational. One benefit of lots of practice at computing (i.e., making some things automatic) is that people may have more cognitive resources for the conceptual. They also may be less likely to run out of time on tests. It is also helpful, I think, to have students do the computations using conceptual formula rather than computational ones that lack any obvious relation to the meaning of the statistic being calculated. Perhaps it might be possible to give mini-quizzes (e.g., one question) on specific conceptual topics that you find they are not understanding. These mini-quizzes may not even be worth any marks, but would provide you with feedback about how students are doing and get them thinking during the term about the conceptual stuff. There is no substitute in teaching stats for repetition. This includes literal repetition (e.g., in lectures and labs, lots of problems, ...) and conceptual repetition (e.g., different analogies for conceptualizing the material). Also keep in mind that learning statistics often entails considerable work on the part of students, work that not all students are willing to undertake. You may not be able to do much for some students. On the other hand, I think many students are surprised that they can indeed even learn such material when given good instruction and (strongly) encouraged/required to do the requisite work. Best wishes Jim ============================================================================ James M. Clark (204) 786-9757 Department of Psychology (204) 774-4134 Fax University of Winnipeg 4L05D Winnipeg, Manitoba R3B 2E9 [EMAIL PROTECTED] CANADA http://www.uwinnipeg.ca/~clark ============================================================================ --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
