Michael Renner wrote
> The "lousy exam" message is easier to diffuse with MC exams if you use
> some
> form of machine scoring. ........ In my case, I spend
> about two minutes after each exam explaining this and giving the results,
> including any adjustment to the exam scores based on what I learned; I
> give
> everyone a point for each question that produces lousy statistics, but
> there
> are lots of legitimate approaches. The point is to address the issue and
> do
> something consistently so that students can count on not getting shafted
> when you write or use a question that doesn't accomplish what you
> intended.
> You're sending the message that you care about the quality of the exam,
> and
> demonstrating that you will address the issue if the evidence shows that
> there's a problem. Since I started doing this, I rarely if ever get
> complaints about lousy exams.
>
Agreed. Many's the time I've had a student explain his/her answer to a MC
question and wound up saying, "yeah, I guess if you were reading the
question from that perspective, your answer is reasonable." I then give
everybody an extra point. I also invite the students to stop by and go
over their exams and argue with me about anything they think unfair. It is
quite common for me to add a point or two to an essay question or conclude
that an MC question was not clear. I tell the class that they should feel
free to argue with me because "all the items can't be gems and I don't get
insulted or defensive when an item is challenged." Frankly, I can't
understand faculty who get their noses out of joint when challenged (as long
as the challenge is civil) and the challenges tend to be civil when you
invite the students to challenge you! In 26 years of teaching I've NEVER
had a problem. I'm not saying that every student is happy or even thinks
that the tests were fair (the fundamental attribution error being what it
is) but I've never had to endure any open rancor despite my (thoroughly
undeserved) reputation as being one of the tougher profs in the dept. The
moral: Be open minded to student complaints. Failing that, appear to be
open minded. It works almost as well. Just learn to fake that genuine
positive regard! <g>
Ed
