tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5088860151651047897.post5302264426525229542..comments2024-03-08T13:57:00.071-05:00Comments on Jacobs Physics: Rule 3 of teaching: Your students don't listen to you. (And a non-ohmic light bulb.)Greg Jacobshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03854009948036330746noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5088860151651047897.post-63634439297367129502015-10-24T09:00:09.718-04:002015-10-24T09:00:09.718-04:00Greg,
I am really glad you posted this. I read it...Greg,<br />I am really glad you posted this. I read it as a critique of the supposed success of modeling instruction. Your students had all of the possible advantages that one could have going into the exam. They literally designed and performed the same experiment. So why did they not ace the question. My feeling is that exams like while the AP exams test knowledge and practice, what they really test is how a student thinks with a gun to their head. This is a learned skill that bears a closer resemblance to mastering a sport than anything academic, unless they participate in math competitions, like AMC(8,10,12). While we can do some training in the 9 months that we have them as students, it largely is dictated by their skill level when they walk into the classroom. <br /><br />For instance, I use AP exam questions for all my exams, they are timed exams, I do not address questions unless there are diagrams missing or exam errors, and I count the exam questions in proportion to the time that is allocated - 1 FRQ = 15 min, 1 MC = (45/35) min, and the exams are curved. Basically what I find is that the students who do best on the first exam tend to dominate all year and then get 5's. Now they can not accomplish this without learning the content. However I have had students who were far more dedicated, spent much more time, and consistently perform worse - sometimes catastrophically bad. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15981056615754024841noreply@blogger.com