I'm talking CHOICE. On a test, on an exam. Exams are behind me, and once again, I find myself constantly thinking;
What have I learned this period that will help me be a fantastic teacher?
And I've got a dandy; Choice.
Its so simple really, just an extension of differentiated instruction, but it gives the opportunity for SUCCESS on tests, and thats something that really interests me.
For my third year advanced organic chemistry class, all tests/exams were a)open book (another discussion for another day) and b) featured choice.
What I mean is, each exam section would say, pick 3 of the following 5 questions and answer them, or answer 2 of the following 3 problems. And it was genius, on so many levels.
Firstly, it gives students the opportunity to answer questions about the material they find most interesting, giving them a chance for success.
Secondly, eventually we learned that this was the way our prof did his exams, and we knew that if we accidentally forgot to study one certain aspect, and a question was asked about it, it would not be the end of the world. This took much of the stress out of the "lead up" to the exam, and allowed me to enter with an eased mind.
Thirdly, it allowed him to make short exams. 4 problems, answer three. There was no need for him to add unnecessary questions to dilute the test (such that a student not knowing one would lower their mark substantially)
And lastly, from a teachers perspective, it would spice up the marking a little bit, with not every test looking the same.
I thought it was great, and intend to give it a try.
Love the idea, and I think I may know what prof/course you are talking about ; )
ReplyDeleteOne interesting extension of this idea would be to have a range of difficulties of the questions on the test and have different questions worth different marks. For example, if a test was out of 30, and you had to answer 3 our of the 5 questions, the marking scheme could be as follows:
Question 1) /8
Question 2) /10
Question 3) /12
Question 4) /12
Question 5) /12
That way students who are excelling or want a challenge could do the last three questions and attempt bonus marks while not hindering or excluding those meeting the government expectations of the course (most likely covered in the first 3 questions).
beautiful idea.
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