The value of simple exam questions
Gradually with more teaching experience most lecturers slowly learn that "easy" exam questions can be a good test of students knowledge, understanding, and skills.
In several earlier posts I have discussed my concern that some undergraduate students seem to be able to get to second, third, or even fourth year without being able to perform basic tasks such as
In several earlier posts I have discussed my concern that some undergraduate students seem to be able to get to second, third, or even fourth year without being able to perform basic tasks such as
- sketch a simple function
- keep track of physical units in a calculation
- have a feel for orders of magnitude so they can notice if a calculation gives a ridiculous answer
- examine a plot of experimental data and note whether its qualitative and quantitative features to the predictions of a theory
Hence, I like, and think it is important, to set exam questions that test some of these skills. Here are some samples for a fourth year solid state physics course. Slowly I learnt it is also important and worthwhile to slightly change recycled questions.
Comments
Post a Comment