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Questions tagged [exams]

This tag is intended for questions about exams as viewed from the point of view of an instructor.

7 votes
6 answers
2k views

How can I distribute an exam to a large class without a lockdown broswer such as Respondus/Proctorio?

I teach math in a small college with small endowment; we do not have lots of budget to go around. When giving a test to a large class, ideally one should print out the problem sheets ahead of time and ...
A.Magnus's user avatar
  • 239
8 votes
6 answers
4k views

Would you correct grading mistakes downwards if there is a mistake in grading?

In a recent exam, I give student a true or false question asking them to decide if a statement is true. After the grades have been published, a student pointed out that I misread the statement and ...
LeafGlowPath's user avatar
6 votes
1 answer
371 views

How to assess students in real analysis?

Terence Tao says the following in the preface to his book Analysis I: With regard to examinations for a course based on this text, I would recommend either an open-book, open-notes examination with ...
Pedro's user avatar
  • 1,800
11 votes
9 answers
4k views

Effectiveness of Requiring Students to Repeat Proofs Presented in Class

In teaching mathematics, I've avoided asking students to replicate proofs I've demonstrated in class, believing this approach primarily tests memorization rather than understanding or critical ...
user avatar
6 votes
1 answer
633 views

Strategies for Fair Assessment in Mixed-Ability Undergraduate Math Classes

In my undergraduate courses (discrete math, linear algebra), students' backgrounds vary significantly. One group has a strong math foundation from high school, while the other, less prepared, ...
user avatar
5 votes
1 answer
231 views

Strategies for Designing Challenging Yet Feasible Quiz Problems for Upper-Level Math Courses

In the past semester, I taught two 7-week courses: discrete math and algorithms designs (which is essentially still math) for undergraduate CS students. I implemented weekly 25-minute quizzes ...
user avatar
9 votes
7 answers
490 views

Loaning students calculators during exams

Context: I am an associate professor at a small liberal arts institution in the US. I find in my introductory business math course that students sometimes fail to buy a calculator for the course, ...
AegisCruiser's user avatar
  • 1,427
-1 votes
2 answers
164 views

I'm in dilemma while solving arithmetic problems [closed]

I'm competitive exam student learning Quantative aptitude what should i choose over solving more questions and skipping the one i can't solve or spending hours on one question till i solve it and then ...
Abhishek's user avatar
5 votes
1 answer
2k views

In math exams, how rigorous should the questions be?

We have theoretical questions in our exams (often in ABCD format). For example, I can state the question: For an indefinite integral, does it hold that $\int f(g(x)) \cdot g'(x) \, dx = \int f(x) ...
Jake B.'s user avatar
  • 167
3 votes
0 answers
181 views

Assigning essays in take home exams

I was talking to a college student I know who is currently taking linear algebra. He told me that during his take home midterm/final exams he was assigned essay questions, which surprised me quite a ...
Davis Yoshida's user avatar
-1 votes
1 answer
241 views

Learning, exams, math degree

I have only passed the one fourth of my courses so far, which means like one year of the maths undergraduate studies. I live in a different place from where the university i study at is and try to ...
plants's user avatar
  • 159
6 votes
4 answers
3k views

Point Deductions - Exams and Quizzes

With regard to an undergraduate statistics course, I am developing a standardized list of point deductions with the TAs (doctoral students) so that graders are consistent in what they are taking off ...
wjktrs's user avatar
  • 171
0 votes
1 answer
88 views

Standardization of evaluation tests [closed]

What kind of standard we need to maintain when preparing advanced level mathematics term test papers ? In many cases I have seen test papers prepared using exactly past paper questions and in some ...
Janaka Rodrigo's user avatar
0 votes
2 answers
156 views

As a tutor, should I make students who did badly on timed, closed book past paper tests, do the exact same test again?

As a maths tutor, when I set tests (past papers in particular), if a student does poorly (~50/60% or below), obviously some topics need to be retaught. But should I make them do the exact same test - ...
Adam Rubinson's user avatar
12 votes
12 answers
7k views

How should I grade true-or-false questions if the student's writing is unclear?

See the attached image: I am having a difficult time grading this paper as I am not sure if the student intentionally wrote the answers in such a way that each answer looks like both "T" (...
Zuriel's user avatar
  • 4,275
8 votes
5 answers
509 views

Good exercises that force you to apply the definition of the derivative, without explicitly telling you to do so?

I'd like to ask my students whether some real function is differentiable at a certain $x_0$. I prefer not telling them that they have to use the definition of the derivative, but to instead present a ...
Snaw's user avatar
  • 181
4 votes
1 answer
473 views

Mental Health in Mathematics

I am not sure if my question is relative to this meta but I still want to put forth my thoughts and concerns and questions because I think its not just me but others too who have similar issues. My ...
False Equivalence's user avatar
22 votes
14 answers
14k views

Student asked me if it is necessary to simplify fractions at the end of answering a question. I'm not sure how to respond

I was just tutoring someone and we went through some sort of diagnostic test thing, when the following question came up. Question: Here is some information about $50$ people who took the driving test:...
Adam Rubinson's user avatar
13 votes
5 answers
1k views

Where can I find public repositories of past math exams?

I'm looking for public repositories/banks of past undergraduate math exams. No solutions necessary. I just want inspiration for writing my own exams and practice exams. It'd be nice to collect links ...
Mike Pierce's user avatar
  • 4,845
2 votes
1 answer
204 views

Effect of grades versus pass/fail on teacher education students

Context: University studies in Norway, master level, to become a teacher at either primary education (barneskole, classes 1-7) or mostly middle school level (ungdomsskole, classes 8-10 and pupils of ...
Tommi's user avatar
  • 7,374
14 votes
7 answers
5k views

A smart student that struggles in exams

I am tutoring a grade 8 student that failed his math exam, but surprisingly it seems that he is more than smart enough: he understands everything I say really quickly, and he knows most of the ideas ...
Fareed Abi Farraj's user avatar
9 votes
2 answers
477 views

Should we assess ability to use specific problem solving methods, or general ability to solve problems?

This is my first semester being an instructor of record for a college algebra course. One of the sections we cover is "methods of solving quadratic equations", where we discuss factoring and ...
Brain Gainz's user avatar
5 votes
3 answers
1k views

How to test student's skills in programming or using software?

I am going to teach an undergraduate statistics course next year. My plan is to spend less time on theory and a more time on teaching students to doing some statistics on computer. However, this ...
user avatar
7 votes
7 answers
4k views

How do you handle the frustration of having to GRADE student exams / homework?

A math student may write very long and detailed answers, just because he or she does not know what to look for, for example in Geometry proofs. Or - a student may just write an arbitrary step without ...
Amir Hardoof's user avatar
2 votes
0 answers
321 views

Which areas of maths should underperforming western countries focus on?

I am not sure which StackExchange to ask this question but I am interested in the relative underperformance of Western countries such as Australia, US, UK compared to other higher performing countries ...
Poidah's user avatar
  • 161
6 votes
3 answers
484 views

Create a math quiz with LaTex by randomly choosing questions from a bank

I am looking for a simple solution to the following problem: I would like to create a math quiz with n questions via LaTex (printable, in pdf) where question 1 is chosen randomly from question bank #1,...
andrea's user avatar
  • 61
1 vote
1 answer
164 views

How to create an online examination in a small class that ensures certain academic integrity

I am teaching a Calculus class with around 30 students. The classroom is about 100 m^2. So far I have been using myopenmath.com to assign homework problems to my students. Now I would like to deliver ...
user avatar
1 vote
0 answers
214 views

Do you avoid examples or test questions that showcase an algorithmic plug'n'chug approach?

If we accept that there's not much learning from doing the "same" questions, like find the derivative of $x^2$, and $x^3$, and $x^4$ due to the algorithmic way of how it's done, then what ...
user avatar
12 votes
6 answers
2k views

Question formats for online tests, to deter cheating

I'm teaching calculus 1 online this term and anticipate being plagued by the perennial problem of cheaters. I have seen suggestions for how to arrange the testing time to accommodate for traditional ...
Opal E's user avatar
  • 4,089
4 votes
1 answer
263 views

How should mathematics tests be designed? [closed]

I am speaking about high school mathematics . Students have attended a mathematics course . By the end thereof , students are supposed to be able to: find the limit of a real function f as “x” ...
Aloz371's user avatar
  • 41

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