Questions tagged [exams]
This tag is intended for questions about exams as viewed from the point of view of an instructor.
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Should I design my exams to have time-pressure or not?
Is it better to design an exam with fewer questions and relaxed timing or with more questions and a resulting time-pressure?
One the one hand, it seems that students who really know the stuff will ...
- 4,076
12
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4
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How to design multiple choice questions
I've seen the previously-asked questions about the effectiveness of multiple choice problems, but I want to know about design. What are best practices in multiple choice problem design? The "common" ...
- 9,729
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2
answers
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Should students be given partial scores when they gave an incomplete proof by contradiction?
In a quiz, there was a question asking students to show something doesn’t exist. A lot of them gave proofs by contradiction.
Initially, I designed the marking scheme so that an incomplete proof by ...
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How can I estimate the length of an exam?
Background: I am fairly new at teaching, and in every subject I have taught, I have had difficulty estimating the length and difficulty of an exam. I need to write an exam for a university senior-...
- 11.7k
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2
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Exam philosophy
I'm curious if anyone knows of any books, studies, or other resources on the philosophy of creating and grading mathematics exams. After working as a graduate TA for 4 years and dealing with a wide ...
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2
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Handing out $2 calculators for tests?
In a store last weekend, I saw a simple solar-powered calculator for $2. It had four functions plus a square root key. I'm considering the possibility of buying 50 such calculators and handing them ...
user507
20
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6
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Worldwide collection of final examinations in mathematics
I am interested in comparing mathematics (and also physics) final examinations from all around the world for the highest secondary school qualification in the particular country. Especially I am ...
- 1,275
18
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4
answers
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Requiring students to know all the proofs on an oral exam
I'm asking this question as a student, wondering what various pros/cons to the given formula for oral exams could be.
Let me give some context first. I am a first year mathematics student at a ...
- 325
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4
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It is good to have old exams (with solutions) published?
What are the arguments in publishing or not publishing old exams? If yes, should they contain also a solution? Would you publish them directly after that particular exam or publish your old one's just ...
- 9,448
12
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1
answer
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How, now, shall we teach math online?
Now that everyone has had the experience of teaching math in an online/remote/synchronous/asynchronous format, and looking forward to more of this in the Summer and Fall terms, how do we change our ...
- 9,729
42
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Formula sheets and books during tests and exams
Some teachers make memorizing formulas, definitions and others things obligatory, and forbid "aids" in any form during tests and exams. Other allow for writing down more complicated expressions, ...
- 8,967
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What are some good rules for handling student questions during exams?
For example, I gave an exam earlier today with a problem that ended in the sentence
Use the chain rule to find $(f\circ g)'(3)$.
During the exam, one of the students asked me what the circle ...
- 8,289
22
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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:...
- 985
19
votes
5
answers
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How to award points for sense-making at the end of a problem?
Here is a statistics question I asked on a recent exam:
How high should the doorway be to allow 97% of men to fit through it?
I got a very large number of answers like "3 inches" or "0.0001 feet". ...
- 21.7k
15
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How to deal with answers containing completely off-topic/random/very wrong arguments?
It often happens that students answer (partly) a questions in an exam (lets assume this part is okay), but then add something completely off-topic or something very wrong in their answer (see examples ...
- 9,448