me mid term rather than a Scantron type midterm. http://theory414.blogspot.com/2009/01/quiz.html These would be answered creatively with written responses.
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me mid term rather than a Scantron type midterm. http://theory414.blogspot.com/2009/01/quiz.html These would be answered creatively with written responses.
30 comments:
A creative question take home is a better idea. Questions that provoke thought make for a better learning.
1day as a lion, thank you. I like your reply. how do you like the proposed questions? Each person could answer using theorists and concepts we have covered. Rather than just chosing an answer and putting it on a Scantron, for each question, one would have to "stack" or put the answers in an order of best-to-worst and give a justification. what do you think?
Ordering from best to worst is a great idea. This will allow us to really disect the information and draw our conclusions about each theorists work.
Papers will be judged in relation to one another for clarity, insight, sociological imagination, richness of example or insight, writing skill, and use of key concepts of our thinkers. Make your paper stand out for the coveted "A"
I also like the idea of a take home mid term. However, if any students in the class are like me (and for the most part I have found that we as students share a lot more than we think) we want to know ahead of time of any changes. I think we will need at least a week to complete the assignment and at least 1 class to discuss the assignment. This is just my opinion though.... short answer.... great idea!
you will hear it tomorrow - and have a week! it's been posted for a week here, but only three looked.
I think a take home midterm is an absolutely wonderful idea. I am completely on board with this. I think this will present a much better opportunity for us to exhibit the knowledge that we have gained through this class!
I would prefer to write a paper based on those questions rather than picking an answer, and putting it onto a scantron. However, I don't like the idea of ranking the questions. I would prefer to choose an answer and justify it. Why should we rank them when we can choose one answer from your list, and say why this answer is correct. I mean as long as we can back up our answer I think thats better. You'll get to see the various answers the students give, and see how their perspective is different from other students, and how they use different theorist to back up their answer. I don't like the ranking idea at ALL!! Well that's just my opinion. I prefer just giving one answer. Now as for the way the paper is graded, I'm more straight to the point and answering the question. I'm not creative at all. How is that going to work out if other students are like me and others are more in tune to their creative side? I'm more straight to the point than painting a picture and giving examples. It's hard for me to do that.
you would rank them because they are all correct. the skill is in specifying how they are correct, and in that order. I suspect you are a lot more creative than you think.
I think a take home midterm is better. Some of us get really nervous and freak out during the scantron test. A take home would allow us to really interpret the material and allow those who do not understand a theorist so well, to do a bit more research on their own in order to understand the material better.
I am on board with a take home exam! Like some of my classmates mentioned it helps calm our nerves, organize our thoughts better and most importantly thoroughly disect the complicated theorist we are trying to understand. I have always been a big believer that in order to really understand any subject matter you must teach it to another. Our papers would essentially be proving or disproving our knowledge of the theorist. I like the idea of ranking the answers and giving a justification. Although it does seem like more work than focusing on one answer, it is an interesting challenge. In my opinion it offers an opportunity to better understand the theorist we are studying...
I agree with dbo. One choice, would have to be more of a suitable answer than the others. If MT..insist that we rank - what will determine a good paper? Quality or Quantity. I also don't believe our papers should be compared to others for a grade. Mt.. should grade us as an individual and on the clarity of our logic. I also would like to know if the right answers are predetermined? If so,why are we forced to spend hours ranking and explaining if the correct order is unflexible? If not, than how can someone be judged on their answer if they can explain their way of thinking?
who said the correct order is inflexible?
i'm all for the take home mid term, i just don't think the 20 questions are really necessary...it should be one or the another...that's just my thought...
I agree with you Just Me. The midterm should just be one or the other. Now, I'm afraid to voice my opinions because I don't want us to get punished for the final or next week for the midterm. I just don't like how in the last minute there is all these changes. I don't think that's right. However, like I said I will keep my opinions to myself.
I can see the importance of both the take home final and the scantron final. The take home final is good because we must critically apply what we've learned, and the scantron because there's just some information/facts that we need to know and the best way to test that kind of knowledge is by a test. So I think both are necessary but I think it would be better if we didn't have them both due the same day, but rather a couple weeks a part. I know my schedule is very tight and I had my studying schedule pinned down to a t, now that's kind of messed up, which is ok because that's how life is and I'll deal with the situation. I'M NOT TRYING TO WHINE CUZ I DONT LIKE WHINERS, JUST GIVING MY FEEDBACK. So I guess what I'm saying is it would be cool if we just had these assignments spread out a bit, especially because this paper was just sprung on us. I know 1 1/2 pages per question really isn't a lot but all the little stuff just adds up.
dbo,I wouldnt stop giving your opinions, because you never know when your saying something that someone else is thinking but isn't saying. Also, I don't think she meant it as a punishment, but just as a way both people who prefer tests, and people who prefer papers would be happy, but I just wish they would be a couple weeks a part. But it's cool.
dbo and jdean - thx for comments. dbo - from my point of view, never was it about "punishment". I added the scantron portion because of your legitimate desire to have something "objective." jdean - you bring up a very good point about timing.
Dr. Tabor, I hope you don't think I think bad of you because I don't. I was just giving my feedback and saying what I felt at the time. I wanted something more objective on the paper, but once you clarified it in class I understood what you meant better. I wasn't referring to the scantron. However, for future reference, if you want us to do both I would like to know an advance to so I can manage my time better rather then only getting a week notice. Sorry if you mis interpret my comments eariler. That was never my intention. I agree with the timing to for it to have been separate.
I agree with jdean. I do not mind the work, but I do wish we could take the objective test the following week. Some of us have more than one midterm!
dbo - I admire you for speaking you mind and bringing that point of view to the table, which is why I added your point of view (the Scantron). I "hear" the concerns about the timing. We will postpone the "Objective" part one week.
The lesson for ME is this: had I just said the midterm will be part scantron and two short answers and said that at the beginning of the term, none of this discussion would have ensued. Then I could have "given" you the gift of making the short essay part "take home." So that's my lesson.
thanks dr. tabor for trying your best to be fair...i think we're all concerned about doing a two part mid term because we do have other classes that we need to study for as well and i'm pretty sure that everyone's schedules are pretty tight...anyhow..for clarification which is postpone for another week, the essay or the scantron?
scantron portion delayed
essay portion due next Thursday
As I read everyone's comments and replies I really started to appreciate having this class blog ( which at first I disliked). I really like the fact that we have all taken part in creating our midterm. Whether some see at as a positive or negative thing, it is nice to know everything we say is truly being taken into consideration. That being said, Thank-you MT for the extra time to study for our scantron exam! And thank-you classmates who at the risk of sounding like whiners, spoke about the concerns about timing. Thank-you! and Thank-you!
I agree with eve, it was refreshing to be able to actually have a say instead of being led by a professor,that seems to think they know how to handle their class ( ive had this experience with many prof, not to say that Taboris like this, obviously not) but that the whole point of going to school, at least fundamentally is to learn but this generation got stuck having to go to school to earn a degree not learn. The kind of society that was set up for us has hgiven us a slight room to really enjoy learning but with restrictions and pessures from time and money. Anywho, now im just going off on a tangent but eve like I said you are correct, this kind of professor- student consideration shouldnt be taken for granted, and should be follwoed by other professors, I mean come on! they were students before also!
MT...You are my idea of what a teacher is...No, take that back, you are my idea of a scholar with a mind to teach what it means to learn, you make the need for learning a flawless proposal and I actually feel the need to learn other than to cram and blot out answers. In my opinion, you are the teacher's teacher.
gee, makogun2 - that's nice to hear. Glad that my style works for you. thank you! that'll help in the wee hours of reading papers.
I do realize that this is a bit late however now that the scanton portion of the midterm is coming it seems as though the idea of asking everyone about a paper instead of a pointless multiple choice midterm was completely overlooked. Originally the question was midterm quiz TYPE not TYPES. It seems to me that this whole blog was pointless and that everyone who took the time to respond was basically ignored. As JustMe stated we should have the choice of one or the other. Having to stress about both the paper and the scantron portion of the midterm is completely unnecessary.
nKono - as I said on another thread, had I said originally on the syllabus that the mid term was to be a scantron and some creative questions, you would have accepted it. I hope that you will find the straightforward scantron exam on Thursday fair. Were you in class last week to realize that your chapter paper is shortened due to the written part of the mid term?
yes profesor i know the paper is shorter but i would prefer a longer paper opposed to scantron quiz any day! :0)
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