🚀 go-pugleaf

Frustrating, isn't it...all I can recommend is that at first you assign
the 3 or 4 problems for homework and collect and grade.  Do that a few
times and then collect to see if they did it a few times and then try
exchanging papers and correct in class, maybe collect for a grade or
maybe not...dpends on your whimsey.  In otherwords, after a while make it
arbitrary.  Then don't collect at all but still go over it in class.  By
the time you get to your problem sheet, they will have experienced the
learning process and they will understand that the problem sheet is an
assessment of their understanding, and not an electric prod to do their
homework.  But it should all bve done gradually.  Remember, only a short
time ago they were in grade school.

On Mon, 20 Feb 1995, Mike Macallister wrote:

> Dear Nancy,
> I am a physics teacher at Central Catholic High School in Portland, Oregon.
>  I have one class of advanced physics which is equivalent to a college
> freshman non-calculus course.  I have tried all kinds of ways and means of
> structuring homework.  One method I used up until recently was to assign
> problems from the text (Giancolli) which I did not collect or even count.
>  Students were to do them or not do them as they saw fit.  At the end of a
> unit, I then gave a hand-out worksheet of problems to do.  My rationale was
> that these are motivated, college bound students who need to learn to study
> independently and not just "to get credit or a grade."  Sadly, this method
> does not work.  The students ignore everything not directly impacting their
> grade, then wait until the last possible nanosecond before beginning the
> required set.  Then they wonder why their grade is not what they'd like at
> quarter and semester exam time.  I have gotten quite frustrated over this.
>  As you say, the kids learn to crunch numbers, but haven't a clue as to what
> is going on in nature.  I keep trying different things, but usually to
> degrees of success below my hopes.
> Anyhoo, I appreciated your letter and wanted to respond.
> This is the first time I've done this; I hope I haven't violated any rules I
> don't know about yet
>
> Mike Macallister
>