🚀 go-pugleaf

I have lurked in this homework discussion long enough!  After 20 years
of teaching physics, I am sorry to report that there are no easy
answers.  I think that the method of random checks used to work
fairly well, but for the last 2 or 3 years it has not worked well at all.
There is another teacher in my school who also teaches physics, and his
approach is to make the problem assignment on the first day of the chap
along with specifying the due date.  He then spends the rest of the
time devoted to that chapter working the assigned problems in class as
as the students request them.  Then, when he collects them, they are
pretty easy to grade because most people have them all correct.  Now I
should hasten to add that I am not comfortable using this technique
myself.  I am not teaching the science & engineering course this year
because I did not want to run it like that.  The kids love it, feel like
they're doing really well and that they are learning lots of physics.
No one complains about it being hard to understand, and that makes
my principal happy.

With all due respect to either Joe Bellina or Rick Tarara (sorry, guys --
can't remember which of you made the comment that ungraded homework is
homework shabbily prepared), when a high school teacher has 5 contact
hours per day at 24+ students per hour, no clerical assistance, no
grading assitance, no equipment assistance, and perhaps even a life
outside of the school, it is dang near impossible to grade all
homework.  If you don't grade it though, the kids don't think it's
important.  It's a Catch 22!  I have started collecting everything &
grading what I can.  What I can't grade I assign points on the basis of
complete/incomplete.  I don't like it.  I know it's not ideal, but I
am doing the best I can to muddle through.

Enough -- gotta go grade papers --

Cherie                                 Cherie Lehman
clehman@purccvm.bitnet                 West Lafayette High School
clehman@vm.cc.purdue.edu               West Lafayette  IN  47906
:)                                     VOICE 317-775-1300
                                       FAX:  317-775-1375