🚀 go-pugleaf

BMJ wrote:
> I remember one mid-term I gave and one question on it involved
solving
> some simultaneous linear equations in order to determine the
> characteristics of the electrical circuits being described.  One
student
> didn't do that, so I penalized her, resulting in her throwing a
tantrum.
>   She claimed that all she did was punch the necessary numbers into
her
> calculator and that's how she got her result (so does that mean the
> calculator should have received the diploma instead of her?).  Now,
get
> this:  she shrieked that I should have known that because everybody
has
> the same calculator.
>
> I encountered something like that about two years earlier when I was
a
> TA marking for an electrical course while I was finishing my Ph. D.
> residency.  The prof told me that it wasn't a course in algebra, so I

> shouldn't penalize students if they didn't show the interim
> calculations.  I found that remark from him rather odd, as he was at
the
> uni for about thirty years, so he should have remembered how students

> were expected to show all their own work.
>
> I emphasized to my students that by doing so and continuing it in
> industry, they would be doing a favour to whoever is going to be
looking
> at their calculations, even if it's them a few years later.  Also,
> saying "I punched the numbers into my calculator" likely won't be
seen
> as a proper reason in a disciplinary hearing.  All of my preaching
went
> in one ear and out the other, without encountering anything in
between.

"Show ALL of your working" is an extremely common phrase in all of my
examss. Here our exam period starts in two weeks and just in case any
of my my students are reading this I'll repeat: "SHOW *ALL* OF YOUR
WORKING" IS AN EXTREMELY COMMON PHRASE IN ALL OF MY EXAMS. IF PEOPLE
WANT TO DO WELL IN MY EXAMS THEN THEY ARE STRONGLY ADVISED TO DO A LOT
OF WORKED EXAMPLES DURING THEIR REVISION!!!!! EVEN IF YOU UNDERSTAND
THE MATERIAL, YOU'LL STILL GET FASTER AND MORE ACCURATE AT WORKED
EXAMPLES IF YOU PRACTICE!!!

Here in the UK we moan about students a lot. However, the example you
give of a student throwing a tantrum because she was asked to show the
working would be unthinkable. At least in my experience. And if it did
happen, I would simply advise her that there is a standard procedure
for appeals should she not be satisfied with how I marked the exam. And
I would have considerable confidence in the conclusion the appeals
panel would be likely to come to.

Cheers,

Ross-c