I hate giving quizzes September 23, 2013
Posted by mareserinitatis in education, engineering, teaching.Tags: quizzes, teaching, textbooks
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This year, I chose to use a textbook for my class. The problem is that while the textbook has a lot of good content, I use the class time to focus in on topics that I think are really important while assuming the students will at least skim through the remaining material.
I think I was delusional. Like, seriously losing it…
I hate the idea of doing it, but I figured I needed to give them some incentive to read the book. I therefore implemented reading quizzes this semester. I can’t remember where I came across the idea (it may have been back on The Mind of Dr. Pion, but it was so long ago that I don’t honestly remember).
The first reading quiz consisted of them writing what they thought was the most interesting thing they read in the chapter.
The second one was multiple choice. I posted a series of four pictures. I asked them to identify the one that came from that week’s reading. All they had to do was write a single letter…and honestly, if they thought carefully about it, they could have determined which picture it was simply through process of elimination. Several students said this quiz was unfair…though I’m not sure how.
I’m rather disappointed as it seems that around half of them aren’t passing these quizzes. I’m not asking them to read things in depth, and the book isn’t very technical at all, but I would like them to be exposed to the information in case they come back to it later. I also don’t want to hammer them over the head with it. It has occurred to me that you attract more flies with honey than vinegar, but it feels like any attemps in that direction will probably border on bribery.
I’m very much at a loss. I have told them they need to pass two out of four quizzes, and some of them are getting nervous. I don’t want to make them panic, but I do want them to take this more seriously. I’ve told them that students who focus on their grades do worse than students who focus on content…but that’s hard to listen to when you’re worried about your grade.
What have I done?! June 21, 2012
Posted by mareserinitatis in education, engineering, papers, research.Tags: math, minion, textbooks
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(As I sat down to write this post, I realized I have a dilemma tangential to the point of the post. The Minion is officially no longer a minion, given he’s finished his undergraduate education. Formally, he’s been upgraded to a henchman. However, if I start calling him the Henchman, I realize no one will know who I am talking about. Therefore, I shall continue to call him the Minion, but please try to remember that his rank is officially that of a Henchman.)
A couple days ago, the Minion asked me for help on something. He’s doing some work on a topic with which I have very limited knowledge. (I consider this sad because it’s something I have interest in but little time to explore.) However, what he needed help on was a mathematical aspect. After finally getting a handle on what he was doing, we sat down and came up with a way to solve his problem. Mike came in and overheard us talking and suggested there may be a paper in what we’re doing. The Minion thought it would be interesting but wanted to talk with someone who has more knowledge of the field (as I obviously don’t), and he was going to check with someone he knows.
I sat down and spent an hour writing out the formal mathematics for the problem so that it would be easier to present this to someone. It looks very pretty (especially since I did it in LaTeX). However, I couldn’t help thinking, as I proofed it, that I managed to take what, to me, seemed like a straight-forward approach to solving the problem and obscure it with symbology.
I think I could potentially have a career writing textbooks.
Wordless Wednesday: Microcat becomes aware of the turbulence around her February 29, 2012
Posted by mareserinitatis in pets, photography, Uncategorized.Tags: books, microcat, pictures, textbooks, turbulence
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Textbook destruction February 17, 2011
Posted by mareserinitatis in electromagnetics, humor, pets.Tags: antennas, macrocat, textbooks
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There are two books generally used for classes on antenna theory: Stutzman and Thiele or Balanis. They’re both awesome books. S&T doesn’t cover as many topics, but I find it’s easier to understand right out of the chute. Balanis seems to make a better reference. While we seem to use both books fairly regularly, I haven’t had the inclination to get the most recent copy of Balanis, so we’re still putzing around with the second edition.
Mike was talking to Layne, one of the undergrads who works for him. Mike mentioned that our copy of S&T recently fell victim to Macrocat’s bladder issues. Layne responded, “Ouch! That’s $150! It would’ve been better if he hit Balanis because you can get a second edition of that for $40.”
Somehow, I don’t think we’re going to be able to convince the cat to take cost into consideration when he’s wrecking our stuff. On the other hand, I think I would’ve preferred if he’d hit Balanis because then I’d have an excuse to upgrade.
So what weird ways have your textbooks been destroyed?
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