Earlier posts in this series: Legitimate Uses of Assessment Problematic Uses of Assessment The Meaning of Grades De-emphasizing Grades Grades: the ResearchThe Assessment Trap, Part 6: The Perils of Backward Design In previous posts, I addressed the true nature of grades and their corrosive impact on learning. Alas, over-emphasis on grades and summative assessment also… Continue reading The Perils of Backward Design
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Grades: what does research say?
Earlier posts in this series: Legitimate Uses of Assessment Problematic Uses of Assessment The Meaning of Grades De-emphasizing GradesThe Assessment Trap, Part 5: What Does Research Say About Grades?This is a guest post by Sarah Clowes, a science teacher at the Urban School of San Francisco, where I used to work. Her research-based comments support… Continue reading Grades: what does research say?
De-emphasizing Grades
The Assessment Trap, Part 4. De-emphasizing Grades(This is a slightly edited version of a post from 2011)(If you want to start reading at the start of the series, click here.)When students learn their grade for a given course, what they are learning is how they compare with their peers, which is one indicator of "how… Continue reading De-emphasizing Grades
NCTM Is Its Members
This post's title was also the subject of an e-mail from Matt Larson, the new President of NCTM sent to the membership. You can read it here. Since he asked for suggestions, I replied to his message. Here is what I wrote, slightly expanded.--Henri --------------------------------------------------------------------- Dear Matt Larson,I’ve been a member of NCTM for who… Continue reading NCTM Is Its Members
The Meaning of Grades
The Assessment Trap, Part 3: The Meaning of Grades (This is a slightly edited version of a post from 2011)Previous posts [Part 1, Part 2] have focused on the uses of assessment. For many students, parents, teachers, and administrators the key purpose of assessment is to assign grades. Before going any further, we need to think… Continue reading The Meaning of Grades
Problematic Uses of Assessment
The Assessment Trap, Part 2: Problematic Uses of AssessmentIn my previous post, I listed four legitimate uses of assessment, which make it a key part of instruction. But there are other uses of assessment which I find problematic. Here they are.1. Assigning grades.We need to give grades to "let students know where they stand", to… Continue reading Problematic Uses of Assessment
Legitimate Uses Of Assessment
This is the first of eight posts on assessment. I have combined and edited them into a single article on my Web site. Read it there!Much of the series will focus on some of the traps that are so easy to fall into, and are so damaging to student learning. My experience is primarily in… Continue reading Legitimate Uses Of Assessment
In Defense of Algebra 2
Novelist Nicholson Baker wrote a cover story on "The Case Against Algebra II" for Harper's in 2013. More recently, political science professor Andrew Hacker wrote a book (The Math Myth) challenging Algebra 2 and its sequels. Some day, I may respond to their arguments, but I am addressing this post to the math teachers who… Continue reading In Defense of Algebra 2
Fractions
I have a new Fractions home page, with links to three pages on my site. In this post, I'll use it as an excuse to discuss some general ideas about teaching. Visual Representations In my Fraction Arithmetic page, I present a visual strategy for figuring out how to add, subtract, and multiply fractions. (There is… Continue reading Fractions
Making a Vector in Desmos
A couple of years ago, during a workshop on transformational geometry, a participant objected when I used and recommended GeoGebra and not Desmos. Her main argument was that students love Desmos. Fair enough, but that does not make up for the fact that Desmos is mostly about graphing, while GeoGebra includes the many basic and not-so-basic… Continue reading Making a Vector in Desmos
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