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Category Archives: Challenges & Frustrations
Success Strategies in the Learning Center
I just gave my students a test on stoichiometry. As I was grading them, I noticed that all of the students who had taken the test in the Learning Center had identical wrong answers to the free response questions. One … Continue reading
The Dangers of Criteria-Based Grading
This year, I taught at a charter school that uses criteria-based grading. To describe the system briefly, the learning objectives of each subject are broken down into individual criteria, called benchmarks. For each assessment (test, assignment, etc.), every question or … Continue reading
Requiring Chemistry?
On 2/16/2011 11:49 AM, James Guzinski posted to the ChemEd-L discussion list: I just read in Science, Vol 331, 28 January 2011, p. 405, that “Biology will be the only high school science class for 21 to 25% of U.S. high … Continue reading
Throwing Technology at Problems in Education
Technology in the lab can take large amounts of data accurately, but substituting technology for a more direct experience with the scientific principle or technique can prevent students from internalizing the principle or technique. Continue reading
A Case for Plotting Graphs By Hand
One of the labs I do with my Chemistry I class is to measure the temperature and volume of a gas under two sets of conditions, and, based on Charles’s Law, extrapolate the graph to estimate the temperature of absolute zero. … Continue reading
Failing Students in Middle School So They Can Be Successful
On Monday, I was talking with one of the middle school teachers in the city where I teach. I happened to mention one of my pet peeves—the fact that kids in middle school appear to get promoted to the next … Continue reading
Mnemonics As a Substitute For Understanding
There’s an insidious misconception that the ability to reliably get the right answer to a question must be evidence that the student thoroughly understands the topic. +4-4
An Argument Against Heterogeneous Grouping
In my experience, kids want to be in classes that move at their pace, including the low-level kids. +5-1
Combatting Cheating
At the beginning of the year, I choose a number between 0 and 1000 to two decimal places and write it on a piece of paper. I offer 100% on the first test to any student in the room who … Continue reading
How To Get Students to Pass Tests Without Knowing Anything
Last night in my adolescent psychology class, one of the other teachers was describing how he prepared his students for an upcoming test. His review covered two full class days, and it basically amounted to him giving his students all … Continue reading