Evaluation Assessment 103106 Typical Point Breakdown COURSE GRADES

Evaluation & Assessment 10/31/06

Typical Point Breakdown COURSE GRADES: Grades will be assigned on the basis of 450 points, distributed as follows: Midterm Examination I: Midterm Examination II: Graded Homework and/or Quizzes: Final Examination: 100 points 150 points

Midterm Exams • Mid-semester exams – 75 min § § § Regular exam (6: 30 -7: 45 pm) Conflict exam (5: 05 -6: 20 pm) Make up exam takes place one day after the regular (6: 30 -7: 45 pm)

Midterm Exams (Conflicts & Make-ups) • • Students must sign up in 104 Mc. Allister for any exam other than the regular Student should have a valid excuse to take the make-up otherwise 20% will be taken off the exam score • • University-approved activities: field trips, debate trips, choir trips, athletic events, religious holidays Conflict exam is at instructor’s discretion

Final Exam • • • December 18 - 21, 2006 – 110 min Schedule announced midway through semester Two conflicts: ü ü • • direct (two final exams scheduled at the same time) overload (three or more final exams scheduled in a 15 hour block of time from the beginning of the first exam to the beginning of the third exam) Students with conflicts are required to file for a conflict exam with the Office of the Registrar by the deadline No make up. Only emergency cases (verified deaths in the family, or medical verification, etc. ) are acceptable excuses. A deferred grade should be submitted

Exams Checklist (Start of Semester) • UG Office will provide each instructor with a listing of the evening examination dates on the first day of classes • • • Locations announced at a later date http: //www. math. psu. edu/UG/Fall 2006/rpt. Evening. Exams. pdf The students must be notified of the evening exam schedule during the first week of the semester l This information typically goes on your syllabus

Exams Checklist (Writing Exams) • • The following exams are written by the department (with the exception of the Summer term): 017, 021, 022, 026, 041, 140 A, 141 All other exams are written by the instructors of that course under the supervision of the course coordinator You may be asked to: • • • Write exam questions Type the exam Proofread the exam

Writing Exams • Begin writing any exam EARLY • It can take up to 4 weeks to choose questions, type, proofread, revise, and print the exam

Writing Exams (Choosing questions) • • Talk to the course coordinator about the format of the exam Look at old exams for ideas on question length, wording, difficulty, etc… • • Use familiar questions: • • www. math. psu. edu/UG/Information. About. Math. Courses. htm Sample exams In-Class questions Textbook Don’t write questions which can be understood; write questions which cannot be misunderstood!

Writing Exams (Revising) • Revising • Work through all questions checking for accuracy and appropriateness of questions • Respect your colleagues' work when revising • TIME, TIME

Exams Checklist (Week of the Exam) • • Practice exams (either prepared by the instructor or exams from previous semesters) Distribute copies of the practice exams at least one week prior the exam date and discuss it in class Extra Office Hours Night Review • http: //www. math. psu. edu/UG/reservations. htm

Exams Checklist (Day of the Exam) • Pick up the exam in 104 Mc. Allister from Julie • • Proctoring • • Office closes at 5 pm Show up 15 to 20 minutes early to your exam room Grading • • The multiple choice portions are graded by scantron Partial credit problems are graded by the instructors often immediately following the exams

Homework • Assigning and collecting ü ü • You can assign a standard homework from the textbook or employ your own problems Most commonly homework is collected around a week after it was assigned Grading ü ü ü You will most likely be assigned a grader You are welcome to grade your homework yourself if you prefer You can have all problems checked or some specific problems, sometimes undisclosed in advance

Quizzes • • • Usually instructors give a quiz during the last 15 minutes of class They are most often short answer questions although multiple choice is also used Problem types are typically homework problems, with occasionally definition and/or concept questions Most instructors tend to grade their own quizzes Announced vs. pop-quizzes

Other assessments • • Monitoring class attendance In-class problems Projects Reading assignments

Homework vs. Quizzes • Main points to consider: • • Benefits to the students Time

Grading • • Try to maintain uniform criteria for your grading policies Students should know how many points each assignment is worth before they turn it in You may want to drop a few weakest quizzes/ homeworks or allow students to make some fixed number of assignments up or give an extra credit assignment Advise your students that no separate curve for each individual assessment will be implemented; there might be a global curve at the end of the semester though

Extra-credit & Late work • Extra-credit ü ü ü • Extra credit, bonus points or optional problems are all good motivations for students to do extra work The number of extra credit points should not exceed 5% of the total number of points in the syllabus You may want to use it do determine the student's grade if it falls on the borderline Late work ü ü Your late work policy should be on your syllabus Remember to maintain a uniform late policy!

Grading (Revisited) • Uniform grading policy • • • Homework, quiz averages Group grading Final grade cut-offs

Student Evaluations GTAs who teach a class are required to obtain two student evaluations during each semester: • Mid-semester student evaluations (computer-scored) ü • Each GTA receives the results of this evaluation via email shortly after the evaluations are given End-of-semester evaluations (2 open-ended questions) ü ü ü GTAs may not see these evaluations until after grades have been assigned for the course Each GTA should ask Becky for a copy of the written evaluations These copies are normally distributed at the beginning of the next semester