Is it that time of year again? The winning bridge held almost 25 pounds with 25 pieces of pasta. And I haven’t even taught these students anything yet.
[flv:bridge_testing.flv 640 480]
A sneak preview of this morning’s quiz: (more…)
Notes from my sophomore Statics course: Not only was this team’s pasta bridge well designed, but it was the best looking in the class. When you are going to school the boys, you might as well add some rhinestones for good measure.
Here are the results from my Statics midterm:
The reverse bell curve. The ditch. The grave.
I spent a bunch of Sunday thinking about what this data really means. On the surface it seems like half my students get it and the other half don’t. I don’t really believe that, though. I keep pretty close tabs on my class and I think most of them are getting Statics. I think this data means that half of my students are good test-takers and the other half aren’t. And I think I’m still idealistic enough about education to believe that being a bad test-taker shouldn’t stop a student from being successful.
Of course many people might say that success should have nothing to do with exams at all. I’m not sure I totally believe that either. One of the most useful and least tangible things you get from engineering school is the confidence of finishing. Later on, you might learn how to actually engineer something. So good:I’m glad 14 people failed! If my 14 F students can find a way to improve their ability to solve highly irrelevant math problems under timed conditions, I believe they will have gained something significant. And if I can find a way to help my 14 F students get better at solving highly irrelevant math problems under timed conditions, then I will have achieved something, too.
09:00 on the first day of school and I’ve already made an ass out of myself. So I am teaching a class called Statics, which is kind of exciting because it’s the first real engineering course you get in engineering school and I enjoy having that kind of impact on college kids. I was under the impression that my class begins at 08:50, which would be true if I was teaching Thermodynamics.
What really surprised me is that nobody said anything for three minutes.