The Pope will be apologizing.
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.