My Grade 7 student had his final unit test last week. He went into it figuring that he had a good shot at getting his first 100% result (probably ever, in Math), because the test was on Equations and he's currently able to do them at a level well above his grade.
And then he got his test back, and discovered that he'd gotten only 35/40 (87.5%), whereas the average across the grade was 35.5/40 (~89%). Not only had he come in under the grade average for the first time since I started tutoring him, but he did so on the one unit that he had every reason to expect to excel at. Worse still, he's been turned off of Algebra, at least for the moment. How did such an unfortunate turn-of-events come about?
Well, on 5 of the 8 equations that he was required to solve on the test, he forgot to include the original, starting equation when he did his verification step at the end. In other words, where he needed it to look like:
Left Side
= 4x - 3
= 4(-2) - 3
= -8 - 3
= -11
his answer instead looked like:
Left Side
= 4(-2) - 3
= -8 - 3
= -11
For that, he had 5 marks deducted, bringing his mark down below the average across the entire grade.
Now, I'm a big supporter of teachers and am generally not quick to criticize them because I empathize with the tough job they have to do every day. But I really had to bite my tongue as I was hearing about this, as I think the teacher in this case screwed up. Yes, he expects a certain style of answer, and I'd have no problem with him deducting a mark for the first such omission. But to continue to take marks off as the mistake was repeated, when it was obvious that the student understood how to solve the equation and had done so perfectly 8 times, just seems either short-sighted or petty.
It's now up to me to find a way to re-engage the student on the topic of Algebra, as this experience has made him bitter about the whole thing. He now believes Algebra is more about getting the style of answer "right" according to your teacher's whims than it is about the thrill of solving the equation in the first place. He's gone from loving Algebra because it seems like mystery-solving to thinking that it's some kind of a scam. And that can't possibly be what his teacher intended.
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4 comments:
i think you should have a word with his teacher
Perhaps you should also mention that any test where the class average is 89% is simply a crap shoot where a stupid mistake (like leaving out a step in solving the problem CORRECTLY) can put you below the class average isn't hard enough to separate those who "get it" and those you "memorized and regurgitated it".
To put it in terms the teacher would understand, ask him/her "So on this test, how did you separate the level 3s and the level 4s?" Your student is NOT in a class of level 4s unless he's in the remedial-gifted program.
I know Rachelle always puts a tricky question in her tests that requires the kids to understand and apply what they have learned. Sounds like your student would have nailed it, but half the class would be lost. Since nothing like that was on the test... Sorry, you made a stupid mistake and that cost you enough to go below the class average (WTF!!!).
Something sounds amiss here. The teacher seems awfully picky, but I do empathize with marking.
Best thing to do would be to have a word with the teacher. Having marked assignments, it's easy to get into a mode where you start to nit-pick for particular reason, if only to get through things faster instead of having to make judgement calls.
That said, a class average of 89% seems high to me. Sounds like it was a case of "if you memorize it, you'll get the marks".
Well, sigh, it IS algebra. Perhaps the theory is you can't solve for x if your answer doesn't have an x anywhere in it!?
Agree about 89 class average. I recommend word problems to separate the men from the boys. If 4 kids all bring the same number of toy trucks to play hot wheels, then one of them steals 3 toys and there are now only 17 toys left, how many did each kid bring. Can the student get from the problem to 4X-3= 17... and solve from there. (Zero points for backing into it and writing down 17.)
Unfortunately conforming to processes when required is part of what is needed in other aspects of life, so I guess we are educating around that too. So sad.
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