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
100 points
100 points
150 points
Midterm Exams
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Mid-semester exams – 75 min
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Regular exam (6:30-7:45pm)
Conflict exam (5:05-6:20pm)
Make up exam takes place one day after the
regular (6:30-7:45pm)
Midterm Exams (Conflicts & Make-ups)
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Students must sign up in 104 McAllister
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
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University-approved activities: field trips, debate
trips, choir trips, athletic events, religious holidays
Conflict exam is at instructor’s discretion
Final Exam
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December 18 - 21, 2006 – 110 min
Schedule announced midway through semester
Two conflicts:
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direct (two final exams scheduled at the same time)
overload (three or more final exams scheduled in a 15hour 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)
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UG Office will provide each instructor with a
listing of the evening examination dates on the
first day of classes
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Locations announced at a later date
http://www.math.psu.edu/UG/Fall2006/rptEveningExams.pdf
The students must be notified of the evening
exam schedule during the first week of the
semester
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This information typically goes on your syllabus
Exams Checklist (Writing Exams)
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The following exams are written by the department (with
the exception of the Summer term):
017, 021, 022, 026, 041, 140, 140A, 141
All other exams are written by the instructors of that
course under the supervision of the course coordinator
You may be asked to:
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Write exam questions
Type the exam
Proofread the exam
Writing Exams
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Begin writing any exam EARLY
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It can take up to 4 weeks to choose questions,
type, proofread, revise, and print the exam
Writing Exams (Choosing questions)
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Talk to the course coordinator about the format of the
exam
Look at old exams for ideas on question length, wording,
difficulty, etc…
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Use familiar questions:
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www.math.psu.edu/UG/InformationAboutMathCourses.htm
Sample exams
In-Class questions
Textbook
Don’t write questions which can be understood; write
questions which cannot be misunderstood!
Writing Exams (Revising)
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Revising
• Work through all questions checking for accuracy
and appropriateness of questions
• Respect your colleagues' work when revising
• TIME, TIME, TIME
Exams Checklist (Week of the Exam)
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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)
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Pick up the exam in 104 McAllister from Julie
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Proctoring
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Office closes at 5pm
Show up 15 to 20 minutes early to your exam room
Grading
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The multiple choice portions are graded by scantron
Partial credit problems are graded by the instructors often
immediately following the exams
Homework
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Assigning and collecting
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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
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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
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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
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Monitoring class attendance
In-class problems
Projects
Reading assignments
Homework vs. Quizzes
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Main points to consider:
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Benefits to the students
Time
Grading
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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
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Extra-credit
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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
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Your late work policy should be on your syllabus
Remember to maintain a uniform late policy!
Grading (Revisited)
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Uniform grading policy
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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:
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Mid-semester student evaluations (computer-scored)
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Each GTA receives the results of this evaluation via
email shortly after the evaluations are given
End-of-semester evaluations (2 open-ended
questions)
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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