Author Archives: Ian

About Ian

Physics professor... science education researcher and evangelist... foodie and occasionally-ambitious cook... avid traveler... outdoorsy type (hiking, camping, whitewater kayaking, teaching wilderness survival skills to high school students, etc.)... amateur photographer... computer programmer and amateur web designer... and WAAY too busy!

“Just tell me what you learned…”

Posted on March 10, 2012 by Ian

It’s Saturday night at the end of spring break, my wife is nine days into an eleven-day trip out-of-state, most of my friends are out of town too, and I’m feeling moody and philosophical. So what do I do? Try … Continue reading →

Posted in Learning & Teaching, Pedagogy | Leave a comment

things I want in a course design

Posted on February 20, 2012 by Ian

Just thinking out loud here… I want a course design that communicates very clearly to students, in every aspect of its framing and detail, that learning is something they must willfully pursue, not something that just “happens” if they’re obedient … Continue reading →

Posted in Learning & Teaching, Pedagogy, problem/project-based learning, standards-based grading | 11 Comments

SBG is gonna kill me…

Posted on February 16, 2012 by Ian

… because I keep promising students that they’ll have a chance to reassess — somehow, sometime — without any real idea of how that’s going to happen. The hole gets deeper and deeper! Maybe I need to just stop introducing … Continue reading →

Posted in Learning & Teaching, standards-based grading | 15 Comments

more thoughts on SBG and grading exams

Posted on February 6, 2012 by Ian

Yes, I should definitely use fewer, larger-grained standards. No question about it. I have to break my habit of putting sneaky bits into exam questions (which I do out of an urge to “stretch” even the best students to their … Continue reading →

Posted in Learning & Teaching, Pedagogy, standards-based grading | 3 Comments

the SBG exam-grading experience

Posted on February 2, 2012 by Ian

Just a quick update on my SBG experiment: I’m partway through grading the first midterm exam (of four or five) — a two-hour evening affair — and I must say that I’m somewhat enjoying the experience, at least compared to … Continue reading →

Posted in Learning & Teaching, Pedagogy, standards-based grading | 11 Comments