Category Archives: Pedagogy

Thoughts about teaching.

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 | 7 Comments

SBG update: learning as I go

Posted on January 31, 2012 by Ian

Tonight I get some serious information about how well this experiment in teaching a 60-student calc-based intro physics course with SBG is going. Tonight… is the first midterm exam. One thing I’ve realized while developing assessments for this first “unit” … Continue reading →

Posted in Learning & Teaching, Pedagogy, standards-based grading | 8 Comments

SBG update: not off to a good start.

Posted on January 16, 2012 by Ian

One week down: three classes, 14% of the term. Not happy. Why? For one thing, I’m already a full day behind my planned schedule. Ugh. 50 minutes is so short! Something’s gotta give. I’m feeling the voices of 100+ standards … Continue reading →

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

taking the plunge into standards-based grading

Posted on January 11, 2012 by Ian

So I’m committed: I’ve begun teaching Physics 291 (Intro Physics I w/Calculus) using a pure standards-based grading (SBG) approach. I still lay awake at night wondering what kind of train wreck this might be headed for, but it’s too late … Continue reading →

Posted in Learning & Teaching, Pedagogy, standards-based grading | 14 Comments

standards vs. authentic performance tasks?

Posted on November 9, 2011 by Ian

In my cogitations about whether and how to implement “standards-based grading” (SBG), I’m (still) wrestling with what appears to be a tension between (1) a focus on the factored, topical, individually assessable “standards” of typical SBG approaches, and (2) a … Continue reading →

Posted in standards-based grading | 1 Comment