Second Assessment
The second study guide I created was used to help students prepare for their chapter 2 test. For this study guide, I wanted to put more responsibility on the students and hold them more accountable for finding the information they needed to study. Therefore, I created a study guide which consisted of 10 short-answer questions. Some of the questions I asked were to compare different vocabulary terms and concepts. I also asked how to use a graphing calculator to find a specific regression model as well as to draw sketches and provide examples of different concepts. Students were given the study guide two days before the test. I told them that they could use their notes, textbooks, fellow classmates, and come for extra help in order to gather the information needed to complete the study guide. All of the questions were previously talked about in class, so many students did not have a problem answering the questions. In addition, I told the students that they were responsible for completing the study guide and that it was going to be collected on the day of the test and graded as a homework assignment. On the day of the test, about 90% of the students, as well as "Evan" handed in a study guide. "Oscar" was absent on the day of the test and he had to be given another version of the test when he returned to school two days later. Most of the questions on his test were very similar; however, a lot of the numbers used in the problems had been changed. Furthermore, many students handed in fully complete study guides, while others handed in ones with a few questions blank.
On the day of the chapter 2 tests, students were given the whole class period (about 42 minutes) to complete it. The test (both Form A and Form B) consisted of 10 questions with multiple parts and there was a 5 point extra credit question at the end of the test. For this test, students were expected to analyze graphs, compare functions, use their calculator to find regression models, complete short answer questions, answer word problems, and draw graphs. Before students began the assessment, I directed them to the top of the first page of the test where the directions were given. In the directions it said, "Be sure to show all of your work to receive full credit, especially for questions with an asterisk(*) before the number". I wanted to point this out to students because it would let them know exactly which questions I was expecting them to show their work. I hoped that this would eliminate the issue of students losing points for not showing all of their work on an assessment. After looking through all of the tests, I found that this system had worked great and it has been something that I have continued to use on assessments for all of my classes.
I first looked at question 1 on the study guide, which asked students to "explain the difference between extrapolation and interpolation and to provide examples". Both "Oscar" and "Evan" correctly explained the difference between the two on the study guide; however, neither of them provided examples like the question had asked. On the test, question 4c asked students to determine in which answer from the previous question they used extrapolation or interpolation. "Oscar" got this question wrong; however, "Evan" answered correctly. I think that "Oscar" either read the problem incorrectly or did not fully understand the difference between the two terms. Perhaps if he had made up an example on the study guide, he would have understood the difference a little better and could have gotten the question correct on the test. I was very pleased that "Evan" arrived at the correct answer and it shows that he understood the concept of interpolation versus extrapolation.
The next question I was interested to read the response to on the study guide was question 3. The question was "given three points and your calculator, explain how you would find a quadratic model to fit the data". Both "Oscar" and "Evan" were able to correctly explain how to use a graphing calculator to do this. On the test, for question 5a, students were given three points and told to find a quadratic model for the data. Both students were able to correctly do this on the test. It was very important to me to include this question on the study guide. This is because I could see if they actually understood how to use the graphing calculator since they were not required to show work for this question on the test.
Finally, the last question I looked at on the study guide was question 10. This question asked students to explain the difference between the greatest integer function and the ceiling function and to provide examples. "Oscar" correctly described the difference between the two as well as provided two examples which he evaluated correctly. "Evan" did explain the two terms correctly; however, he did not provide any examples. On the chapter 2 test, question 7 a, b, and c contained three exercises where students had to use the greatest integer function and the ceiling function. "Oscar" was able to answer all three of the questions correctly. "Evan" was able to answer parts a and b correctly, however, he was not correctly able to answer the third part.
When looking at their overall grades, "Oscar" received a 94/100 (including the extra credit) and "Evan" received an 82/100 (he did not attempt the extra credit). Overall, I have been very pleased with the progress made so far. I feel that currently, "Oscar" is putting a little more effort into the class than "Evan". In terms of the study guide, I feel that it had helped both "Oscar" and "Evan" prepare for the assessment as well as the rest of the class. I was given positive oral feedback from my students about the study guide and many of them commented that it was helpful to them. I found that giving more responsibility to students by having them complete the study guide is important because they become less dependent on the teacher and they put more effort on their own into studying for the test.
Second Assessment Student Work