Give the students review problems, sample test problems, and/or a sample test. This is a golden opportunity to tell your students which ideas and skills are most important. Most of them will pay more attention to test preparation materials you provide than to your lectures, homework, quizzes, or even the problems on the actual exam: they assume these materials are better correlated than the homework to the test questions, and after the exam is taken it's past history, few of them think of it as a learning opportunity. (Of course, to be fair - and avoid poor evaluations - your test preparation materials should give students a very good idea of the possibilities for most or all of your actual test problems.) Also post solutions for at least some of the review material. These solutions will serve as models for the exposition you expect from the students. You can make your grading job easier by providing good models.
Post solutions securely. Help future instructors (maybe including yourself) by making those solutions accessible only to your students and not to students in all future classes. Then if you or someone else wants to reuse a problem (or a whole quiz or test) in a later quarter, finding the solution on the web will at least be much more difficult. There are two ways to do this:
If you've been giving quizzes with very basic problems, it's probably a good idea to say explicitly that some test problems will be harder than the quiz problems, especially if you do not provide sample tests. Otherwise, there's an "implied pedagogical contract" that the quizzes are samples of the kinds of questions you'll ask them to answer.
Allow limited notes. Even though it is obvious to us that the formula for the Jacobian or the definition of the null space of a transformation is logical and easy to remember, the students are juggling many new ideas, and in the pressure cooker of a test can easily get confused. If you don't allow notes, students will spend study time memorizing, and therefore less study time on understanding how to use ideas. During the test, they will feel more stress and so perhaps show less of what they know. If a formula or definition is needed early in a problem and they forget it, you've tested just the formula or definition, and not any other skills you hoped to see in that problem.
Here's a typical statement for students about notes:
"For tests, you may bring one notebook (8.5 by 11 inches)
sized sheet of handwritten notes.
The main reason for allowing notes is to encourage 'top down' studying
(organizing your thinking about the material, identifying common themes,
etc.) and, conversely, discourage 'bottom up' studying
(merely memorizing formulas).
Handwritten notes are required so that you have to think about the material
to produce the notes, which is also a good study technique.
It's OK to write on both sides of the paper, but it is in your interest
to summarize thoughtfully, so you are not spending precious exam time
reading through excessively long notes."
If you don't allow notes, consider attaching a list of formulas and definitions to the test, announcing what will be on it in advance, and enertaining requests for additions. If you really want them to memorize something, give a separate, no-notes quiz on just that, and count it as part of the midterm.
Tell your students before the test: No headphones, no phones or electronic devices [except allowed calculators] on desk or in lap during the test. Also tell them that you will make a record of where they sit during the exam. Advise them to sit far apart from anyone they study with for the test. Explain that "study buddies" sometimes have suspiciously similar work on their tests, but if they sit apart, the seating chart will show this is a result of studying together, not copying during the test. This sends the message that you are paying attention to whether students cheat during the test, but with the goal of fairness to all the students. If you will pass a signin sheet for them to sign in during the test, tell them in advance. (Also, if you will use a pre-printed signin sheet (see next paragraph), figure out how many seats per row (= number of signin lines per sheet) and how many rows (= number of signin sheets) you need to prepare.)
Seating chart methods. Some instructors know all the students' names, and can just record a seating chart while proctoring the test. If you don't know the names, pass a sign-up list across each row. Here's a sample test signin sheet; the blanks at the top are for writing in the class and test, e.g. 307A MT 1, the row number, and the date. This sample form assumes 10 seats in a row, an aisle in the middle of the room, and a window at the start of the row. In case you need to modify the form, here is the latex file for the signin sheet. Some suggestions when having students sign in during the exam: Wait for about 10 minutes until late-comers have arrived. Write "empty seat" in the line for each empty seat in a row before passing the sheet. Only do two rows at a time, so you can pay attention, make sure the sheets get all the way across, and pick them up at the other end.
Choosing exam problems. For the purpose of giving students grades, keep in mind that you want to evaluate all your students, from the best to the worst and in particular including those close to the 2.0 level. An exam should include problems at varying levels of difficulty. There should be several problems, or major parts of problems, that the "C" student should be able to work through, even if they make some errors. There should also be a problem or parts of a couple of problems that will distinguish the "A" students from the "C" students.
Check the length (time) of the exam. Time how long it takes you to work the exam, writing down everything you expect an average or slightly below average student to have to do to complete the problems. That is, don't use any clever tricks unless you've emphasized them and expect most of the class to use them. Most instructors use a ratio of 4 or 5 between the time students will have for an exam and the time it takes the instructor who wrote the exam. After the exam, consider whether the students had enough time, and adjust your multiplier as appropriate for future use.
You may want to record the time it takes you to do each individual problem, or even each part of each problem. If one problem takes much longer to do than the others, you should think about whether the topics it tests and the information it will give you about your students merit the time emphasis it demands.
Consider trading exam drafts with another instructor to proof read and work through. TA Travis Willse, when starting on his third 300-level course, wrote to other TAs that,
"In my experience having another instructor look over my test drafts is immensely valuable (and has saved me from giving some bad problems), so I'd definitely like to exchange feedback about exams. I plan to send out a solicitation or two for review after I draft my midterm."
It may be "obvious" how to do a problem you've made up, but require an insight you acquired in the creative process. If another instructor doesn't instantly know how to attack a problem, it's probably too hard for a timed test. Also another instructor may spot typos, ambiguities, notation that differs from the book's, or use of terms that aren't in the book, that you are reading right past. It's a good idea (especially if no one else reads your draft) to compare your problem statements to the way homework problems and examples in the book are stated. A wording change will suggest a content change to students, and confuse them.On the day of the test, if your classroom has moveable chairs, arrange them in rows so that you can easily get to students who have questions during the exam (and so it's harder for a student to see the neighboring papers). No need to see the board today, so you can move the front rows forward. If you can't get there early, ask students who arrive early to do this for you. During the test, record a seating chart yourself or pass your prepared signin sheets (see above). If you are giving the same test to two consecutive-hour classes, tell students to turn in their note sheets with their tests. (This may be a good idea anyway, because occasionally a confusing answer is clarified when you check the student's note sheet.)
During the test, walk around the room at least once or twice looking at the students including their laps and at the floor around the desks. This is to check for disallowed devices and notes. If you find something that's against your test rules, quietly remove it to the student's pack, or to your desk up front. If it looks like it's just an oversight on the part of the student and you spot it early in the test period, that's enough. If you think it was an attempt to cheat, don't discuss it with the student during the test, which will disrupt everyone. Instead, let the student finish the test and contact your supervisor after the test (see below).
You should supply solutions to the test problems either immediately after the test, or when you return the graded papers (or after the deadline for makeups; see below). Waiting until you have graded the test allows you to find out which problems may require extra comments, showing them two different solutions, etc. You may give solutions on your course website, or as a handout if you want to discuss some of the solutions in class. (Or post complete solutions on your course website, and make handout or document to dispay of one or two points you want to discuss in class.) Do not spend an entire class period going over the test; but it is worth class time to discuss errors that were very common, or especially crucial to later topics.
See the page on Grades for information about grading scales.
If students request regrading of any problems, tell them they should not write anything on the original test paper. On a separate sheet, they should write down which problems they want regraded, and briefly why, and staple this to their test and hand it to you. If they want to discuss it with you also, that is OK, but do not make any decisions about points (except correcting addition errors) while the student is there. You need calm, quiet, and no student watching you to consider carefully how to score consistently with the grading of other papers several hours or days ago.
Preventing and dealing with suspected cheating of any kind (during the test, or asking for more credit for work added after the test): Several of the suggestions above (e.g., allowing notes, arranging the chairs) are aimed at reducing the incentives and possibilities for cheating, and even situations that might lead you, rightly or wrongly, to suspect cheating (e.g., students sitting too close together; work with too little reasoning, but checking the seating chart, you find no nearby paper with similar steps). The signin sheets described above may discourage cheating, and will make it easier to detect and prove cheating that occurs. If you do suspect cheating, observe department policy: "A graduate student does not have the authority and experience to act on his/her own: 'Consult with your supervising professor, the TA coordinator, or department chair. If formal procedures are required according to the [Washington Student Conduct] Code, they will help you carry out what is necessary from the departmental point of view.' This is for the benefit of the student, the graduate instructor (TA), and the department." (Email from Math Department Chair Selim Tuncel, February 21, 2012, quoting a university TA Handbook which unforuntately no longer exists.) Before saying anything about your suspicions to the student(s) involved, you should consult with the faculty member who was named as your supervisor or course coordinator, or if that person is not immediately available, the Undergraduate Program Director, the Graduate Program Coordinator, or as a final backup, the Department Chair. (As of September, 2017, the supervisor for most TAs teaching 300 level courses is Monty McGovern, and the faculty in the three other positions are Rekha Thomas, Isabella Novik, and Ron Irving, respectively.)
If there many low scores, or you are willing to put in some extra effort to help the students who did poorly, allowing some kind of take-home makeup can turn errors on the test into a very productive learning experience. Several people in the department have tried variations on the following. Students may submit new solutions for problems on which they lost points. (Sometimes, only certain problems may be redone, or new variations of the problems must be worked.) The new solutions earn at most 1/3 or 1/2 of the points previously missed. The students may use their text and notes; you should decide whether it is appropriate for them to ask you for help, or to get help from others. If you allow them to talk to others, you should ask them to see you when they turn in the reworked problems, and ask a few questions to make sure they understand what they have written. (Requiring such a discussion can be very helpful even if they haven't discussed the problems with anyone else. You may get to correct remaining misconceptions, and probably will learn about difficulties students have that you would never have guessed otherwise.) Be sure to set a very firm deadline for submitting the makeup. Other good ground rules:
Return to the
Index for the 3xx Instructor Guide.
Most recently updated on Setember 24, 2017