69 students took Quiz #1 in-class last week and 59 students turned in take-home quizzes. Here are some statistics on how the class performed:<\/p>\n
As you can see, the take-home quiz appears to have given many students a boost (in fact, only 16 of 59 scored noticeably worse on the take-home quiz; see below). This data should strongly encourage anyone who wants to improve their understanding of the material (as well as their scores) to attempt the take-home quizzes.<\/p>\n
I also took a closer look at how<\/em> students performed on the take-home and how this affected student scores.<\/p>\n Of the 59 students who took the take-home, 27 students saw their scores go up by a significant amount (arbitrarily defined as at least 2 points or 4%). 1 of these rising students had scored in the 40’s on the in-class quiz, but many more had begun with lower in-class scores: 30’s (14 students), 20’s (10 students), 10’s (2 students).<\/p>\n Perhaps because a different grading policy was applied to the take-home and in-class quizzes, 16 students scored markedly lower<\/em> on the take-home quiz (arbitrarily defined as a drop of greater than 2 points or 4%). These were mostly students who had done quite well on the in-class quiz: 40’s (5 students), 30’s (10 students), 20’s (1 student).<\/p>\n Of course, when you begin with a high in-class score, it is simultaneously harder to raise your score via the take-home quiz and easier to see your take-home quiz score fall below what you achieved in-class (fortunately, you are not penalized by this). But it does demonstrate an important point: it is hard to write down ‘perfect’ answers for all<\/em> of the quiz problems. No one should blindly<\/em> trust the answers provided by a classmate. Your comrades can point you in the right direction, but you need to check for yourself<\/em> whether you are completely satisfied with each answer.<\/p>\n