Two Stage Calculus Quiz

By Andreea Panait, Dawson College

At a Glance

Discipline

STEM
Mathematics

Instructional Level

College & CEGEP

Course

Calculus II

Tasks in Workflow

Social Plane(s)

Individual
Group

Type of Tasks

Solving problems
Taking a quiz & test

Technical Details

Time

Single class period (< 90 mins)

Instructional Purpose

Assessment & knowledge refinement

Overview

In this two-stage quiz, the instructor first gives students, individually, a test (not multiple choice) that they have to work through. Once time is up, she collects all exams and divides the class in small groups, who then have around 6/7 minutes to work together on an exam question of their choice. There were three questions in this exam, of increasing difficulty, and all student groups decided to work together on the hardest one.

Once students are done, the teacher collects all these answers and grades both the individual and collective portion of the exam; in this case, she decided to use the highest mark between the individual and group work for the question that students had chosen to work on together.

Instructional Objectives

Students will be able to:

Identify the most challenging problem to solve as a group
Produce an individual as well as as a group solution to the problem of their choice

Workflow & Materials

Activity Workflow

View on CourseFlow

Contributor's Notes

Benefits

Students remember the material/processes better than when they do a quiz and then receive the results;
It particularly helps students that are struggling to work through the things that are not as clear;
Working together increases students’ confidence;
It takes advantage of student’s preparedness for and engagement in the exam to further their learning.

Challenges

It is important to make the 2-step procedure clear to students, as this might be one of the first times they encounter it;
The instructor has to consider how to mark in the way that is most fair, which may change from class to class.

Tips

Explain the 2-stage exam procedure well if students have not tried it before!;
In this case, instructor decided to make the groups as she knew their different knowledge/skill level and wanted to change class dynamics dividing close friends’ groups so that everyone participated;
Students feel more confident working in a group, so this activity might actually benefit classes who are struggling more with the material.

Applied Strategies

Two-Stage Exam

Individual assessment, group feedback

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Published: 27/11/2018

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