Open book open note etc
22 Jul 2022 09:25![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
nwhikerLinnea is re-taking a math class this summer, she failed it last quarter. We knew there would be things like that, math is very difficult for her, to say the least. She does learn it eventually, but it's never going to be the "ok, that's not THAT hard" thing that it was for the rest of us (dh: math and cs degree, me: enough math to do higher level physics, Perry: took upper-level math classes to fill gaps in his schedule, Anne-Chloe: as long as it's not organic chem I can handle it).
So yeah. She's taking pre-calc over again.
And what a difference a teacher can make. This one is allowing open-note-open-Canvas for the exams (for everyone) and Linnea gets 50% extra time.
She's doing really well in the class, grade-wise, but more importantly:
-- She isn't dreading the class or the exams. She's taking the mid-term right now and while nervous -she has an A in math to protect, LOL- she isn't in a panic.
-- She is OMG learning it, better and faster than I've seen her pick up math. The teacher gives them her notes in advance, so Linnea can print them out and take notes on that, allowing her to focus on the material rather than writing everything down. Homework is graded on correctness, not just completion, so she knows if it's correct rather than just turned in. When she comes to ask a question it's usually just a detail, not a total "I don't get this".
I've truly never seen her pick up some math concepts this quickly or this accurately.
This teacher is a gem, and the combination of how she teaches and how Linnea learns is a good one so far.
And then a note on open book open notes thing. This makes so much sense and works so well for her. I mean, she can do stuff, but is often stymied by not remembering a silly detail. Being able to look it up helped her and improves her accuracy. I remember taking molecular biology. It was open book open note, no internet. Because of the time factor, if you didn't know what you were looking for, to just check a detail or something, there would not really be any time. You could not flip through pages hoping to land on the information you needed, you truly had to know what you were looking for. I'm seeing and hearing of more and more classes, especially post pandemic that are going this route, and I think it's a good thing. I think you learn more when you are learning to apply rather than trying to remember details. Anyhow.
ETA Wrote this two days ago, just getting around to posting it now. Linnea got 95% on her midterm. She's sad: her grade is down to a 96% from a 97%. LOL.
So yeah. She's taking pre-calc over again.
And what a difference a teacher can make. This one is allowing open-note-open-Canvas for the exams (for everyone) and Linnea gets 50% extra time.
She's doing really well in the class, grade-wise, but more importantly:
-- She isn't dreading the class or the exams. She's taking the mid-term right now and while nervous -she has an A in math to protect, LOL- she isn't in a panic.
-- She is OMG learning it, better and faster than I've seen her pick up math. The teacher gives them her notes in advance, so Linnea can print them out and take notes on that, allowing her to focus on the material rather than writing everything down. Homework is graded on correctness, not just completion, so she knows if it's correct rather than just turned in. When she comes to ask a question it's usually just a detail, not a total "I don't get this".
I've truly never seen her pick up some math concepts this quickly or this accurately.
This teacher is a gem, and the combination of how she teaches and how Linnea learns is a good one so far.
And then a note on open book open notes thing. This makes so much sense and works so well for her. I mean, she can do stuff, but is often stymied by not remembering a silly detail. Being able to look it up helped her and improves her accuracy. I remember taking molecular biology. It was open book open note, no internet. Because of the time factor, if you didn't know what you were looking for, to just check a detail or something, there would not really be any time. You could not flip through pages hoping to land on the information you needed, you truly had to know what you were looking for. I'm seeing and hearing of more and more classes, especially post pandemic that are going this route, and I think it's a good thing. I think you learn more when you are learning to apply rather than trying to remember details. Anyhow.
ETA Wrote this two days ago, just getting around to posting it now. Linnea got 95% on her midterm. She's sad: her grade is down to a 96% from a 97%. LOL.
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Date: 24 Jul 2022 03:22 (UTC)(Toby had an awful math experience last year, but in his case it was because he took the "we only have to pass these tests, no need for me to do any work trying to learn this stuff" road to disaster. If I had known what was going on a little earlier, I might have prodded him to use a different strategy. But also it seems like bad pedagogy, not to give students any other opportunities to show whether or not they are following along.)