Project Name: Algebra test for incoming Calculus students
Group Members: Mr. Joshi, Michael Phuong, Jonathan Adams
This was a project that I found very important. I had taken Calculus this year, so I understood that the most difficult part of Calculus wasn't the Calculus, it was the Algebra to do simplifications. In order to make a good test, I made sure to speak with current Pre-Calculus students regarding what they had learned so far. I changed my test so that it wasn't too difficult, that the students would actually be able to complete the test so long as they remember how to do the things. I mostly based my test off of things that I knew the Calculus students would have to deal with such as using "fancy 1's" and logarithmic changes.
Initially, I had imagined that the final product would be a multiple choice test. After taking a look at this year's algebra test, I realized that a multiple choice test wasn't necessary unless it was a very difficult test. The main fear I had about this project would be that students who take the test won't recognize that this test is a chance for them to assess their skills, not a chance for them to cheat. Due to this fear, I was concerned about the types of questions I was writing so that students would not be tempted to cheat. Afterwards, I realized that the students who do resort to cheating are the ones who won't be successful in the class and so it is a decision that the test-takers are to make.
There were also a few obstacles that came up during the project. We already had many other projects going on during this time period so we were mostly focusing on doing Chemistry or AP Composition work. We weren't quite as focused on the test and so some of the questions were very simple or bad. These "bad" questions were changed later and they are now much more difficult than their initial counterparts.
For the next projects I will do, I would like to do something similar to this except for other classes. Specifically for the Chemistry project, I would like to take a more active role in determining what should go in the Chemistry review packet. I'd also like to have a hand in the distribution of the resource.
Initially, I had imagined that the final product would be a multiple choice test. After taking a look at this year's algebra test, I realized that a multiple choice test wasn't necessary unless it was a very difficult test. The main fear I had about this project would be that students who take the test won't recognize that this test is a chance for them to assess their skills, not a chance for them to cheat. Due to this fear, I was concerned about the types of questions I was writing so that students would not be tempted to cheat. Afterwards, I realized that the students who do resort to cheating are the ones who won't be successful in the class and so it is a decision that the test-takers are to make.
There were also a few obstacles that came up during the project. We already had many other projects going on during this time period so we were mostly focusing on doing Chemistry or AP Composition work. We weren't quite as focused on the test and so some of the questions were very simple or bad. These "bad" questions were changed later and they are now much more difficult than their initial counterparts.
For the next projects I will do, I would like to do something similar to this except for other classes. Specifically for the Chemistry project, I would like to take a more active role in determining what should go in the Chemistry review packet. I'd also like to have a hand in the distribution of the resource.
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