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[psychdiva]

I let each student choose whether to take three tests, each worth 33% of the total points for tests, or two tests each worth 50% of points for tests. They make the call at the start of the term. This is wildly popular. I'm not sure if this maneuver is as clever as others mentioned in this thread but it sure does eliminate moaning about the weighting of test grades.

[odessa]

I let each student choose whether to take three tests, each worth 33% of the total points for tests, or two tests each worth 50% of points for tests. They make the call at the start of the term. This is wildly popular. I'm not sure if this maneuver is as clever as others mentioned in this thread but it sure does eliminate moaning about the weighting of test grades.

Psychdiva,  I've thought about doing something like this, but it seems like it would be a lot of work and a scheduling issue.  Also, how do you avoid students insisting that one test version must be easier than the other?  (Assuming you can't recycle questions because of the timing issue.)

Could you please explain in more detail how this works?

O.

[psychdiva]

I let each student choose whether to take three tests, each worth 33% of the total points for tests, or two tests each worth 50% of points for tests. They make the call at the start of the term. This is wildly popular. I'm not sure if this maneuver is as clever as others mentioned in this thread but it sure does eliminate moaning about the weighting of test grades.

Psychdiva,  I've thought about doing something like this, but it seems like it would be a lot of work and a scheduling issue.  Also, how do you avoid students insisting that one test version must be easier than the other?  (Assuming you can't recycle questions because of the timing issue.)

Could you please explain in more detail how this works?

O.

O, here are the details:

- all students must take the last test and that last test is cumulative.

- for students who elect to take just two tests, they don't get tested on the material reflected on the test that they "skip" (the middle of the three) until they take the last test.

- students who elect to take just two tests are told to arrive one hour later on the day that the rest of the students take the middle test.

Does that help?

[science_expat]

In grad school I had a class in which the instructor asked us to suggest our final grade. He later told us that his experience was that students assigned themselves 1/3 to 1/2 of a grade lower than his opinion.

Hmmm, wonder if my research director has heard of this technique? He just asked me to suggest a numerical score for my own evaluation....

[concordancia]

Students will do anything for extra credit. I even used it on my grad students this semester to get them to rewrite. Next semester I may perform an experiment. In one section, students will be allowed to do an alternative for extra credit, in the other, they will be allowed to participate in the alternative to replace a diary entry, but additional diary entries will count as extra credit. Now taking bets on which section participates more in the alternative.

[cc_alan]

In grad school I had a class in which the instructor asked us to suggest our final grade. He later told us that his experience was that students assigned themselves 1/3 to 1/2 of a grade lower than his opinion.

I remember my o-chem lab instructor doing this to us with similar results.

Alan

[scienceprof]

I used to give 10 quizzes, and drop the two lowest. Now I give at least 10 quizzes, and keep the 8 highest.  The students beg for more quizzes, so anytime I think they haven't "gotten" something I put in an extra quiz, with no complaints.

[psychdiva]

I have a film that works in every course I teach. It's vivid and engaging. I carry it with me at all times, to pull out on those mid-winter days when I'm so tired and low that the thought of entering a classroom makes me want to cry. I show the film, let them out early with a brief writing assignment to do at home. Students come up to me years later to rave about this film and paper.

[assocpolysciprof]

I'm not sure if this qualifies as a Jedi mind trick, but I will post it anyway. Like others on this forum, I have encountered students who beg for "extra credit" assignments in my classes. In every case, the student was someone who had botched, forgotten, or willfully neglected to complete the regular assignments for the course. Therefore, a few years ago, I added the following line to my syllabus: "Under no circumstances can I award a student extra credit, because doing so would be unfair to the overwhelming majority of students who work hard and who play by the rules."

The mind trick lies in the strategic use of the word "fair."

[copper]

Nothing to add, but this is an awesome thread with an awesome title, Scienceprof.

[wittgenstein]

Not sure whether this counts, but ...

I give between 12 and 15 quizzes per semester. Students are allowed three absences, but there are no makeup quizzes for any reason. If they have three absences or less, I will drop their lowest three quiz grades (including one, two , or three zeros). If they have more than three absences, I won't.

I then do an example I make up, with a student who has a high B as a quiz average if I drop hir two lowest grades, but the same student, if I change hir two lowest non-zero grades to zeros, now ends up with a D quiz average if I don't drop the three lowest quiz grades. This emphasizes that attendance is important. Also, it sort of takes care of taking attendance; if I don't have a quiz from someone that day, they were absent.

I have an ulterior motive for this too. I count the quizzes as 20% of their grade. Most students do well on the quizzes; they don't do as well when all the material is put together on a test.
This makes it possible for even a student with a high D test average to pull a C in the course (assuming they have fewer than three absences.) This raises my pass rates, which, as I have mentioned, is the main thing they care about here at
GenericUrbanCommunityCollege. But I still sleep at night relatively content that I have not lowered my standards too much.

[concordancia]

My brain hurts. I just give a bazillion quizzes, add up the points, not to exceed the specified percentage on the syllabus and voila. If you didn't do the reading or come to class, you are just out of luck. Although I do note the difference in my grade book. A zero means you didn't read, no notation means you didn't show up to class.

[diveprof]

Psychdiva-

can you share the title of this film? I'm dying to know!

[cc_alan]

My brain hurts. I just give a bazillion quizzes, add up the points, not to exceed the specified percentage on the syllabus and voila. If you didn't do the reading or come to class, you are just out of luck. Although I do note the difference in my grade book. A zero means you didn't read, no notation means you didn't show up to class.

Okay... someone didn't do their homework and follow the intent of this thread.

<image of some dork standing in front of you and looking constipated while loudly whispering for some strange reason>

You will share some of your mind f... err... games.

So, Nomy, what do you do in class to "encourage" students to want to take their medicine?

Alan

[scienceprof]

Jedi mind tricks (or positive psychology, is perhaps a better way to put it) is an important tool to improve teaching evals.  (This is anecdotal, of course...I have not seen any studies on this).

HEY!

No fair trying to educationalize nerd terms.

Alan
Nerd-boy and proud of it... I've helped hundreds of padawans take the pebble from my hand.

I think I am joining (or am I President and charter member of?) the Alan fan club.  Just last week, I told a senior she could graduate if she could snatch the pebble from my hand.

Also, summers-off, positive psychology is obviously the worse, not better,  way to put it - would I have had 28 reponses in 2 days if I had titled the thread "Positive psychology"?  I think not.