Practice Quiz Activity - Math Study Skills

Here's another blog from my old site that I have reworked - Enjoy!

As we all learned in grad school, being able to anticipate what you’ll be asked is half the battle to be successful on an exam. Helping your students to learn how to create their own practice quizzes will help them learn how to take control of their own education.

Assignment/Activity

• Assign your students to create a practice quiz for the first section in a chapter.
• Give them an idea about the types of problems, as well as how many, to include. For the first time I suggest somewhere between 5 and 8 questions, depending on the course and topic. I also tell my students to have a nice variety of problems – some on the easier side, and some that are more challenging. They should be representative of the section, and the goal is to create a practice quiz that prepares a student to take a real quiz on the section.

This can be an in-class activity if you have a spare 10-15 minutes the first time you try it with your students. It can also be a homework assignment.

Where Do You Find Problems To Include?
I suggest starting with odd problems in the textbook. The reason for this is that there are answers in the back that can be used to check your work. Other options are selecting problems from the chapter review or the chapter test in the textbook. If your textbook contains “Quick Check” exercises (exercises that directly follow the examples in the textbook), your students could choose some problems from these.
To determine which problems to include, take a look at the section objectives and include 1 or 2 problems for each objective. Another approach is to look at the homework exercises and select a couple of problems from each problem grouping.

What Do You Do Once The Students Are Done Creating Their Practice Quizzes?
You can:

• Collect the quizzes and give your feedback.
  This gives you a chance to point out omissions of important types, as well as whether the level of difficulty is appropriate.
• Have students swap quizzes and analyze the other student’s test. (Too hard, too easy, missing this type of problem, …)
  Same idea as the above option, but this gives students the chance to analyze a practice quiz for length and content. This should help them in the future to write better practice quizzes. I like it because it gives students to also reflect on what they included on their practice quiz - and reflection leads to true learning.
  
  This could also lead to a THINK-PAIR-SHARE opportunity: have the students merge their two quizzes into one quiz.
• Have students swap quizzes and take each other’s practice quiz, Ask the student who wrote the practice quiz to grade it.
  This gives the students a chance to take the practice quiz, which is the ultimate goal. A benefit of this approach is it forces students to evaluate each other’s work and explain how to do the problems correctly if there were errors. This can only increase the understanding of both students.

• Assemble one practice quiz from all of the students and distribute it to the class.
  You could print it out and hand it out in class, but there are other ways. You could post it through a Facebook group, send the questions out through Twitter, … The opportunities are endless.

Building From There
Repeat the process for each section in the chapter. At the midway point, explain to your students that all of their quizzes can be combined into a cumulative practice quiz. The same can be done at the end of the chapter. I do recommend creating a new practice test at the end of the chapter. Students can compare their practice test to the Chapter Test in the textbook to determine if it’s thorough enough.

Summary
You can help your students to become more responsible for their own learning by teaching them how to develop their own practice quizzes. This is a skill that will serve them well in your class, and any other class that they take in the future regardless of the discipline. It doesn’t take much class time to get them started, and the benefits are clearly worth it.
-George

I am a math instructor at College of the Sequoias in Visalia, CA, and incorportation of Math Study Skills into our classes is a professional passion of mine. If there’s a particular study skill you’d like me to address, or if you have a question or a comment, please let me know. You can reach me through the contact page on my website – http://georgewoodbury.com.

Test Taking Advice for Students

I will be bringing over some blog posts from my old blog to the new site, and adding updates to them. Here is an old blog on preparing for exams.

This week I have a new article coming out on The Instructor Exchange (instructorexchange.com) on preparing for a cumulative exam, so I thought I'd share some ideas for students who are preparing for an exam.

Test Taking Advice for Students

In the words of the great John Wooden, “Failing to prepare is preparing to fail.” One of the keys to doing well on tests is to prepare fully. Start your preparation well in advance of the test, do not wait until the night before to cram. You should know the format of the exam, the topics that will be covered, and approximately how many questions to expect. Try making a list of problems or objectives that you anticipate seeing on the test.

What to Review

Review your old homework assignments, notes, and note cards. Spend more time on problems you struggled with in the past.
Work through the chapter test and the chapter review in the textbook. I recommend working the chapter test first – it will let you know which problem types will require further study. You can find several problems of that type in the chapter review.
In other words, try all the problems on your textbook's chapter test, then only focus on problems in the chapter review that are similar to the problems you struggled with. If you still have problems after that, go to the appropriate section in the textbook for more problems and explanations. Also consider your other resources like your instructor, the tutorial center, your classmates/study group, Internet tutorial videos, ...

Practice Test

Make a practice test for yourself. Take it under test conditions – do not use your notes or textbook, and time yourself. Allow yourself the same amount of time that you will be allowed for the actual test. This will really help you determine which problems you have under control and which problems require further study. Also, you will know whether you are working fast enough to complete the exam.
Many students do not realize they are not fully prepared until they sit down to take the actual test. You must see how you are performing without your resources in order to determine whether you are actually prepared or not.

Final Preparation

Get a good night’s sleep on the night before the exam. If you are tired you cannot think as clearly. Also, be sure to eat properly before your test. It is easy for hungry students to become distracted during a test.

If you have any questions about preparing for a test, or if you have any strategies as an instructor that you would like to share, I’d like to encourage you to share by leaving a comment, or reaching me through the contact page at my web site – georgewoodbury.com.
-George

I am a math instructor at College of Sequoias in Visalia, CA. If there’s a particular study skill you’d like me to address, or if you have a question or a comment, please let me know. You can reach me through the contact page on my website – http://georgewoodbury.com.

Getting Ready for a Cumulative Math Exam

A question I often ask my students as a cumulative midterm or final exam approaches is "How will you prepare?" Many students tell me that they plan to rework all of their old quizzes, tests, and homework problems. Although I admire their willingness to take on such a Herculean task, I encourage them to use their time wisely.

It does not make sense to spend a lot of time going over problems that you know how to do. Instead you should be focusing on problems that have given you a hard time. The trick is to be able to quickly diagnose your issues, and then find problems to work on that will help you master those topics.

One place to start is with a practice exam from your instructor. If your instructor does not provide a practice test, or you want to start your preparation sooner, try beginning with the chapter tests in your textbook. These problems typically have all of the answers in the back of the book so you will know which ones you have correct. (By the way, avoid looking to the answers until you have solved all of the problems. It is the only way to truly figure out whether you understand the material or not.)

For problems that are incorrect, or problems you don't feel completely confident with, back up a step and look to the chapter reviews in your textbook. Here you will typically find 3-4 problems for each problem that was on the chapter test. Again, the answers to the review problems are typically in the back of the book so you can check your answers. If you need help with any of these problems, make the best use of your resources - classmates, instructor, textbook, tutorial center, online videos, ...

If, after the review, you are still struggling with certain types of problems, it is time to go back to the section of the textbook containing those problems. Look over the worked out examples in the section, as well as the examples in your notes. Then you will find more problems to try in the exercise section. Now you should probably restrict yourself to odd numbered exercises so you can check your answers.

Hopefully, at this point you should be well prepared for your exam.

If you have any questions or comments, I'd love to hear from you. You can either use the comments section on this blog, or you can reach me through the contact page on my website - georgewoodbury.com .

- George

I am a math instructor at College of Sequoias in Visalia, CA and an author of a series of developmental math textbooks. If you have any ideas for future articles, would like to join a blogging group, or contribute a guest blog, drop me a line.

A Good Math Teacher is Like a Good Jockey

There are so many metaphors for teachers, and the latest rage is comparing teachers to coaches. I like a slightly different spin on this - math teacher as a jockey. In a horse race, the jockey's job is to put the horse in a position where the horse can win if the horse is talented enough and has the desire. I feel that as a teacher I perform similar tasks. I explain topics, try to help provide understanding, and give inspiration and motivation. If the student works hard and gives full effort, then the student should pass the course and master the material.

The jockey metaphor extends to the beginning of the course. A jockey will tell you that a race is rarely won at the starting gate, but is often lost there. It is important to get your students off to a good start. You want to establish a positive classroom atmosphere, filling your students with the belief that they can do this. In addition, you want to get your students started on the right path of hard work and full effort.

In my next blog, I will go over my strategy for a successful first day of class.

Personalized MyMathLab Homework for Exam Review

This week my online elementary algebra class came in to take their pencil & paper midterm. The exam is very traditional, covering linear equations, graphing lines & their equations, and systems of 2 equations. The scores were, quite frankly, outstanding. Of the 34 students who took the exam, 25 passed including 18 A's.

To help my student's prepare, I used MyMathLab's personalized homework feature. First I created a 25 question quiz. Then I created a 75 question homework assignment, including 3 problems for each objective covered on the quiz. Finally I linked the two assignments.

Students take the quiz once, and that loads the personalized homework assignment. For each question answered correctly on the quiz, students received credit for the 3 associated problems. The only questions that remained on the homework assignment are problems that they missed on the quiz. So, students only review problems they struggled with. After finishing the homework, they can then go back and retake the quiz to prove mastery.

If you have not used this feature, I have a video that explains the process.
http://youtu.be/J4hdpHYdVWM

New Videos on YouTube for Intermediate Algebra

Last night, in a blaze of glory, I uploaded several videos related to solving quadratic equations to my YouTube account. Topics include completing the square, extracting square roots, quadratic formula, u-substitutions, and the Pythagorean theorem. I not only walk through examples in the videos, I give advice on determining the most efficient way to solve a given equation.

You can see them all on my YouTube channel: George Woodbury's YouTube Channel
- George

Making My Class Into A Game - Part 1

This is the third semester that I have been incorporating elements of game design into my algebra classes. I was inspired by my son (who is about to begin his college career as a game design major) to try to find a way to make my class fun for students, while at the same time increasing student learning.

The hardest part was coming up with a grading system that was not just a traditional grading system hidden under a cloak of gaming terminology. I didn't see any difference between saying you needed 90% of all the points this semester to earn an A and saying you need to earn 90% of the available XP to earn an A.

I came up with a gaming point system that incorporates elements of mastery learning, and I am quite happy with it. I have 6 tests and 1 final exam review in my course, as well as a final exam.
Points earned from tests depends on whether a student has satisfactory homework/quiz scores or not. (I define satisfactory as 90% or better on each homework assignment and 70% or better on each quiz.) I give a homework assignment for each section I cover, and 2 quizzes for each chapter.

Students with satisfactory scores earn 3 points in their test score is 80% or higher and 2 points if their test score is in the 70's. If a student with satisfactory scores fails the test, they are eligible to retake the exam the following week for 1 point.

Students with unsatisfactory scores (even if that means they missed by 1% on 1 assignment) earn 1 point for passing the test (70-100%) and 0 points if they fail the test. These students are not eligible for retests.

Since there are 6 tests, students can earn up to 18 points during the semester. I double one test (the hardest one) if students have satisfactory scores, providing a potential of 3 more points. Finally, there are 4 points available for a final exam review, making a total of 25 points available before the final. The final exam is worth 100 points, meaning that the highest possible total is 125 points for the semester.

Students need 76 points for a C, 88 points for a B, and 100 points for an A. The reason I chose 76 points for passing the class is for the student who feels he or she does not need to do the homework as long as they pass the tests. (Good luck with that, by the way!) 6 points from the 6 exams plus 70 points from the final makes 76 points.

That's it for part 1. I'll continue to explain the set up in my next post.

-George

If you have questions/comments, you can either leave a comment here or you can reach me through the contact page on my web site: http://georgewoodbury.com .

Habits of Effective Math Students

Just ran across this web page that shares advice for students who wish to be successful in math. In reinforces many of the things I tell my students. Check it out: http://www.mathsinsider.com/7-habits-of-highly-effective-teen-maths-students/

- George

A New Beginning

I have decided to move my blog to Blogger. In addition to upcoming posts about learning mathematics, using technology in the classroom, etc., I will be copying over old posts from my original blog. Stay tuned ...