oral assessment – Page 2 – Math Belongs to All of Us

February 11 Day 340: More Appreciative of Less

For those teaching on the quarter system, Winter quarter 2021 is more than half way done. Today I administered an oral midterm assessment in Abstract Algebra. Previously I discussed my struggles with inquiry-based learning in this class because of its low enrollment numbers and I secretly wished for more students. Today I fully appreciated theContinue reading “February 11 Day 340: More Appreciative of Less”

February 3 Day 332: Oral Encore

We are nearing the halfway point of the quarter. Midterms are looming large. I had promised my Abstract Algebra II class that we would come to consensus on the format of the midterm. They were given several options: In class. Straightforward computations and proofs administered remotely but during class time with no advance warning ofContinue reading “February 3 Day 332: Oral Encore”

December 18 Day 285: Finally Finished

After 5 days of oral assessment, including 19 interviews between 8 am and 3:30 pm today with hardly a moment to breathe, I can report that the final assessment interviews for Autumn 2020 are finished. With more than twice as many students as last spring, I feel as if I have entered a Zoom coma.Continue reading “December 18 Day 285: Finally Finished”

December 15 Day 282: Magical Thinking or Avoidance Behavior?

Two days of oral finals completed and three days to go. Patterns from earlier in the quarter remain consistent. For some reason, students schedule interviews for the last possible minute. The number of interviews increases each day. Thank goodness the growth isn’t exponential. Is it magical thinking or avoidance behavior that motivates their scheduling? DoContinue reading “December 15 Day 282: Magical Thinking or Avoidance Behavior?”

December 3 Day 270: This Time It’s Personal

The past three days (and by that I mean mostly today), I have been conducting the third round of interviews for oral assessments in Calculus II. The first one occurred in the second week of the quarter in groups of 3-4. The second one occurred in the fifth week of the quarter in groups ofContinue reading “December 3 Day 270: This Time It’s Personal”

November 24 Day 261: Individual Orals

Next week will be the final rung in the oral-assessment-scaffold in advance of the planned final for Calculus II. Teaching a fully remote course, I decided to continue with an oral final assessment as I did last Spring. Making this decision in advance and heeding my previous students’ recommendations, I have scaffolded building oral assessmentContinue reading “November 24 Day 261: Individual Orals”

November 8 Day 245: Comparison

The last group oral assessment I administered required 10.5 hours (21 groups of 2-3 students each for a 30 minute time slot) plus another hour or so for uploading comments. That might seem like a lot but for comparison consider today—I have been grading the individual online assessment from last week. I’m about halfway doneContinue reading “November 8 Day 245: Comparison”

October 30 Day 236. “Everything is Terrible But I Guess That’s Okay”

Friday evening. Hallelujah. It’s been… a week. Again. Let’s talk about oral assessments. I finished interviews for the second group oral assessment of the quarter. There were 21 small group interviews over the week with the final interview concluding this evening at 6:30 pm. Today was a marathon; I completed thirteen 25-minutes interviews—for a totalContinue reading “October 30 Day 236. “Everything is Terrible But I Guess That’s Okay””

October 13 Day 219: Examining Exams

I participated in UW Seattle’s CTL Teaching Remotely Pop-Up on “Timed Exams and Alternatives” while giving a timed assessment in my Calculus II class. To be clear, the assessment became available Monday at 6 pm (after class was completed) and must be finished before Wednesday at 1:30 pm. Only two students were actually taking theContinue reading “October 13 Day 219: Examining Exams”