Test #2 Results November 6, 2009
Posted by jdresner in administrative, grading, hist 102 (Fall 2009), study terms.add a comment
The top terms were:
- Abraham Lincoln
- Industrial Revolution
- Napoleon Bonaparte
- Isaac Newton
- Declaration of Independence
- Charles Darwin
As with the pop quizzes, I scored each answer on a 4-point scale, then added up the results. The high score in the class was 42 out of a possible 48 (before extra credit) again, which I used as the 100% mark (which again raised everyone’s grades a lot). The median score was between B and B-. Here’s how the grade scale worked out:
| Grade | minimum points | distribution |
| A+ | 42 | |
| A | 39.8 | 20% |
| A- | 37.8 | |
| B+ | 34.8 | |
| B | 30.3 | 40% |
| B- | 27.3 | |
| C+ | 24.3 | |
| C | 19.8 | 30% |
| C- | 16.8 | |
| D+ | 13.8 | |
| D | 9.3 | 10% |
| D- | 6.3 | |
| F | 0 |
If you compare it to the last quiz, you can see some movement from B to A and some movement from D to C. But not much.
Test #1 Results October 5, 2009
Posted by jdresner in administrative, grading, hist 102 (Fall 2009), study terms, textbook.add a comment
The most popular term, by far, was “Columbian Exchange” followed by “Martin Luther,” “Abolition” and “The Bill of Rights.”
As with the pop quizzes, I scored each answer on a 4-point scale, then added up the results. The high score in the class was 42 out of a possible 48 (before extra credit), which I used as the 100% mark (which raised everyone’s grades a lot). The median score was a B or B-. Here’s how the grade scale worked out:
| Grade | minimum points | distribution |
| A+ | 42 | |
| A | 39.8 | 15% |
| A- | 37.8 | |
| B+ | 34.8 | |
| B | 30.3 | 45% |
| B- | 27.3 | |
| C+ | 24.3 | |
| C | 19.8 | 20% |
| C- | 16.8 | |
| D+ | 13.8 | |
| D | 9.3 | 20% |
| D- | 6.3 | |
| F | 0 |
This looks pretty good, but remember two things. The extra credits were a very helpful: most people got both right, and each grade scale was only three points or a bit more. The top score is very likely to go up in later tests, which means that everyone has to improve just to stay even.
Finally, I was, as I noted, very disappointed by the number of answers which parroted back the textbook’s sidebar definitions. Here are a few examples of how those definitions compare to answers which actually got good scores (3.5 or 4 out of 4) below the fold. My favorite example is the last one: notice how the textbook sidebar definition almost entirely fails to mention what makes Cornwallis important in this chapter, but the student definition ignores all the irrelevant stuff and goes right to significance? Note that the student definitions aren’t perfect but they very clearly cover the context, often mention and define related terms, and are especially good on significance, why the term/person/etc. mattered:
Miscellaneous announcements: Guest Lectures, Test, Fun September 22, 2009
Posted by jdresner in Napoleon, Schedule Change, administrative, extra credit (F09), grading, hist 102 (Spring 2009), homework, military, not homework, resources.1 comment so far
We’ll have two guest lectures from PSU Grad student, military historian and WWII reenactor Dustin Strong: “Napoleon and his Wars” on October 9 and “WWII” on November 16. Mr. Strong’s lectures, like my own, are required, and I will expect to see his presentation reflected in your test answers and essays where appropriate. Mr. Strong has also announced two WWII reenactments open to the public as extra credit opportunities: Sept. 26-27 at Bristow Jones Memorial Airport (Bristow, OK) and Nov. 7 at Forest Park (Ottawa, KS). For the extra credit, include in your summary/reaction paper a description of the battle, and those of you doing WWII topics for your book review are strongly encouraged to talk to members of one of the units, as they are usually very well-informed on the equipment and history of the units they portray.
My apologies to the 2pm section for missing Monday: I have put the lecture outline online, so that anyone who missed class due to the weather or illness can review it. Those of you were there for the 11am class are welcome to look at it as well, obviously.
Regarding the Test on Monday, covering chapters 15 through 20, inclusive, and the lectures, the format will be very much like the pop quizzes: I will choose four or five (or six) terms from each chapter — the terms in the “Key Terms” lists, of course — to put on the test. From those, you will pick twelve (12) to answer: at least one from each of the six chapters, and the rest from any of the remaining terms. I will supply the test and paper; you bring something to write with and everything you can remember about the last month’s readings and lectures.
Finally, for fun, here’s pre-Revolutionary satires on French aristocratic hairstyles, including a recreation of the Battle of Bunker Hill [mildly adult content]. The one that made me laugh was the one with the hairdresser using a nautical navigational tool — the sextant — to arrange the hairstyle.
Pop Quiz Grading September 11, 2009
Posted by jdresner in administrative, grading, hist 102 (Fall 2009).add a comment
As I said previously, I grade ID questions on the familiar 4-point scale, with half-points. I give some credit for incorrect identifications — when you identify the wrong thing — if you actually identify that thing reasonably well. Your pop quiz grades for the semester will be handled much like the tests: I total up everyone’s scores and take the highest as 100%.
Also, I hand back pop quizzes when I have them graded — and I’ll try my best to make sure that’s the next class — but if you’re not there when I hand them back, I’ll just hold onto them until next time I have something to hand back. If you missed my handing them out, feel free to ask me for them before or after class.
ID Tests August 21, 2009
Posted by jdresner in administrative, grading, hist 102 (Fall 2009), homework, study terms.3 comments
The pop quizzes and tests will be Term Identification tests: I will give you a list of terms selected from the “Key Terms” list at the end of each chapter, and you will write a short paragraph defining and explaining the importance of the term.
The answers I’m looking for have three important components:
- Definition: Basic information about what the person did or what the event involved or what the term means.
- Context: What country or region, what time period does this fit into? What else is happening around this term that’s important to know? What other people or events or concepts play a role?
- Significance: Why is this an important person or event or concept? What does this change about the world, and what comes after this that couldn’t have happened without it?
Definition alone, which is what you get if you memorize the textbook sidebar or a sentence or two from the text, gets you up to about a C. Context gets you to B-range. You need all three to make an A. (All of this assumes that you’re getting it right, of course.) You can get all that from the textbook, if you read it carefully, but it’s a lot easier if you listen to the lectures, too. Your answer on tests need not be limited to the material in a single chapter: many names and terms and processes will appear in multiple chapters; pop quizzes, on the other hand, will focus on the term as defined in the chapter assigned for that day.
You can find some exemplars of good work from previous semesters here and here.
I grade the individual questions on a 4-point scale: 4=A, 3=B, etc. On the tests, I then total those up and, taking the highest grade in the class as 100%, convert them back to a letter grade with pluses and minuses. I record that grade (on a hundred point scale, so F is still worth more than zero) as your grade on the test.
Test 4 Results May 8, 2009
Posted by jdresner in administrative, grading, hist 102 (Spring 2009).add a comment
As I expected, about a third of the class exercised the “drop this grade” option and didn’t take the test, so the distributions are a little odd. The most popular terms were Einstein and the Holocaust, followed by a near tie between penicillin, Hitler, atomic bombs, WW2, the Great Depression, UN and the greenhouse effect. What a century! Humanism, nationalism, secularism and the EU were the bottom of the pack.
The high score in the class was 44 out of a possible 48 (again!), but I used the second-highest score, 40, to preserve a reasonable distribution. The median score was a B again, but only barely. Here’s how the grade scale worked out:
| Grade | minimum points | distribution |
| A+ | 40 | |
| A | 38 | 15% |
| A- | 36 | |
| B+ | 33 | |
| B | 29 | 50% |
| B- | 26 | |
| C+ | 23 | |
| C | 19 | 30% |
| C- | 16 | |
| D+ | 13 | |
| D | 9 | 5% |
| D- | 6 | |
| F | 0 |
The extra credits were a little helpful, but seemed more challenging than I thought they’d be (each person was responsible for the two quotes immediately to their left, in order!)
Extra Credits May 6, 2009
Posted by jdresner in extra credit (S09), grading, hist 102 (Spring 2009).add a comment
To get credit for any extra credit events you attended, please hand in the 1-2 page summary/reaction by Friday, the last day of class.
On the test, I’m awarding half a point for trying, and half a point for each person you correctly connect with a quotation, up to a maximum of 2 points total.
Test 2 Results March 25, 2009
Posted by jdresner in administrative, grading, hist 102 (Spring 2009), study terms.add a comment
The most popular terms were French and American Revolution, Thomas Jefferson and Napoleon. Only one person did Qianlong and only two did Kant.
The high score in the class was 39 out of a possible 48. The median score was a B; as you’d expect with a lower top score, the median was a bit higher than last time. Here’s how the grade scale worked out:
| Grade | minimum points | distribution |
| A+ | 39 | |
| A | 37 | 20% |
| A- | 35 | |
| B+ | 32 | |
| B | 28.25 | 45% |
| B- | 25.25 | |
| C+ | 22.25 | |
| C | 18.5 | 25% |
| C- | 15.5 | |
| D+ | 12.5 | |
| D | 8.75 | 10% |
| D- | 5.75 | |
| F | 0 |
11 people were helped by the extra credit, moving up a grade because of those points. That’s more than a third of the people who attempted the extra credit questions.
Two procedural notes and a small test change March 9, 2009
Posted by jdresner in administrative, doing history, grading, homework, study terms.add a comment
- If you email an assignment to me, I will email you back with an acknowledgement (or a question, if the file is missing or I have difficulty with opening it). If you don’t get an email confirmation from me, then I haven’t gotten it.
- I take class time to hand back assignments when I have finished grading them. If you are not in class when I hand them back, you need to come to me to get it; I don’t spend extra class time later trying to track down people to give them assignments. (Or you can wait until the next assignment is graded, since I do run through everything in my folder.)
On the next test, I’m going to keep the structure of the last one — Twelve terms: two from each chapter, plus four from any remaining terms — with a slight modification. Because we spent more time on the Enlightenment/revolution chapter, I’m going to require three from that one. You still have three “free choice” terms, though.
First Test Results February 27, 2009
Posted by jdresner in grading, hist 102 (Spring 2009).1 comment so far
The most popular terms were monsoons, Columbian Exchange, Columbus and Martin Luther. No surprises there. Only one person did Timur the Lane and only one person did the Dalai Lama, in spite of the Tibetan Monks visit.
The high score in the class was 44 out of a possible 48 — pretty good for the first test. The median score was a B-, which is actually quite good. Here’s how the grade scale worked out:
| Grade | minimum points | distribution |
| A+ | 44 | |
| A | 41 | 6% |
| A- | 39.5 | |
| B+ | 36 | |
| B | 32 | 55% |
| B- | 28.5 | |
| C+ | 25 | |
| C | 21 | 33% |
| C- | 17.5 | |
| D+ | 14 | |
| D | 10 | 6% |
| D- | 6.5 | |
| F | 0 |
Over the weekend I’ll put some of the 4-out-of-4 answers up here for reference.
When looking at your papers, you can ignore the little diagonal I put in the upper-left and lower-right corners of pages: that’s a note to me that there’s nothing before or after (respectively) that page which isn’t graded (just keeps me from having to flip more pages than necessary). If I underlined or circled something in one of your answers, though, it almost certainly means something you got wrong. If I put an “approximately” sign in the margin (and I do this on essays, too) — it looks like this: ≈ — that means something which is almost right, or nearly wrong; questionable, in other words.
Here are some sample answers. As always, these earned 4 out of 4, though that doesn’t mean perfection: it just means that the historical issues are covered, clear, and the significance really is significant.
