Assessing the students' grasp of the material is very important because it is the indicator of how well they actually know the content. I assess the students through lab reports, homework, quizzes, and tests.

Homework
Homework is assigned throughout the week, but is due that following Monday. The homework is a mixture of conceptual and computational questions. Some of the computational questions are identical, with different numbers, to the ones covered in class. This hopefully gives students some success, so that they can build a little confidence. Then there are problems that are different that require a different variable to be solved, or a different way to structure the equations, or one that requires a creative approach to solving. So, the difficulty level ranges from easy to difficult. But, to make sure the students know if they are successful, each computational question comes with the desired answer. This allows them to know if they are doing it correctly or not.

I believe that students do not truly learn until they struggle through the process themselves. I say struggle, but not in the sense of pulling one's hair out struggle. The struggle means a student must invest more than the time it takes to read the problem and decide it is too hard. They must go through the five problem solving steps. Before I will even help them, they must have demonstrated to me that they have gone through at least three of the five steps, and be able to explain to me the example done in class, and why they don't understand the homework problem. The purpose is to teach them how to be good students by teaching them the tools to think, the patience to tackle a difficult problem, and the confidence that they can eventually figure it out. Hopefully, over time they will need less help, and be able to figure it out on their own by using the problem solving steps, and comparing the examples in class to those on the homework.

I grade the homework based on completion. So, I do not grade each problem. This is due to the fact they have the answers, and if they put in the effort in completing the assignment, I want them to be able to reap the rewards. The homework is meant for practice, and developing the skills necessary to perform them on their own. This is assessed on the quizzes.

Lab Reports
Most experiements require a lab report to be completed within the guidelines specified. The most important parts of the report are the hypothesis, results, discussion, and conclusion. The discussion and conclusion are where the students display their understanding of what the lab was investigating and what the results mean. This requires the students to express their scientific ideas into written form, which can be very difficult at first. Science writing has its own style, and purpose. Therefore, I critique the student's discussion on their reports, and have them make revisions until their ideas and arguments are clearly expressed.

The reason for emphasizing the writing process lies with the fact that writing has shown to help students achieve critical thinking (Tsui, 2002). But, it is not just the writing, but the positive exchange of constructive criticism from teacher to student about the writing that helps foster critical thinking.

Quizzes
Every Monday after they turn the homework in, I administer the quiz which consists of five problems based upon last week's material and homework. The problems are a mixture of conceptual and computational questions that test the understanding of the students. In addition, usually one of the problems is an application problem, which requires the students to use what they know and apply it to a new problem. (See application problem explanation under the Test section). To see examples of the questions I ask, visit the questions archive page.

The students are required to memorize the formulas they learned that week. I do not supply them with the formulas for the quiz. However, I am not one to require an unnecessary amount of information, so they only memorize the equations that pertain to that particular quiz. This is so they have gone through the process of looking over, repeating, and memorizing the equations at least once. I feel that memorizing all of the equations of a unit for a test is not necessary, so I allow them to bring an equation sheet to the exams.

Tests
Tests occur at the end of each unit which usually consists of two chapters. A lot of the problems come from the quizzes. However, there are also application problems that test the students' grasp of the material. In fact, 20 percent of the test is application. This means that if the students study all of the problems they have seen before and understand their methods and concepts they should do very well on 80 percent of the test. Furthermore, if they do not answer any of the application problems correctly but try on all of them, the best grade that they can earn is a high B plus. In order to earn an A, the students must be able to answer at least one of the application problems correctly. I believe that an A means exemplary work where the student has performed above and beyond the objectives of the class.

Again, the application problems require the higher level thinking in Bloom's Taxonomy. So, 20% of the test is brand new problems that the students have not considered before. However, that does not mean the other 80% is exclusively grounded in the two lower levels of thinking. There are some problems that come directly from the quizzes. These would include some of the conceptual questions. The questions that require equations to answer are all different, since they all have different numbers, and sometimes different setups. In other words, I will change the information given, and ask for a different answer.

I do not use multiple choice. I abhor multiple choice. Most of my questions require a short answer. Others require a graph sketch, fill in the blank, or free-body diagrams. Questions that require writing have also proven to enhance critical thinking as shown from the same study sighted above (Tsui, 2002). Therefore, even if a question requires a yes/no answer, I will still require them to briefly explain their reasoning. I have found that through the course of a year, students do improve in their ability to express their ideas in a clear, concise manner. I believe it is due to the amount of practive they have through the lab reports, homework, quizzes, and tests.

Weighting Grades
I wait my grades. Tests and quizzes make up 60 percent of the grade,where homework, lab reports, and any other papers make up the other 40 percent. So, 40 percent of the class grade comes from working hard and finishing every assignment on time. The other 60 percent is based on the students' actual learning of the material, time spent studying, and effort in learning. I do this because I do not want grades to be inflated. An A in my class means something. In order to earn an A, the students must put in the time and effort to truly master the material. My basic goal here is to make sure that if a student earns a C or B, he or she receives a C or B and not an A.

To see the grade breakdown, go to the Syllabus section.