Inspired by other education bloggers, a friend of mine decided to do something different on the final for his calculus class. The first half of the exam was the question:
"Tell me everything you know about the mathematical concept, the derivative."
What he found:
"Most of my students wrote 8-10 pages of notes, examples they created, rules they knew, and applications and uses for the derivative. While it's been remarkably time consuming going through what they wrote, I've never been happier with any test I've ever given. It's frankly humbling simple to find out what students know - just ask them. More than this, I've never given a Calculus final where at least a couple of students froze up with math anxiety. This exam was joyous. What a difference.
I still think I need a 12 step, self-help group, but one day at a time and all that."
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