NetNews Usenet Archive 1992 #31/NN_1992_31.iso/spool/comp/sys/hp48/6491

Internet Message Format | 1992-12-24 | 1.8 KB

From: [e-mail] (Joseph K. Horn)
Date: Thu, 24 Dec 1992 07:40:03 GMT
Subject: Re: Using programmable calcs in exams
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Path: sparky!uunet!paladin.american.edu!gatech!swrinde!sdd.hp.com!hp-cv!hp-pcd!hpcvra!rnews!hpcvbbs!akcs.joehorn
Newsgroups: comp.sys.hp48
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[e-mail] [Viktor Toth] writes:

> I have little doubt that the fellow who takes the time and the
> effort to learn how to program his or her HP48, plug in Maxwell's
> equations, etc., would by that time learn those equations pretty
> well.

Although your concept is valid, the implementation of it gets sticky
for one very good reason.  Suppose you're teaching a complex topic.
Suppose one of the brighter students programs an HP 48 to do it all
automatically, complete with input prompts, step-by-step output of all
your required "intermediate steps" so that the student can "show the
work"... and then that student beams the program to everybody else in
the class and shows them how to use it.  They pass the exam with full
marks, and learn absolutely nothing.

I personally avoid this by writing the programs myself, explaining to
the class as part of the lecture and homework exactly how the programs
work, and then including on the test some questions not only about the
math at hand and applications thereof but also about the HP 48 program
itself.  I require an understanding not only of the basic concepts but
also of their application to real-life problems and real-life tools.
One of my favorites is "This program gives bogus results with inputs
of thus-and-such; how wrong are they, and why?"

-Joseph K. Horn-   -Peripheral Vision, Ltd.-
[e-mail]
Disclaimer: Chill out, it's just opinions, not bullets.