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Did ALL the students do poorly on that section of the test? If a comparative number of students answered correctly, then perhaps the test wasn't unfair.
The objective is to remember what you were taught. Knowing which chemicals should not be mixed with which is an important life skill.
Without knowing how many students passed/failed, there is no way to tell if the test was unfair. Thus, it is necessary that you speak to ALL the parents to determine how many children knew the answer(s). Logic 101.
All the students received the same test. The questions you are not happy with covered an experiment done in class. You may not like the test and the students may not like the test, but that does not make it an unfair test.
The problem isn't that the kids didn't remember what happened when you mix Sodium and Water. It would be an eminently fair question to as, "If I put NA into H20, what happens?" Or even, "What element, mixed with water, Causes an explosion?" Or Even, "What elements could you mix to cause an explosion?"
Chemistry is a lot like math. If a math teacher says, "X+14=22," its a fair question. If a teacher asks,"X+Y=25, what could X and Y equal?" that's a fair question. But it isn't fair for a teacher to say, "X+Y+Z, solve for all three" and then say, "We worked on that on the board and I assigned values last Thursday." And that's what the teacher did; she said, "What mixed with what creates what?"
The question of "Fairness" is a philosophical one. The teacher should recognize her own failings if a majority of the class did poorly on that portion of the test.
Quote:
Originally Posted by theatergypsy
Did ALL the students do poorly on that section of the test? If a comparative number of students answered correctly, then perhaps the test wasn't unfair.
The objective is to remember what you were taught. Knowing which chemicals should not be mixed with which is an important life skill.
Without knowing how many students passed/failed, there is no way to tell if the test was unfair. Thus, it is necessary that you speak to ALL the parents to determine how many children knew the answer(s). Logic 101.
The point of Chemistry is that aside from the "noble gasses," everything can be dangerous or not. You don't pour water to acid, but vice versa is ok. Water is generally safe, but not added to Sodium.
Even your example of X+Y=25 isn't a fair question because there are an infinite number of possible answers or you cant determine two unknowns from one equation.
Developing hard tests is easy. Developing tests that actually measure what you think they measure is hard.
Even your example of X+Y=25 isn't a fair question because there are an infinite number of possible answers or you cant determine two unknowns from one equation.
Developing hard tests is easy. Developing tests that actually measure what you think they measure is hard.
This is a tough call. And it seems to me, that. a test that's so unfair, that some kids went home crying, is worth some push-back form parents. I don't see the fact, that the grade is meaningless, to be all that relevant, given that possibly no kids were able to provide answers.
Also, it can be outside a grade school kid's conceptual capacity to even consider personally challenging such an authority figure as a teacher. Middle school and HS kids, yes, possibly, but 5th-graders?
In most districts, middle school starts in 6th grade, so 5th grade is preparation for middle school. It can possibly be a good experience for a kid to practice respectfully challenging an authority figure, or deciding not to challenge such a figure, in 5th grade when the stakes are low, since it is a skill they will need to be able to do in middle school and beyond.
Again, knowing how to challenge an authority figure it a useful skill. But knowing when to fight and when to fold is also a useful skill. A lot will depend on the personality of the teacher. Is this a teacher who is open to input from students and parents about how to improve, or is she the "don't tell me how to do my job" type? Does this teacher generally go out of her way to be fair, or is she the "life isn't fair" type? Is she the type of teacher who encourages participation by students, or is she the type who considers asking questions to be insubordination? Is she the type of teacher who holds grudges, or is she the type who forgives and forgets and is willing to give everybody a clean slate? These are all factors in whether or not to practice challenging an authority figure, vs whether to just try to forget about the situation.
While I don't agree with the general gist of many posters in this thread, I do want to comment on your post. Yes, life is not always fair. But as responsible moral -- if you are -- you ought to what's possible to make life as fair as it can be. If you get leukemia when you're a child, that's an example of life being unfair that we can't do much about. But what one human does to another...that we can tackle.
Being a 4.0 student doesn't involve getting a 100 on every paper. It involves concentrating on the 97% of the course work you CAN study and remember. That's why teachers always tell you not to get stuck on one question. Answer as many as you know, and then go back and work on the ones you struggled with.
When your child gets to the age of taking college placement tests, at least the SAT, is scored in a way that doesn't require all questions to be answered for a perfect score. Adhere to this, no matter what your gut instinct may be, and you will do better than if you side tracked yourself.
Most of life is about having control over impulses, not being distracted by a red herring, and not responding to stimuli intended to invoke a knee-jerk reaction. Success is as much about what you don't do as what you decide TO do.
All very good points. When I took the PE (Professional Engineering) exam years ago, there were some topics that I had never learned. The advice that I was given and followed (and it worked, since I passed on my first attempt) is to learn the topics that you know really well, and forget about the topics that you never learned. Some people spent a lot of time trying to teach themselves the topics that they never learned, and usually end up failing, since they wasted so much time learning topics that would have maybe 1 question on the entire exam.
Even your example of X+Y=25 isn't a fair question because there are an infinite number of possible answers or you cant determine two unknowns from one equation.
Developing hard tests is easy. Developing tests that actually measure what you think they measure is hard.
I think that the poster who suggested that question meant that it was an open-ended question where any X and Y are accepted as correct answers, as long as X+Y=25. For example, X=11 and Y=4 would be accepted. X=30 and Y=-5 would be accepted. X=22.3 and Y=2.7 would be accepted. But ScanTron teachers don't think that way. To them, life is black and white, with only 1 correct answer.
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The point of Chemistry is that aside from the "noble gasses," everything can be dangerous or not. You don't pour water to acid, but vice versa is ok. Water is generally safe, but not added to Sodium.
