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by HardyParkersonJD
Oct 19, 2014
Ode to Lynda Lee (On I WILL LIFT UP MINE EYES, by Glenn Clark; Harper and Bros. 1937)
by Hardy Parkerson
This old book is tattered; This old book it torn; This old book is yellow; This old book is worn. The one who wrote it now is dead. Oh, how he wanted this old book read!
This old book grew old; It looked a terrible sig...See MoreOde to Lynda Lee (On I WILL LIFT UP MINE EYES, by Glenn Clark; Harper and Bros. 1937)
by Hardy Parkerson
This old book is tattered; This old book it torn; This old book is yellow; This old book is worn. The one who wrote it now is dead. Oh, how he wanted this old book read!
This old book grew old; It looked a terrible sight And so the librarian threw it away one night; But a scholar, digging in the dumpster for books, Rescued it from the bin. Now this old book is read again.
The author of this old book is dead and forgotten, But his words speak on on pages now rotten. The worm and roach have done their deeds Upon its spine and edges; But just as much today as ever The author speaks from its pages.
Within these pages are Diamonds and pearls For scholars and saints To discover; But the librarian threw it away, Regarding only its yellowed cover.
Oh, read with care And turn with ease The pages of this old book: The one the scholar Rescued from the trash bin, The one the librarian forsook!
In addition to studying for tests, there are techniques that students can employ to increase their scores on multiple choice tests. Click below to read 7 simple tips by Susan Fitzell.
On getting what we expect.
It’s the administrator who creates a good school, but...
by ProfHardyParkerson
Sep 8, 2014
What Are We Fightin' For? by Hardy Parkerson
O, they took me out of school And sent me up to Fort Leonard Wood. They taught me about Charlie And how he was no good.
They taught me how to kill the gooks And how to win the war, But they never, ever told me What we were fightin' for.
Once upon a time, there was a giraffe, caged in and confined to the space within the bars. There was no way out imaginable. After years, the bars became familiar, expected, and maybe even comfortable for the giraffe. Sadly, when the cage was eventually opened, the giraffe did not flee. Instead, it bashed its head against the bars over and over...
by Prof. Hardy Parkerson, J.D.
Sep 1, 2014
When I Was in the Army
by Hardy Parkerson
When I was in the Army, We all marched along And the old Drill-Sergeant Sang a song:
"You ain't tired, so never mind: Nothin' but a state of mind. Sound off! One! Two! Sound Off! Three! Four! Bring it on down One... Two... Three... Four... One...Two... Three! Four!
"I cra...See MoreWhen I Was in the Army
by Hardy Parkerson
When I was in the Army, We all marched along And the old Drill-Sergeant Sang a song:
"You ain't tired, so never mind: Nothin' but a state of mind. Sound off! One! Two! Sound Off! Three! Four! Bring it on down One... Two... Three... Four... One...Two... Three! Four!
"I crawled 'neath live Machine-gun fire. Sarge said, 'It's two feet Off the ground.' My buddy said, 'It's really higher.' But I kept my fanny down. Sound off! One! Two! Sound off! Three! Four! Bring it on down... One... Two... Three... Four... One...Two... Three! Four!
"I've got a gal in Baltimore. She ain't nothin' but a lady. Sound off! One! Two! Sound off! Three! Four! Bring it on down... One... Two... Three... Four... One...Two... Three! Four!"
Author Notes "I paid my dues, I wore the green:/ The olive drab of Uncle Saml/I heard the frenzied sargeant scream,/ 'You're goin', boy, to Viet Nam!'" This was at Fort Polk (LA) and Ft. Leonard Wood (MO).
Difficult to imagine, but a true story! In the just-posted August issue of Teachers.Net Gazette:
The Teacher Who Couldn’t Read - By Owen M. Griffith - an incredible story!
by Russell Eisenman, Ph.D.
Apr 8, 2014
HOW WELL WILL COLLEGE STUDENTS DO ON AN EXAM IF IT IS NOT PART OF THEIR GRADE?
by Russell Eisenman, Ph.D. University of Texas-Pan American Department of Psychology Edinburg, TX 78539-2999
E-mail: [email removed]
This study looked at how well college students will do if they take an exam that either does or does not count ...See MoreHOW WELL WILL COLLEGE STUDENTS DO ON AN EXAM IF IT IS NOT PART OF THEIR GRADE?
by Russell Eisenman, Ph.D. University of Texas-Pan American Department of Psychology Edinburg, TX 78539-2999
E-mail: [email removed]
This study looked at how well college students will do if they take an exam that either does or does not count toward their grade. Will students study and learn without the threat of the grade hanging over them?
Method
The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) is a state agency with power to require things of public colleges in Texas. One of the things they require is that introductory college courses cover what they call exemplary areas of learning. And, students must be tested in these areas, with the grades reported to the THECB. Professors are allowed to choose the items to be tested, but they must cover, in the case of psychology, four exemplary areas of research methods, theories, alternative explanations and cultural diversity. This requirement strikes me as an assault on professors’ academic freedom to teach how they choose, but at least they let us choose the specific methods of assessment.
Three of the author's Introduction to Psychology classes in Spring 2010 (n=215 students) and three in Spring of 2013 (n=220 students) took an exam required by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, with 6 questions each on their 4 required topics of research methods, theories, alternative explanations and cultural diversity. Thus, it was a 24-item exam. Students were told whether or not the grade would count toward their course grade.
Results
The grade was counted toward the student’s grade for the Spring 2010 students and their mean exam score was 93%. The grade was not part of the students' grade for the Spring 2013 exam and their mean score was 69%. Clearly, in this sample of mostly Hispanic college students, there was limited studying and achievement if their exam score was not to be part of their grade.
Discussion
Students learned well when the test grade would count toward their course grade. In that case, the mean score was 93% correct. But, when the grade from the test would not count toward their course grade, the students did poorly overall, with a mean score of only 69% correct.
Grades are currency in the classroom and we have made students value what grade they get. Also, it makes sense, to an extent, for students to put great emphasis on their grade, since they are often judged in terms of their grade, e. g. in getting a job, getting into a graduate school, letters of recommendation, etc.
However, at times grades are over-valued. Some students put emphasis on the grade but not on learning. For example, with my mostly Hispanic students here (most of them are of Mexican-American background. Our school has more Mexican-Americans than any college in the nation.) there is often a great concern for getting good grades but sometimes a dislike for classroom discussion. The students have figured out that what goes on in the discussion is not going to be on the exam, so, to them, it is a waste of time. I have worked hard to overcome this in my classes.
Most of the students are first generation (the first person in their family to go to college): 62%; from families with low household income: an average of $38,906 for those applying for financial aid; and below average ACT scores, with a mean score of 19.8 for students just recently admitted (the national average is 21). So, in some ways it is great that many of them value getting good grades and will do enough to get good grades, even though many are burdened by having to hold down a job as well as go to college.
On the other hand, for this sample (and perhaps for many other college students) there may be too little emphasis on the value of learning per se. Future research could see if some of the things I found tend to be true for Hispanic students in general, for first generation students (the first in their family to go to college), of if they tend to be true for most college students in our nation.
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