On question setting

wee_ws SG

Dear students,

How do teachers set questions to assess?

This teacher from HK gives some details:

http://johnmayhk.wordpress.com/2008/11/18/create-an-mi-question/

Enjoy!

Cheers,
Wen Shih

wee_ws SG

Hi,

More often, teachers develop questions to assess

1. the students' ability to apply the usual mathematical concepts and skills;
(see the checklists in http://www.sgforums.com/forums/2297/topics/356377)

2. the students' ability to translate descriptions into mathematical expressions and relationships;
(read about interpreting sentences in statistics in http://www.freewebs.com/weews/interpretingstatistics.htm)

3. the students' ability to apply critical thinking in unseen (atypical) questions.
(read about generalisations in http://www.freewebs.com/weews/ongeneralisations.htm)

Jiayou in your prelim/promo exam revision!

Cheers,
Wen Shih

wee_ws SG

Hi,

Sometimes, questions may be set to check if students appreciate the finer points of concepts.

Let's look at an example from complex numbers:

Verify that z = i is a root of the equation z^3 + (1 - 3i)z^2 - (2 + 3i)z - 2 = 0. Determine the other roots.

In the second part of the question, the student may unwittingly start with z = -i being one of the other roots, without realising the fact that conjugate roots only occur in polynomial equations with real coefficients.

Thanks!

Cheers,
Wen Shih

wee_ws SG

Dear JC 2 H2 maths students,

You may help yourself to mock exam paper 1 I have prepared for my own students:

http://www.freewebs.com/weews/H2%20Mathematics%20Trial%20Examination%20Paper%201%20_2009_.pdf

Do try it under exam condition of 3 hours and check your steps with your teachers. Thanks!

P.S. Paper 2 will be put up shortly.

Cheers,
Wen Shih