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Physics 30: Science and Pseudoscience

Exam Retakes, No Late Penalty, 4-Point Grade Scale

Reflection on Instructional Change:

For my class, I instituted several changes, but the one I was most interested in seeing the results of was giving exam retakes. I picked this one because I am aware that exams are not equally easy for everyone, and I know that I am much more familiar with academic language than my students. I didn't want to unintentionally disadvantage students who are less familiar with an academic environment on a huge part of their grades. Lastly, I was curious as to if I could do it easily, without devoting too much of my time to grading assessments.

In terms of high and low context students, I find that exams are often low context events. The minimum amount of additional information is given, and it's a series of unrelated short scenarios. I hope that by allowing an additional attempt, I am helping reduce that issue. I also hope it will provide more opportunities to interrelate concepts

I did not change the exam format very much for the day of the exam. It is very similar to previous exams, only for this class I told them that I would return the exams, and they would have time to correct their missed responses.

In terms of this FLC, I found the greatest value was in reconsidering the ways in which I expected students to react to grading, and how to minimize pressure in my course. I wanted my grading to be more accurate, and I wanted to gain facility in communicating outside of my cultural norms. I definitely still have room for improvement on all counts, but I've got a clearer picture of the ways to do it.

**Evidence of Instructional Change**
Image from my syllabus detailing the midterm regrade policy	Image from my Canvas page with the regrade assignment

Changes in Course Syllabus and Schedules:

Pre FLC - Syllabus and Schedule

30-23S-Zora.docx

Post FLC - Syllabus and Schedule

30-23F-Zora.pdf

**Faculty Bio**
	Kay Zora is a lecturer in Physics at Sacramento State University. This is her second FLC. She is interested in promoting critical thinking, teaching conceptual connections, and fostering a positive and interesting learning environment.

This work was supported by grant funding from:
	STEM4Equity: US Dept. of Education STEMHSI P031C210012 NSF STEMZone: 1832335 *Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Sacramento State.