Brian Beasley and Greg Goeckel, both professors in the math department, tried
to solve the problem of accountability in homework, Beasley by
asking each student in Math 105 and 108 to keep a written journal.
In the syllabus he wrote: 'The purpose of the journal is to help
you keep up with the homework and to help me give you more feedback
on your work."
In the journals Beasley asked the students to
list the homework problems they tried, the ones they could not
solve, and the total time spent on homework. In addition, he wanted
a brief written summary of any observations and questions they
had about that day's class or assignment. He asked for one full
page for each class day, not counting test days. Checking the
journals weekly and using them for possible bonus points at the
end of the semester, Beasley found that journals did not take
as long as he had thought to skim or read and that his feedback
on the journals encouraged students to come by his office to discuss
problems with him.
The students, especially freshmen, wanted more
specific guidelines for their journals, ranging from what topics
to write about to what size and type of notebook to use. Some
of the more creative students found notebooks with very small
pages. While some students came to see the journals as an extra
burden and questioned their value, others used the pages to communicate
more effectively with their instructor. Some explained previous
attitudes toward math, especially math anxiety and even math disabilities
that they would not have shared face-to-face. Other students asked
for help with specific homework problems. One student wrote on
the course evaluations: "[The journal] helped me establish
a relationship with my teacher as well as process what it was
that I needed help on."
Beasley suggested a few changes to make the
journal assignments more effective:
1. Be more specific
in the syllabus description, including
how journals will help the student's grade and what format is
expected for the journal entries. This semester Beasley collects
a half page of writing on looseleaf notebook paper at each class
meeting.
2. Consider requiring
daily writing to encourage accountability
and to provide prompter feedback. Take up journals every day in
class, not weekly.
3. Vary journal topics: add a Problem of the Week, a problem that would
make connections; Consider designating certain homework problems
to be handed in along with the journal entries; have students
tackle word problems or rewrite them in their own words; or let
students discuss the lecture or group work in the journals. Beasley
also asks students this semester to write about any help they
receive from the math lab, a classmate, or a sorority sister to
encourage them to seek such help.
Greg Goeckel
first used writing to help his students learn math by having them write how they solved their homework
problems. If they could not solve a problem, he asked them to
write on what they did up to the point they got lost. Because
the writing showed their thought processes, Goeckel was able to
help them through their individual difficulties.
The "downside" of this experiment,
according to Goeckel, was that "some students gave a lot
of detail, while some just gave a few steps." He also found
it difficult to find good problems for the students to write about,
but he has begun giving students partial credit for writing out
their thinking about problems that they cannot solve on tests.
His next experiment was having students e-mail
him, answering the question "What did you learn in the lecture
today?" They also had the opportunity to question him about
the day's class. These summaries gave him feedback on whether
the lecture was clear or complete enough. Goeckel counted their
e-mail as part of the 10% for class participation. Managing e-mail
could be a problem. Goeckel created an e-mail file for each class
(108G, for example) and responded only to those who had questions
or errors in mathematical vocabulary. Students learned to use
correct mathematical vocabulary as they wrote about math and also
had a way to have their questions answered before the next class.
Although some would find writing in a math class
unusual, Goeckel and Beasley discovered its benefits.
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