Monday, October 14, 2013

I Got It Wrong, Too

Last Monday I covered a special ed. algebra class. They had a test. Which meant that once I got them silent and working, I didn't have a lot to do.

The IA asked me if I would mind correcting the tests. The answer key was provided. Of course I didn't mind. It was especially easy as the tests were multiple choice.

Only one student got a perfect score. The next highest grade was a 27 out of 30 (which is an A). Some didn't get a whole lot of them right. But one thing I did notice was that other than the perfect score, everybody (save maybe 2 other students) got the first question wrong.

Keys have been known to be wrong. I've come across some in the past.

So, I pulled out the test and looked at the first question. It was a "put these numbers in order from least to greatest" using three fractions and one decimal. And three of the numbers were negative.

I looked at the choices, and I agreed with most of the class. Then I had second thoughts. So, I pulled out a calculator and converted all the fractions to decimals...and found that the answer key was, in fact, correct.

Interesting. I can see why they made that mistake. Too bad they didn't check it over like I did. Of course, I had the key to work from.

4 comments:

  1. Oooh! Cheater. ;) I hate tests like that--the ones you're certain you got right, but it's all tricksy. Glad I'm done with school... For now.

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  2. I'm not sure how I would do on one of my daughter's math tests.

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  3. Once I asked a professor why I got a question wrong and at first he agreed with me, then he noticed that, whoops, the units I used were wrong. Some questions are just evil.

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