[RUME] "Blanking" on tests: any research on this phenomenon?

Fri Feb 10 14:12:07 EST 2006

This discussion started out with ideas of what we can do to help those who
suffer from "math anxiety" or just freeze on an exam. However, it sadly
disintegrated into discussing bad habits that students have which hinder
their own learning. So what can you do to make an end run around the habit
of "copying" from a solution manual?

What I find most students need is to do a problem or even copy a problem
from a solution manual and go on to explain why they did each step--in their
own words. The most insecure students want me to tell them how to say it.
But they need to struggle with the concepts and "construct" understanding. 

I have asked many students how they study and they read and re-read a text.
They practice doing problems over and over. And they memorize.  But we need
to get them to the point where they think about concepts, make connections,
develop understanding of processes and then there is usually not much left
to memorize--building understanding usually commits the process to memory. 
Think back to when you were learning...I would venture that math professors
did not get where they are by memorizing processes, but instead constructing
understanding of concepts.

Another trick for text anxiety is to have the students do a "down load"
before they begin reading the exam. I tell them to write down the things
they feel the most insecure about (they have no notes, no books open--this
is their own memory working). That way if they have a moment of panic--which
is when everything usually flies out the window, they can look at what they
wrote down and get back on track again. This works for many students.

Many students also do not know how to analyze errors and learn from them. We
need to model this so when they do get in trouble they don’t panic but can
figure out what went wrong so they can fix it.

Discuss mathematics.

The list is very long. But there are many things we as teachers should and
could be doing to help students assume responsibility in their own learning
rather than just try to mimic the teacher.

Kimberly Vincent
WSU

-----Original Message-----
From: Rume-bounces at betterfilecabinet.com
[mailto:Rume-bounces at betterfilecabinet.com] On Behalf Of Whittaker, David
Sent: Friday, February 10, 2006 9:53 AM
To: Crowley, Lillie F (Bluegrass); Tevian Dray; Discussion list for the
SIGMAA on RUME. 
Subject: Re: [RUME] "Blanking" on tests: any research on this phenomenon?

Thanks for brining this up Lillie.  I find it to be a deep-rooted problem
since even the best students will give up too early and look at the
solution.  I always spend a few minutes at the beginning of the quarter
describing an appropriate use of the solutions manual (to give hints, for
example) and how using it as a crutch will negatively affect their exam
score.  In addition, I put a disclaimer in my syllabus that copying directly
from the solutions manual and turning it in as their own work is a violation
of our Academic Integrity statement.  To me, it's math plagiarism and should
be treated as such.

-david

David E. Whittaker
Mathematics Faculty
Cascadia Community College
http://www.cascadia.ctc.edu/faculty/dwhittaker

-----Original Message-----
From: Rume-bounces at betterfilecabinet.com
[mailto:Rume-bounces at betterfilecabinet.com] On Behalf Of Crowley, Lillie F
(Bluegrass)
Sent: Friday, February 10, 2006 9:25 AM
To: Tevian Dray; Discussion list for the SIGMAA on RUME. 
Subject: Re: [RUME] "Blanking" on tests: any research on this phenomenon?

Yep, and another thing that happens is that somebody in the class will get
their hands on a solution manual for the text, which has  EVERY problem
worked out, start to finish. They will share it with all the students they
work with. The student(s) will then do their homework with the solution
manual open to the solution, and check each step of their solution with the
one in the manual. As long as textbook publishers continue to publish these
(and you can't seem to get a textbook published these days without one....),
there is little we can do about it, short of never assigning problems from
the text. Then they will revert to plan A, which is to find an example that
is just like the....

Lillie 

Lillie R. F. Crowley, Ph. D.
Professor, Mathematics
138 Moloney Building
Bluegrass Community and Technical College
Cooper Campus
Lexington, KY 40506-0235
(859) 246-6422 (Note new phone number)
(859) 246-4672 fax
Cell: (859) 230-5067
E-mail: lillie.crowley at kctcs.edu

-----Original Message-----
From: Rume-bounces at betterfilecabinet.com
[mailto:Rume-bounces at betterfilecabinet.com] On Behalf Of Tevian Dray
Sent: Friday, February 10, 2006 1:53 AM
To: Discussion list for the SIGMAA on RUME. 
Subject: Re: [RUME] "Blanking" on tests: any research on this phenomenon?

> With some students, I have been able to identify part of the cause as 
> doing homework in-tandem with an example. Namely, they find an example 
> just like a given homework problem and emulate that example 
> step-by-step. Of course, this strategy is not available on an exam, so 
> a student that relies on this technique is in trouble come test time.

I can't point to any research on "blanking" on tests, but I think you've hit
the nail on the head: The transition from template problem-solving
strategies to open-ended problems is difficult and, more importantly, not
always addressed explicitly.  This problem is very noticeable when making
the transition from lower-division mathematics to upper-division courses in
any related field.  Some physics colleagues refer to this as the "brick
wall".

You may be interested in the Context Rich Problems developed by Ken and Pat
Heller and their physics education research group at the University of
Minnesota:
	http://groups.physics.umn.edu/physed/Research/CRP/crintro.html

We strive to implement these ideas in two current projects, which you may
also find of interest.  The Paradigms in Physics project redesigns part of
the physics major around themes ("spherical symmetry") rather than
disciplines ("quantum mechanics"):
	http://www.physics.oregonstate.edu/paradigms
The Vector Calculus Bridge Project emphasizes geometric reasoning over
algebraic manipulation in multivariable calculus:
	http://www.math.oregonstate.edu/bridge
You may find our recent paper on (physics) students' difficulties with
Ampère's Law of particular interest:
	http://www.math.oregonstate.edu/bridge/papers/ampere.pdf
Yes, this addresses upper-division content.  However, the point is not the
specific tools being used, but rather the number of different ideas needed.

Tevian

Tevian Dray
Professor of Mathematics
Director, Vector Calculus Bridge Project

MAIL:	   Dept. of Mathematics, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR
97331
PHONE:     (541) 737-5159	(Math Dept:  (541) 737-4686)
FAX:       (541) 737-0517
EMAIL:     tevian at math.oregonstate.edu
WWW:       http://www.math.oregonstate.edu/~tevian

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