I have exciting news! Well, at least for me this is quite thrilling, though only time will tell if my excitement is truly justified. This past Friday, I gave my students their second physics quiz. This quiz covered lectures 2-6 (out of 9 total). In the final copy of the course, it will only cover lectures 4-6, but I lengthened it because the first quiz I gave was shortened due to time restrictions. Knowing that the quiz covered so much information, I set my expectations lower for the results. Boy did I get a pleasant surprise. Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to announce an average of 8/14, with 12 out of 15 students receiving a 7 or above. While this average of ~60% may not seem stellar based on the grading scales we are accustomed to, the students here need to get a 50% on any given COSC subject test to receive a credit. These credits are what they use to apply to a university or vocational school. The quizzes are comprised completely of questions from old exams.

I know a multiple choice quiz with only 14 questions leaves considerable room for statistical error due to random chance, and that a sample size of 15 students does little to prove credibility for the course considering the population it is catering to (thank you stats 305), but I can’t help but feel a spark of childish excitement. I have gotten very close to my students, and want so much for them to succeed. As a teacher, it is also really gratifying to see improvement and feel like my work has made a difference. Of course, the most accurate judge of their improvement will come with the final exams we give at the end of this week. For now though, I will go ahead and enjoy this little success.