It always amazes me how much better students do on the final exam than they do on the four class tests I run during the semester. Obviously I like to think it is that because my teaching eventually makes an impact. More likely, it is the fact that 20% of the final grade rests on the exam….
The average exam score was 87%, 10% up on the class tests. Again, no students got every question correct, but ten got all but one of the 28 correct, and fully 35 got 100% in my grading algorithm. Pleasingly, for all questions, the majority answer was the right one.
Grade distribution: A, 74; A-,18; B+, 20; B, 19; B-, 16; C+, 8; C, 1; D, 11; Fails, 5, including 3 no shows.
The exam had the same structure and questions style as the class tests. The first half of the exam is on things discussed in class. I was able to populate that part of the test entirely with questions suggested by the students. I give 2.5% extra credit for any suggested question that I use; about ten students made suggestions. Any students who felt the first half of the test was tough can blame those class mates.