The FCI

So, I must admit, I was a bit of a delinquent student today.  I thought I had set up mail forwarding from my new gmail address for this blog and for this workshop.  I apparently failed to click the bubble for "forward mail to this address."  I had set up the address and verified it, but alas, no bubble.  So, while I knew there was supposed to be some FCI test coming along, when I had not received notice, I figured some other plans were afoot.  Anyway, this morning, when I logged on to gmail to check the address of the location of the meeting (in an email received prior to my supposed forwarding attempt) I noticed a few emails from Don.  One of which was, of course, the FCI test.  So I madly woke up my home computer to print the thing this morning, and irresponsibly took it on my way to class this morning.  Luckily I arrived safely, with the test completed, only to find out that it would play very little role in what we discussed today in class:-(

I guess we were supposed to write about how we felt taking the test today.  My feelings are probably a bit, if not significantly, different than they would be if I had taken the test as it was intended, calmly and peacefully in my kitchen while my two daughters run around me screaming joyfully and asking when I will go and play with them outside.  In any case, I felt completely confident in my results, though some of the "air resistance" problems caught me asking myself, do they want the "real" answer or the "in a perfect world with no air" answer.  I opted for the latter in all of my choices.  I also found myself thinking, gosh, I wonder how my kids would do on this test.  We certainly talk about all of these concepts, and while I have never seen this test, we would certainly discuss the correct answers to all of the questions on it in my class.  I still wonder though, how would my kids do.  Or, in effect, how have I done as an instructor.  The alums that come back to speak with me usually talk about how well prepared they were for college physics, which I take as some sign that I am not completely wasting their time while they are with me.  So, I think I am doing OK, but I am not confident about how my students would perform on this test.  I am not even confident about how those alums would fare.  So, I plan on doing a before and after test next year to see what affect I am having on their understanding of the topic of force.  I hope to get a better understanding of how I am doing as an instructor, and over time improve my students' understanding of the concept of force.

Lastly, after spending 20 minutes trying to find the appropriate answer key for the test, I determined that, even though I took this test while battling traffic on 696 and Woodward Ave.  I aced it!  I mean, I should ace it, I am a physics teacher for goodness sake, but still, I always worry with things like this.  As a teacher, it always helps the confidence to know the answers before you ask the questions.  In this case, I was flying blind.  100% on this inventory is a small victory, but one I can be proud of.