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[Kirian]

Heh, I got an infraction on another forum for using the phrase, "beer and skittles."

I'm all for moderation where needed (especially in a video game forum with a bunch of kids), but getting an infraction for "beer and skittles"? I had much rolling of eyes.

Is there some other meaning that I'm missing?  Like the vegan family who was denied the license plate "I [heart] TOFU"

Edit:  Ah, apparently it is an old idiom.  And here I thought that the candy company invented the word skittles.

I get that TOFU is the beginning of a phrase.  But skittles?  Wikipedia has nothing naughty on it.  Can someone explain the joke, thereby making it funnier?

"beer and skittles" is a phrase that roughly means "fun and games".  Skittles is a game similar to bowling. Skittles doesn't mean anything naughty, the fact that Kuildeous mentioned the word beer in a forum with a bunch of underage people despite the context used is what got him the infraction, hence why it's so ridiculous.

Well, you know, no underage people have ever heard of beer or alcohol.  We wouldn't want to expose them to that.

[Ozle]

Wait..... Al-co-hol?
What is this?
I must go and find some!

I'll be back shortly...

[Kuildeous]

Why do people still labor under the impression that "all of the above" makes for a good selection in multiple-choice questions?

In one question bank, I have 42 questions where "all of the above" is an option. In 36 of them, that is actually the correct answer. So there are 36 questions that are easier to guess than the others.

Multiple response questions are a much better indicator of knowledge retention. Sure, you still have the issue of computerized testing instead of someone evaluating your answers, but it's less likely to be guessed.

[heron]

Why do people still labor under the impression that "all of the above" makes for a good selection in multiple-choice questions?

In one question bank, I have 42 questions where "all of the above" is an option. In 36 of them, that is actually the correct answer. So there are 36 questions that are easier to guess than the others.

Multiple response questions are a much better indicator of knowledge retention. Sure, you still have the issue of computerized testing instead of someone evaluating your answers, but it's less likely to be guessed.

Nonono don't tell them, how will I pass all my tests then!

[qmech]

[Kirian]

Why do people still labor under the impression that "all of the above" makes for a good selection in multiple-choice questions?

In one question bank, I have 42 questions where "all of the above" is an option. In 36 of them, that is actually the correct answer. So there are 36 questions that are easier to guess than the others.

Multiple response questions are a much better indicator of knowledge retention. Sure, you still have the issue of computerized testing instead of someone evaluating your answers, but it's less likely to be guessed.

I often put in a section with "For these questions, between zero and four of the choices are correct.  Choose all answers that are correct; if none are correct, write 'none'."

This sort of question must be graded as if it were n true/false questions, where n is the number of choices.

[markusin]

Why do people still labor under the impression that "all of the above" makes for a good selection in multiple-choice questions?

In one question bank, I have 42 questions where "all of the above" is an option. In 36 of them, that is actually the correct answer. So there are 36 questions that are easier to guess than the others.

Multiple response questions are a much better indicator of knowledge retention. Sure, you still have the issue of computerized testing instead of someone evaluating your answers, but it's less likely to be guessed.

I often put in a section with "For these questions, between zero and four of the choices are correct.  Choose all answers that are correct; if none are correct, write 'none'."

This sort of question must be graded as if it were n true/false questions, where n is the number of choices.

I once had a final exam that had multiple correct choices for its multiple choice questions, but because it was being corrected by an old scantron, you either got full marks or no marks on the question. Missing just one of the correct answers or being incorrect about an option being true led to a mark of zero on that question. Combined with the topic of the exam being the professional code, the exam was absolutely brutal.

I got about 68% percent on that exam. The highest mark on the exam was about 75%, and I was in the top six on it. That course was bell curved like you wouldn't believe (average is made to be a C).

[sudgy]

Being homeschooled, I have to take a test every to make sure I'm still learning.  It's multiple choice, but I like in the math section they have four answers, then another one that is "none of these".  It rarely is the answer, but you still have to check to make sure.

[Dsell]

Being homeschooled, I have to take a test every to make sure I'm still learning.  It's multiple choice, but I like in the math section they have four answers, then another one that is "none of these".  It rarely is the answer, but you still have to check to make sure.

You're gonna love the SAT. No "none of these" option means that oftentimes you can eliminate all but one of the answers before you've actually figured out the solution. Test-taking strategies ftw!

[SirPeebles]

Being homeschooled, I have to take a test every to make sure I'm still learning.  It's multiple choice, but I like in the math section they have four answers, then another one that is "none of these".  It rarely is the answer, but you still have to check to make sure.

You're gonna love the SAT. No "none of these" option means that oftentimes you can eliminate all but one of the answers before you've actually figured out the solution. Test-taking strategies ftw!

When I was studying for the physics GRE I was able to "solve" a very large number of the multiple choice problems even for topics I'd never learned, just by considering symmetries or limiting cases.  At the time it felt like a sham, but in retrospect that is one of the more important skills the exam measured.

[Dsell]

Being homeschooled, I have to take a test every to make sure I'm still learning.  It's multiple choice, but I like in the math section they have four answers, then another one that is "none of these".  It rarely is the answer, but you still have to check to make sure.

You're gonna love the SAT. No "none of these" option means that oftentimes you can eliminate all but one of the answers before you've actually figured out the solution. Test-taking strategies ftw!

When I was studying for the physics GRE I was able to "solve" a very large number of the multiple choice problems even for topics I'd never learned, just by considering symmetries or limiting cases.  At the time it felt like a sham, but in retrospect that is one of the more important skills the exam measured.

Measuring reasoning skills (which apply themselves as test-taking skills and shortcuts) is one of the most important features of standardized testing, imo. A lot of people complain that the material on the SAT, for example, does not match up with what students are being taught. While this is a legitimate concern and can introduce bias in some cases, I think the far more important point that those people overlook is that measuring specific knowledge is not really the goal; rather, the SAT measures the effective use of basic concepts and reasoning to come to the "most correct" answer.

Of course, you can get tutors and what-have-you to help you with test-taking strategies, but a lot of what they help you with (from my understanding) is basic reasoning and wrong answer elimination, which are actually important skills beyond standardized tests.

Also, did everyone hear that they're redesigning the SAT for 2016?

[Robz888]

Being homeschooled, I have to take a test every to make sure I'm still learning.  It's multiple choice, but I like in the math section they have four answers, then another one that is "none of these".  It rarely is the answer, but you still have to check to make sure.

You're gonna love the SAT. No "none of these" option means that oftentimes you can eliminate all but one of the answers before you've actually figured out the solution. Test-taking strategies ftw!

When I was studying for the physics GRE I was able to "solve" a very large number of the multiple choice problems even for topics I'd never learned, just by considering symmetries or limiting cases.  At the time it felt like a sham, but in retrospect that is one of the more important skills the exam measured.

Measuring reasoning skills (which apply themselves as test-taking skills and shortcuts) is one of the most important features of standardized testing, imo. A lot of people complain that the material on the SAT, for example, does not match up with what students are being taught. While this is a legitimate concern and can introduce bias in some cases, I think the far more important point that those people overlook is that measuring specific knowledge is not really the goal; rather, the SAT measures the effective use of basic concepts and reasoning to come to the "most correct" answer.

Of course, you can get tutors and what-have-you to help you with test-taking strategies, but a lot of what they help you with (from my understanding) is basic reasoning and wrong answer elimination, which are actually important skills beyond standardized tests.

Also, did everyone hear that they're redesigning the SAT for 2016?

Yeah, they are redesigning it to fall in line with Common Core, the new national education curriculum standards. Common Core, though, is extremely controversial, and the more people learn about it, the less they like it, and I'm not confident it's actually going to ever be fully implemented nationwide (because people hate it so much).

[dondon151]

I'm not entirely aware why Common Core is controversial, aside from it being an easy target that conservatives can pick on to skewer Obama.

[SirPeebles]

I'm not entirely aware why Common Core is controversial, aside from it being an easy target that conservatives can pick on to skewer Obama.

Yeah, it is mostly controversial among the right-wing fringe.  It is difficult to determine when there is a legitimate policy disagreement versus when it is pure political posturing and obstructionism.

[Kirian]

I'm not entirely aware why Common Core is controversial, aside from it being an easy target that conservatives can pick on to skewer Obama.

...despite the fact that the whole program was set up by the National Governors Association, and the federal government hasn't really touched it.

[SirPeebles]

But hey, back on the topic random stuff.

http://labs.minutelabs.io/Brownian-Motion/

[eHalcyon]

[Watno]

Latex is strange:

Code: [Select]

X \wedge Y produces the smash product of X and Y.
If you want the wedge sum, you need to do

Code: [Select]

X \vee Y

[SirPeebles]

Latex is strange:

Code: [Select]

X \wedge Y produces the smash product of X and Y.
If you want the wedge sum, you need to do

Code: [Select]

X \vee Y

Speaking of math symbols, I am grading a stack of exams at the moment and really wish my students would write lower case t with the little serif at the bottom.  Also, cross their z.

[Watno]

I think I usually substituted t with something else because I couldn't distinguish it from +.

[SirPeebles]

I think I usually substituted t with something else because I couldn't distinguish it from +.

Well these functions of time.  Harmonic oscillators and Laplace transforms and such.

[Awaclus]

My t and + are easy to distinguish from each other.

[Witherweaver]

That's why I drop the "+" sign entirely and only use a Plus(x,y) function.

[SirPeebles]

That's why I drop the "+" sign entirely and only use a Plus(x,y) function.

log(exp(x)exp(y))

[Watno]

I actually had to check wether the bachelor thesis I'm writing even contains a + sign. (But of course it has quite a lot of them)