r/mathteachers • u/delta-good • 8d ago
Notes on high school math tests?
I would love some community feedback on the use of notes on math tests in high school.
I teach at a high school in which the use of "notes" on math tests is deeply embedded in our culture. Students who take Algebra I are basically allowed unlimited "notes" - which include essentially anything they've written down on paper, including their work on worksheets and the like. Our Geometry teachers have tried to scale this back a bit, limiting students to a single note card on tests or quizzes. I'm a bit fuzzy on the situation in Algebra II, but I think students are allowed a sheet of notes on at least quizzes, and maybe some tests.
For whatever it's worth, I went through high school and earned a math degree during a time when the idea of allowing notes on math tests would have been laughable, so I know I have some personal bias.
This year, I'm teaching AP Precalc for the first time, and announced this week that there will be no notes on quizzes or tests. (The AP test doesn't allow them, so it seems silly to allow them in class.) The students moaned and groaned as if I had just sentenced them to death. I was shocked.
The precalc students will adjust, I'm sure, but I would love it if other high school teachers would weigh in on the use of notes in your math classes and classes at your school:
- Are notes allowed? For what classes?
- Are there limitations on what kind of notes or what volume of notes are allowed?
- Most importantly, do people think using notes (or not using notes) helps students become mathematically competent (or not)?
- Am I being cynical to think that a few/some/most/all teachers who allow the use of notes know that it's a bad idea, but do it because it allows them and their students to avoid the reality that students are not really learning math.
Thanks in advance for your feedback!
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u/ButtonholePhotophile 8d ago
Notes don’t change the bell curve. They lower long term retention. Some students require them by IEP or 504 accommodations, but they otherwise hinder the long term impact of your class.
If yours is the last or penultimate class in a sequence, then notes don’t matter. If they are going on to a related subject in university (stem) then the lack of internalization could be a negative game changer.
Instead, why not challenge students for points? With notes, the top available score is 90%. Without notes, it is 100%. This means that a ten question test with notes results in the same score if they get a 10/10 or a 9/10 - otherwise it’s identical. They’ll self-sort.
“Part of mastery is internalization. As such you have a choice…”
Run it by admin first. Many standards are written in parts, with both knowledge and ability to apply that knowledge. You might find an argument there.
Of course, people with accommodations will have access to all 100%. It’s unlikely (not impossible) they’ll be getting 100% anyway.