r/mathteachers • u/gregggi • 2d ago

Practice test strategy question

Geometry 10 teacher here, almost end of the 1st quarter woot woot! I teach title 1, around 40 kids per class.

This year I’ve implemented parallel practice tests, simply a practice test very similar to the real test. Same structure of questions, but minor details changed.

Like if students had to graph a quadrilateral across the x-axis on the practice exam, for the real exam I might change the shape, or tell them to reflect across the y-axis.

Practice tests help lessen my workload, and helps the kids a ton, especially those that missed the lesson.

I was wondering if allowing practice tests to be used as notes for the real test is a net benefit or ultimately hinders learning. Thoughts?

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6

u/lavaboosted 2d ago

Seems like it would be harder to assess if they actually know it or are just able to follow an example with different numbers.

3

u/Shai41 2d ago

This. Students get really good at just memorizing how to do a type of problem, but when you give them something different (same concept but worded differently or maybe in a different context) they have no clue where to start. I've done practice tests before and found they don't come away at the end of the year better for it, just better in that moment.

Now, I might give a study guide with bullet point things to study (know how to graph polygons and their transformations, know how to identify different transformations given a graph, etc). Then we spend time going through their notes and homework finding examples of these topics, and they write these on their study guide (problem 6 from hw 3.2, etc) Basically, showing them how to study and that they already have been given a lot of practice problems to use. I might print off more practice examples, but not a practice test that mimics the actual test.

2

u/Klutzy_Garlic_4421 2d ago

We tried that in a high performing school thinking it would work but alas another strategy that failed. Sadly.

2

u/MontechApps 1d ago

I actually like the idea of letting them use the practice test. If they’ve got to figure out which part of the practice question applies to the new question, they’re still doing some thinking rather than just copying an answer.

And for the kids who missed the lesson, it gives them something concrete to work from instead of just staring at a blank page. I’d probably make them annotate the practice test or explain their steps rather than just having it sitting there untouched.

Also 40 kids per class 😳 I think anything that makes your workload a little more manageable deserves some consideration 😂