by Hyeyoung Kuk

A big announcement hit GLP Pre-calculus students on the first day of class this semester. A new grading system will be applied to all Pre-calculus tests – a new system which brought up different opinions among students.

In the previous system, students of all three sections were given identical questions and same amount of time to solve the questions. Students were expected to solve all problems, and all solutions were graded.

The new system expects students to solve all the questions in the same amount of time as well, but the biggest change is the number of solutions students have to submit. Students have to submit fewer problems. Students should submit an answer for the question that they are most confident with. This leads to another change: the number of students who can submit the solutions is restricted to the number of questions (which is about half the number of students in each class) because a solution is accepted per each question. The grading system for the submited solutions is also changed. For the previous grading system, the range of the score was from 0 (minimum) to 100 (maximum). However, for the new IPA (Individual Practice Assignment) system, the range of the score is from 0 (minimum) to 3 (maximum), and students should earn points up to 20.

3 students, who are taking precalculus, and Mrs. Ayo (the current Pre-calculus Teacher) were asked, “What do you think about the new IPA policy?” Below are the responses.

“I think the change of the IPA system is very good for the students because before, the students were struggling to solve questions (problems) in limited time, and they weren’t motivated enough. Now, the students are competing with each other. But it’s not a negative competition since we can all have chances. So like, if we don’t get it, we get ten minutes advantage for the next class. So students can all have chances but they can all be motivated since it’s like an enjoyable challenge. And I think there are lots of students who study harder than last term because the new system requires faster and more accurate ability. So I think IPA change is very good for students.” (’19 Sungbin Park)

“I like the new IPA system because it seems like a good way to ensure that a lot -well at least most of the students – can get a 100% on the IPA score really easily (or well actually easier than before). Because everyone has things that they are good at and things they are bad at, and they can actually pick the ones they can do the best.” (’19 anonymous)

“The former system allowed students at least feel the sense of the MCQ tests – tests which require accuracy and fast speed. But the changed system hinders students from feeling tense while taking a test. Second, the students who are slow at solving questions cannot perform very well.” (’19 anonymous)

“This test is supposed to be an Individual Practice Assignment, which means that the test should not have any outside factors – peers –  affecting the evaluation. For example, even though a student knows how to solve the question, he or she cannot prove his or her ability  just because he or she is just a second behind another student in submitting. It should be evaluating the individual’s ability only, without any outside factors. ” (‘19 anonymous)

“The purpose of the new system is to reduce students’ burden. In the past, students had this anxiety – the anxiety that one has to turn in a certain number of solutions to questions in time. However, this new system allows students to turn in the solutions that they have confidence in. Also, they don’t have to turn in the IPAs every time!” (Mrs. Ayodeji)

In order to succeed in the new IPA system, students should aim for accuracy and speed. While the previous IPA system was fully dependant on the individual, student performances in the new IPA system are affected by their peers: if multiple students decide to solve the same question, only the one who solves the fastest is allowed to submit the solution for the problem.  If the submitted solution is wrong, however, all the other students are given the chance to submit their solutions.