How would you have graded this simple test?

[Alex Franke]

Here's a math test I flunked when I was a little kid.

I'm curious: How would you have graded it?

(Note that the teacher missed one of the consistently wrong answers. "U" means "unacceptable" -- the lowest possible grade.)

[Shep]

Looks like you've been holding on to this for some time. Hopefuly you're not holding a grudge. It seems like you were just confussed on < and >. If I was the teacher I would have reviewed the material with you after seeing the mistake. A U is not a good grade in this case. I would have had you retake the exam for 1/2 credit. This way you would learn your lesson, but not get a full blown do-over

[Uncle Cracker]

I would have immediately had you placed in charge of the federal budget...

[cabinetman]

What's the >, <, and = ?
.

[iceman61]

I can still remember what those pages smelled like coming straight off the memeograph machine. It was always funny to watch 90% of the class doing the same thing.

[LarryG]

What Shep said, is the way I see it. You have all of your "less than" and "greater than" answers backwards.

I don't understand what you mean by "Note that the teacher missed one of the consistently wrong answers." Explain, please?

EDIT: Oh, I see it now ... the 8 __ 3 problem, third row left. Somehow I looked over this thing five times and still missed it.

[Alex Franke]

Looks like you've been holding on to this for some time. Hopefuly you're not holding a grudge.

No, no grudge. I cried for hours over this when I was a kid and held onto it when I came across it later as an example of "life is not fair." I was so upset when I got it because I completely understood the concept but I just got the symbols reversed -- I thought the grade was just mean.

I don't understand what you mean by "Note that the teacher missed one of the consistently wrong answers." Explain, please?

She didn't mark "8 < 3" as a wrong answer. The answers would all be correct if the symbols were reversed.

[Shep]

I had also cried for hours on my 4th grade multiplication tests. I was fine with math, but the tests were all timed. I think they gave us 10 minutes to do 100 problems. I don't test well when I'm timed, so I only got about 1/2 of them done. I was stressed out so bad I got hives. To this day I still get anxiety when I take a test that is timed.

[master53yoda]

it means to me that the teacher did not effectively teach that the arrow points to the small number, teachers problem not yours.

[Stytooner]

My teacher taught us that the less than greater than symbols were like a megaphone. The smaller one talks in the little end and out comes a bigger sound.
Easy peasy.

I would give her an Unacceptable myself. She failed to teach you the correct way. Her track record for being right is in question too at this point with the failure to circle the other error.

[pelligrini]

-13, F

Yes, you understood the concept but had the symbols reversed. You still got it wrong. I've never liked 1/2 credits, do overs etc. I think it teaches kids that there is always a second chance and you can get by with just trying. The harsher lesson of failing should make one not want to repeat it again.

[twistsol]

The test is graded correctly, the problem though is that the teacher failed to explain the greedy duck correctly. The sign is a duck's mouth and it always want to eat the biggest number. My girls were taught it was a hungry alligator.

I'm guessing you never forgot this tough lesson.

[Tom Slick]

How did you do on the next test with greater/less than problems? That is where the learning would have shown up.

It was graded correctly and fairly. My wife is a math teacher for high school and college, she would have graded it the same but put a note to "see me".

[phi1l]

I'm surprised she didn't have you tested for lisdexia.

[LarryG]

She didn't mark "8 < 3" as a wrong answer.

Right, I figured that out (finally!) while you were composing your reply.

Bottom line, end of the day, etc., I'm with Erik and Tom. You had all the symbols backwards and that means you answered those questions incorrectly. I don't necessarily agree that this means the teacher failed to explain the symbols adequately. That may well have been the case; but the proof would be in how all the other kids in your class did on their tests.