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Es } PORT PERRY STAR -- Tuesday, March 5, 1985 -- 9 Only problem with thinking machines is higher marks Computers help account for PPHS success How sharp is Sharpe? Sharp enough to find a creative way of blending computer generated tests and a modified mastery learning pro- gram to help Port Perry High School students master the science of accounting. E- t 9 2 Cas. Ai 7 a Bill Sharpe, acting director of business Stuuics at Port Perry HS, became interested in the mastery learning ap- proach about three years ago. At the time, it occur- red to him that he could generate the necessary tests for such an ap- proach using a personal computer. Because mastery lear- ning involves frequent testing to properly assess a student's progress and because developing tests can be a time consuming business, Mr. Sharpe devised a way to create Bill Sharpe of Port Perry High School has developed a com- puferized system for helping his students solve problems. (See story for details) NO HOCKEY PUCKS! NO HAMBURGS! NO ASHTRAYS! NO WATERGLASSES! JUST $$$ Use Our Discount Coupon and Save $$$ wr UO "2 ny SIPCO OIL LTD. SIPCO OIL LTD. DISCOUNT COUPON WORTH 1¢/LITRE ON ANY FILL UP AT THE FOLLOWING INDEPENDENT LOCATIONS: Seagrave Store, Greenbank Store, Raglan Garage, Manchester Sipco, Brooklin Garage, Bass Lake Sipco, Bob's Discount, Orillia; Bill's Service Centre, Brighton. | ! This promotion entirely financed by the following independent IPCO SIPCO dealers in the area: Seagrave Store, Raglan Store, | Greenbank Store, Manchester, Brooklin Garage. basic tests that can be administered time and again. "I've made up 13 units of true and false and multiple choice questions 'and I've come up with a way to individualize dif- ferent basic questions." In accounting, when you ask a student todo a particular assignment, what often happens (and everybody knows about it) is that one student will figure out how to do it, then they all go down to the cafeteria and you end up with six copies of the same thing. "Now, what I did was give these tests out, and then give all the students different numbers. That way each student comes up with a different answer." The numbers, and the answers to each test variation, are generated by the computer, so once the text has been devis- ed, it can be re-used -- even with the same stu- dent -- simply by chang- ing the variables. "If a student says, 'I'd like to do a different question,' it's pretty hard to say, 'Just cover your eyes and do that one over again,' so I say, 'Here's a different set of numbers," and they change the question enough to present a bit of a challenge." Testing, of course, is only one facet of a mastery learning ap- proach. "It's nothing startlingly new," he said, "except that they've put some terminology to it. Most teachers teach, then check for understanding, then teach again, then check for understanding. So, what they've done is: systematize this. "The big departure is that after a student has written his summative test--which is another way of saying chapter or unit test--he has the op- portunity to come back and rewrite it. "What mastery learn- ing experts would con- tend is that most of the students who come into your class should be able to learn the material you're giving them. The big difference is time-on- task (that's the buzz word they use), so, if a student requires more time on the task to learn GUARANTEED SERVICE GUARANTEED GM PARTS GUARANTEED PRICE it, then you give him the opportunity to come back and write a second test. "If a student writes a test and comes back to me and says, 'I'd like to rewrite that test,' I give him some remedial work. He does that for me, turns it in, I check it and the he can write a se- cond test." For the first year, Mr. Sharpe averaged the results of the first and se- cond tests; now, however, the students receives the result he or she obtains on the second test, if they have chosen to write it. "I'm convinced it's a good deal. The problem is, marks will obviously tend to be higher. You're 3 Trust Us for Your Automotive Service Needs ... COMPLETE AUTO SERVICE SERVICE DEPT. HOURS: includes ® Lube, Oil & Filter ® Brakes ® Tires ® Shocks @-Tune-Ups ® Transmissions ... & MORE ® Batteries Monday to Thursday 8-5 (I Friday 8-5 > te the Community since 1976." PELL, P PONTIAC BUICK LIMITED 10 VANEDWARD DRIVE, PORT PERRY - 985-8474 h rol