The student answered 450g for a reading on a graduated cylinder between 60 & 70 mL. It is wrong on so many levels. I suppose considering water’s density is 1g/ml that the answer is slightly less ridiculous. The work is spot checked by a teacher walking around and seeing if it was done, and that is that. Why does this bother me so? The work does not seem meaningful in the sense that is not building towards something real or connected to something larger. Things that are done in isolation seem of little consequence. Imagine how many people one passes by every day without any consequence (although I hear they show up in dreams). That is the equivalent of some homework I have seen in my content. It is costly; each student has their own “consumable” textbook.
Feedback seems essential as we are learning in Understanding by Design / Differentiated Instruction. Students, however, are not trained to receive this feedback. Most feedback I see (and I give) is guided by the rubric. Since not having units is half a point for each answer on the lab, that is a lot of what feedback is during the lab. “Make sure to put your units!” And yes, those are important. But what is important was pre-determined by the rubric!
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