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After performing poorly on multiple tests @Kaplan

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After performing poorly on multiple tests @Kaplan

by conquistador » Fri Jan 29, 2016 9:56 am
After performing poorly on multiple tests and receiving a failing grade in a particular course, a student appealed the grade to a university's Office of Academic Affairs. The student claimed that the tests did not cover subject matter highlighted in the class lectures.

Which of the following would be the most useful in determining the validity of the student's claim?

A>Compare the student's test scores with those of other students in the class.

B>Compare the material covered in the professor's lecture notes to the material covered on the test.

C>Compare the student's individual answers to those of a student who received high grades on the tests.

D>Determine whether it is university policy to only test subject material highlighted in course lectures.

E>Compare the student's class notes with the material covered on the test.
After performing poorly on multiple tests and receiving a failing grade in a particular course, a student appealed the grade to a university's Office of Academic Affairs.

The student claimed that the tests did not cover subject matter highlighted in the class lectures.

The student seems to have concentrated only on highlighted matter in class lectures ignoring non highlighted ones
The tests did not test the highlighted matter in class lectures.


Which of the following would be the most useful in determining the validity of the student's claim?

A. Compare the student's test scores with those of other students in the class............we have no info on
whether other students failed or not or
whether other students refer class highlights or anything else.
This cannot help us and is out of scope.

C. Compare the student's individual answers to those of a student who received high grades on the tests............other students cannot say anything regarding highlights of class and subjects covered in tests. OFS

E. Compare the student's class notes with the material covered on the test...............we have no idea whether student took any notes and what points he noted in it. Highlighted only or everything told in the class. This cannot help us.

B. Compare the material covered in the professor's lecture notes to the material covered on the test.
if the comparison matches then student's claim weakens.
if it does not match then student claim gets bolstered.
but @IanStewart

I doubt even
if the comparison matches then still we have no idea whether test and notes covered the highlights or not.

Thus I feel this comparison cannot help to verify the argument.

D. Determine whether it is university policy to only test subject material highlighted in course lectures.
if it is university policy then univerist flawed its policy and student is rightful to claim it.
if it is not then he cannot question them n thus statement or conclusion is weakened.
[highlight]
can someone explain why B is right and D is wrong for above explanation.[/highlight]
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by MartyMurray » Fri Jan 29, 2016 3:36 pm
If this were an assumption question, D might matter more, as in order for the student's appeal to be relevant, the disconnect between the test and the material highlighted in lectures has to be relevant.

However, the question being asked in this case is the following.

Which of the following would be the most useful in determining the validity of the student's claim?

What is the student's claim?

The student's claim is very specific and is that the tests did not cover the material highlighted in the lectures. So in order to determine the validity of the claim, one needs a way to compare the material highlighted in the lectures with the subjects covered by the tests.

The thing that makes this question a little funny is the fact that the claim and the appeal may be slightly muddled together. Is the validity of the claim to a degree the same thing as validity of the appeal?

If the question were, Which of the following would be the most useful in determining the validity of the student's appeal?, then maybe D would be the best answer.

So, I guess you have to decide whether the claim is in a sense the appeal or just a component of the appeal. I find that the claim is a component of the appeal. So the question Which of the following would be the most useful in determining the validity of the student's claim? requires an answer that addresses the validity of the specific claim about the mismatch between the subject matter the tests covered and the subject matter that the lectures highlighted.

Therefore, the best answer is B.
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by conquistador » Fri Jan 29, 2016 8:56 pm
Marty Murray wrote:If this were an assumption question, D might matter more, as in order for the student's appeal to be relevant, the disconnect between the test and the material highlighted in lectures has to be relevant.

However, the question being asked in this case is the following.

Which of the following would be the most useful in determining the validity of the student's claim?

What is the student's claim?

The student's claim is very specific and is that the tests did not cover the material highlighted in the lectures. So in order to determine the validity of the claim, one needs a way to compare the material highlighted in the lectures with the subjects covered by the tests.

The thing that makes this question a little funny is the fact that the claim and the appeal may be slightly muddled together. Is the validity of the claim to a degree the same thing as validity of the appeal?

If the question were, Which of the following would be the most useful in determining the validity of the student's appeal?, then maybe D would be the best answer.

So, I guess you have to decide whether the claim is in a sense the appeal or just a component of the appeal. I find that the claim is a component of the appeal. So the question Which of the following would be the most useful in determining the validity of the student's claim? requires an answer that addresses the validity of the specific claim about the mismatch between the subject matter the tests covered and the subject matter that the lectures highlighted.

Therefore, the best answer is B.

what about this marty?
even
if the comparison matches then still we have no idea whether test and notes covered the highlights or not.
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by MartyMurray » Fri Jan 29, 2016 9:23 pm
Mechmeera wrote:what about this marty?
even
if the comparison matches then still we have no idea whether test and notes covered the highlights or not.
The goal when doing CR questions is to determine the best answer, and often the connection between the answer and the question is more implied than completely assured.

None of the other answers really supports the student's claim. So we are left with either choosing B or choosing no answer.

That having been said, the truth is that the expression "highlighted in the lectures" can mean various things. So I tend to agree that in a sense you are onto something. Depending on what "highlighted in the lectures" means, the professor's lecture notes may or may not be good indicators of what was "highlighted in the lectures." Even generally one could wonder, "Do the professor's notes necessarily indicate what was 'highlighted'?" An official question would likely somehow provide more clarity than is provided in this question.

For instance, if "highlighted" were replaced with "covered", the connection between the professor's lecture notes and the lecture subject matter would seem pretty clear.

Still, of the available choices, the professor's notes seem to constitute the best indicator of what was "highlighted in the lectures".

So I guess the question is basically answerable while it could be tighter.
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