Khan/khan-exercises — Issue #9448: Functions 3 - Death by Penalty
Author: KhanBugz
Created: 2011-12-24 08:01:57+00:00
State: open
Labels: firefox, other, xp

Each problem someone gets wrong takes away a good third to 2/5ths of their points. Each problem someone does returns less points. So, if someone makes a simple mathematical mistake that a professor would normally give partial credit for, you do a full penalty. But then, you give a second penalty by making it harder for them to get out of the hole. So if they make one mistake, they get out by doing two extra problems. OK. But if they do 2 mistakes, it is more like 5 extra... and 3 or more makes for very large numbers very quickly. Suddenly, a person has to do 30 or 40 problems to pass a section. Not because they don't know the section, but because they have problems with basic math. And for a rather large percentage of the population, problems with basic math are due to dyslexia, dyscalcula, and short term memory issues. So now, you are forcing disabled people to do 5 times as many equations for simple errors that a professor would give them high enough marks to get an A with. Great logic there.

In short, your penalty system is abusive. Tell a person they are wrong and let them correct it for half credit. If they use the help or get it wrong twice, penalize them. But don't bludgeon them to death for making small, correctable mistakes.

[functions_3.html?seed=162&problem=1](http://sandcastle.khanacademy.org/media/castles/Khan:master/exercises/functions_3.html?seed=162&problem=1&debug)

[Answer timeline](http://sandcastle.khanacademy.org/media/castles/Khan:master/exercises/functions_3.html?seed=162&problem=1&debug&activity=%5B%5D)

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