Bicycling Equations & Formative Assessment

Hello teachers, The resources at the Mathematics Formative Assessment System are amazing! The site offers a ton of math lesson ideas and formative assessment tasks with step-by-step suggestions for how to provide effective feedback based on students' misconceptions. There are numerous examples of actual student work that reflect misconceptions. Based on the specific kind of error the student makes, the site offers question prompts teachers can use to elicit student thinking toward the correct conceptual understanding. Implications for practice are also highlighted.

In this example students respond to the following questions about a long distance bike ride. The lesson is available at http://www.cpalms.org/Public/PreviewResourceAssessment/Preview/62957

"Lisa is going on a long-distance bike ride with her friends. They will ride at a rate of 10 miles every hour.

  1. Write an equation that relates the distance, D, that Lisa travels to the number of hours, h, she has ridden.
  2. Identify and describe the independent and dependent variables in your equation."

How might you respond if the student "interchanges the variables" ? Check out the examples of student work, the suggested question prompts, and the implications for practice for this example.

Let us know what you think of this particular problem and the formative assessment guidance that is offered. 

If you have used the site, please share how it has worked for you. What are some of your favorite formative assessment resources on the site? What recommendations can you make? While, it's pretty easy to search the site, it would be helpful if you could include a link to any favorites.

Cheers, Susan Finn Miller

Moderator, Assessment CoP