Midterm exam

Tonight's class is the first after spring break. I'd graded midterm exams over break (okay, I graded them today), and over a third of the class earned A grades: out of 30 students (one missed the exam), I had these eleven scores in the 90s (out of 100 possible points, up to three extra credit points)
-- 99 (yes!), 98, 97, 96, 95, 94, 93 (two of 'em), 91 (two, too).

Also plenty of B grades: 88 (two), 86, 84, 83 (two), 82. Add it up, and you'll find that 18 of 30 earned an A or B. That's 60% of the class - really great! They're getting it.

But the sad thing is that some students *completely* bombed the exam: one person only earned 39 points out of 100! And there was a score of 47, a 58, a 59, and then a 69 (that's four Fs and one D). I wonder if they've been listening or reading the material? A couple are students who never say a thing during discussion, so perhaps they aren't preparing. And another couple low scores are from students who say things, but I've suspected that they're parroting what they've found on the web or from outside source, not their own brains. Perhaps this exam score reflects that problem.