Communities of Practice: Formative Assessment

Regardless of the type of assessment used, some common criteria need to be included in all. These assessments should all be research-driven; students may use the learning resources and textbook in the course, and/or they may locate outside relevant sources to use as evidence in demonstrating their mastery of the concepts. Other common criteria are academic/professional writing and correct citing of sources within their assessment projects. In all subject matter courses, students need to be held to high academic writing and documentation standards.

Students are all different in the way they learn and the way in which they explain concepts to others.  When students produce an assignment for assessment, they are, in effect, explaining concepts to their faculty, who, will grade their attempt at demonstrating mastery of the content. It stands to reason, that assessment projects should be different throughout the course. Taking it a step further, doesn’t it also make sense that each unit of study include multiple choices in types of assessments students may use to show mastery? In my course observations, I have seen those in which there is the traditionally-formatted weekly discussion, homework copied from the textbook chapter, and a short essay every week. Students in classes like this have no opportunity to use their strongest learning and communication skills in demonstrating mastery of the course content. In fact, I would go so far as to say that these types of assessments do not show any understanding whatsoever of the course content.

Find out more about how Creating Communities of Practice can recharge your teaching and ensure students' success in class 

Get out of Grading Jail

“Grading Jail” refers to the long and frustrating hours spent grading papers. Grading takes more time than any other part of teaching. Teaching is the easy, fun, and rewarding element of education. Administrative chores are distasteful but usually not too time-consuming. Grading, however, is not only time-consuming, but also frustrating and stressful.

Grading discussions, essays, and other written work takes a lot of time without an effective system. Using the tools and strategies outlined in this short ebook, I’ve worked out a system that allows me to grade approximately fifty essays in about 5-6 hours and the same number of research papers in about 10-12 hours. This includes comprehensive feedback and personalized comments on every paper. Students always mention on course evaluations how much they appreciate my thorough suggestions, corrections, and comments on all their work. They like getting their assignments back so fast so they can use that feedback to better prepare for the next assignments.

Students want substantive feedback on their work and they want it fast. My usual practice is to return work within 24 hours of due dates. If I happen to have more than two classes with the same research paper due dates, then it might take me 48 hours. I like getting all the grading finished by the end of the first and second day of the week because that leaves me more time to interact with students in the discussions and individually via email or online text chat.

Writing comments on students' work takes time and reflection. It is so much easier to use the "bouta" method (bouta A, bouta B, and so forth). More faculty than you might imagine use this method of grading and do not bother to include comments on students’ work to explain grades. In one graduate course, the professor put a B on a twenty page case study with the following comment: “The content is good but you need to learn to use APA correctly.” That was it – nothing more.

Giving meaningful feedback to students about their work is a huge part of teaching and learning.  I am very nitpicky about writing and APA so I write a lot of comments throughout the paper about writing or using and citing sources properly. I also write questions here and there about content because students need to think more creatively and critically. They can figure out what works best without being told what to do. I always write a paragraph summarizing my reflections about the work.

Check out Grading Made Fast and Easy for tips on how to get out of grading jail fast.

 

 

Canned Comments -- Lazy Or Effective

"Canned" comments give instructors more time to personally interact with each student every week. Using copy/pasted comments on papers and in discussions and answers to questions means that there is more free time to interact individually with every student every week.

Students, by and large, produce a certain "sameness" in their work class after class after class, from the outstanding work to the average work to the below passing work. After teaching a class for many semesters, instructors end up writing the same comments over and over again on all levels of work. So we keep those comments and use them over and over again and then we have that much more time to engage in real and meaningful interaction with students who are at all levels of accomplishment.

Outstanding students need affirmation; failing students need encouragement and assistance; and average students need a little bit of both. And when our time is freed up from same-old, same-old marking, then we can provide what these students need.

Some schools prohibit instructors from using copy/pasted comments (good job, keep up the good work, etc.) and they are right to do so. However, there are other canned comments that are quite valuable and beneficial to both the students and the instructors. Yet it takes so long to write these on each paper, that many instructors don't even bother. I would rather provide students with "canned" and meaningful feedback than not provide any comments at all.

Of course, these are not the only comments students receive. But using these canned comments gives me more time to also include personalized comments that affirm, encourage, assist, etc., comments that are composed according to what each student needs.

Schools that prohibit "copy/pasted comments" on students' work simply do not understand the process of evaluation, marking, and grading because the admin types usually don't, or have not, taught online (at all or not recently). So these admins who make up the rules simply do not realize the benefits of so-called "canned" comments.

If I were writing original comments on everything in every class, I would never have time for the personalized and "real" communication that I like to provide individual students in my classes.

Grading Made Fast and Easy  

 

Late work: yes or no?

Grading late work out of sequence takes up an unbelievable amount of time. I found that students will take advantage of liberal late policies so over the past few semesters, my late policy has become more and more strict. I researched hundreds of late policies for online courses and found that 95% of instructors have strict late policies that provide very strong incentive to turn in work on time. So in my classes, unexcused late work more than 4 days out from a due date is not accepted. No late work at all is accepted at any time during the last two weeks of the course. Of course, none of this applies in the case of extenuating circumstances. Technology problems are not considered to be extenuating circumstances in my classes. What's your late policy?

Online Teaching for Adjunct Faculty: How to Manage Workload, Students, and Multiple Schools 

Getting Students To Read Your Feedback On Their Work

Here's what I do: 1: on the first returned paper I require them to choose two comments I've made, copy those on the next paper, and explain (with resources) how they addressed that in the second paper. 2. I provide an agenda (checklist) for each week with detailed instructions for each assignment. They are to copy that at the end of their assignments and I comment on those. 3. I do leave just comments in the gradebook sometimes. Again they have to address those on the next assignment.

What do you do to ensure that students download the papers with track changes feedback and address issues in their future work?

Grading Craziness

If you're new to online teaching and need to streamline grading to spend less time and yet maximize feedback on students' work, check out Grading Made Fast and Easy. Price has been reduced through June.

Formative v. Summative Assessment

Regardless of the type of assessment used, some common criteria need to be included in all. These assessments should all be research-driven; students may use the learning resources and textbook in the course, and/or they may locate outside relevant sources to use as evidence in demonstrating their mastery of the concepts. Other common criteria are academic/professional writing and correct citing of sources within their assessment projects. In all subject matter courses, students need to be held to high academic writing and documentation standards.

Students are all different in the way they learn and the way in which they explain concepts to others.  When students produce an assignment for assessment, they are, in effect, explaining concepts to their faculty, who, will grade their attempt at demonstrating mastery of the content. It stands to reason, that assessment projects should be different throughout the course. Taking it a step further, doesn’t it also make sense that each unit of study include multiple choices in types of assessments students may use to show mastery? In my course observations, I have seen those in which there is the traditionally-formatted weekly discussion, homework copied from the textbook chapter, and a short essay every week. Students in classes like this have no opportunity to use their strongest learning and communication skills in demonstrating mastery of the course content. In fact, I would go so far as to say that these types of assessments do not show any understanding whatsoever of the course content.

Find out more about how Creating Communities of Practice can recharge your teaching and ensure students' success in class 

Do you give students assignment choices?

Teaching and learning is all about demonstrating mastery of course goals and outcomes. The best way for students to demonstrate mastery is through an activity chosen and produced by each individual student. We should always provide choices for ways in which students can demonstrate what they have learned.

Students are all different in the way they learn and the way in which they explain concepts to others. When students produce an assignment for assessment, they are, in effect, explaining concepts to their faculty, who, will grade their attempt at demonstrating mastery of the content. It stands to reason, that assessment projects should be different throughout the course.

Faculty complain about grading papers and yet they continue to assign multiple papers in every class. Frankly, I stopped doing that a long time ago. Only in pre-designed classes where I cannot change assignments, do my students write papers. They write a lot in the discussions every week and so they get plenty of writing practice, review, and revision without having to write one or more papers during the class term.

There are many ways to demonstrate mastery that are more effective as well as more interesting to produce and assess. Instead of assigning textbook homework and written essays, try some of these ideas. I guarantee your students will enjoy the diversity and you will find grading much more interesting too.