Specifications Grading (“Specs” Grading) is a form of contract grading based on the amount of work students choose to complete in a course. Allowing students to make this decision up front can increase motivation and self-direction in a course, and it can also focus and reduce grading for the instructor. Specs Grading motivates students like… Read more »
Assessment
Academic Year In Review: Top Blog Posts from 2016-17
The CITL Blog Year in Review: 45 blog posts to date have been read over 6800 times this past year by more than 2400 unique readers from across the world. We are beyond pleased the CITL Blog has become a part of your professional reading and hope you will continue to read and grow with us. When we started this… Read more »
Feedback, not just Grading
Good feedback creates dialogue between the instructor and student. In order to foster this dialogue, it’s important to give students feedback both early and frequently throughout the semester. Timely feedback allows students to act on the information to improve their learning while still in your course. This requires providing students with frequent opportunities to demonstrate… Read more »
Writing is a Process! Responding to Writing by International and Multilingual Students
We can best support all of our students’ writing development by integrating the writing process into our courses. The writing process consists of several carefully staged steps including brainstorming, drafting, peer review, revision, and editing. Students should be taught multiple strategies for accomplishing each of these steps. The writing process provides lots of opportunities for… Read more »
Setting up your Canvas Gradebook to match your Syllabus
Every instructor takes time to carefully construct a syllabus that works perfectly with their teaching philosophy, the course content and structure, and that takes consideration of assessment techniques. However, sometimes translating that carefully constructed syllabus into Canvas can be a challenge. The consultants at the CITL are happy to help you set up your Canvas… Read more »
How Can You Help Your Multilingual Student Writers?
Are you worried about how to grade multilingual student writing fairly? Do you wonder how to hold students accountable for correctness without punishing them based on language difference? Consider the following strategies to make your grading easier and more equitable for all students: Design assignments to take advantage of cultural differences rather than punishing students… Read more »