As John Warner notes in Why They Can’t Write, “there’s little dispute that grades do more harm than good in helping students learn writing” (2018, p. 213). Grades are both a disincentive for students to learn and an imprecise measure of what they have learned. Students in classrooms with traditional grading practices—that is, those that… Read more »
Grading
Submit Final Grades: A Checklist for Getting It Right
Thanks to Umida Khikmatillaeva for creating this post. The end of the semester is very close, and it is almost time to submit final grades. This list will help you make sure that Canvas can calculate your final grades accurately. Select your grading scheme The grading scheme lets Canvas know which letter grade your percentages… Read more »
Use CATME to take some of the headaches out of group work
Do you suspect some of your student teams are not performing at their best? Are your students reporting that they cannot find a time to meet with their group members? Are some complaining that not everyone on their team is doing their fair share of the work? Perhaps CATME software can help you address these… Read more »
A Better Way To Grade
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 »
What is Plagiarism and How Do I Talk with Students about It?
What is plagiarism? “Presenting someone else’s work, including the work of other students, as one’s own” Failure to acknowledge “ideas or materials taken from another source . . . unless the information is common knowledge” (http://studentcode.iu.edu/responsibilities/academic-misconduct.html) How do I talk with students about plagiarism before assignments are due? Provide a clear statement on your syllabus… 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 »