Get Your Students Hired
Streamlining the grading process is extremely important and it is one of the things that I have been putting off. We even have a scantron machine that would make this an easy process but it is converting all the test over which has given me a snag.
I realized after completing this course that I can be more efficient with my grading if I open several windows such as turnitin.com and the gradebook and place it one next to one another to be more efficient.
Now that I have access to Scantron, I format the majority of my exams in multiple choice to save time in grading. I still like to mix up short answer questions or fill in the blank, but still save grading time by separating multiple choice questions for Scantron and only have to manually grade the short answer questions.
I plan on restructuring the answer sheets on quizzes and exams as a result of what I have learned in this module. As an English teacher, I still will have essay questions and grade writing samples on a regular basis; however, I will also find ways to generate quizzes and exams with more multiple choice and true/false questions.
Shelley, Sounds like you have taken a thoughtful approach to both exam efficiency and in depth assessment. I'm curious to hear your thoughts on ways you could continue to improve.
Dr. Melissa Read
Katelyn, That's a great question. I find that it's not about the number of questions we use but how comprehensively they test student knowledge and skill in each discipline.
Dr. Melissa Read
I like using a multiple choice test with scantron. It makes it so much easier. Do you think 50 questions is a good amount for a midterm or should it be more?
multible choice or short answer exams will be the fastest with the least amount of stress
Hello Dr. Read and Fellow Faculty Members,
What has really stood out for me in this module is the underlining of the important part of the essay by students. I do a lot of essay exams and this is a great tip. I am not sure why I have never thought about this. How easy to implement!
Susanne
I think the way that I format my exams and homework assignments is pretty efficient. My exams are mostly multiple choice and true/false, and I grade with a key. There is usually a short essay answer, but I grade that with a rubric. My homework assignments are mostly essays because I teach composition and literature, but I've gotten pretty efficient at showing the students how to format their essays and I know what to look for when I'm grading. I also grade these with a rubric, which makes it much easier and faster.
Joseph, Paying close attention to rules and regulations come first. I'm glad to hear you are still able to gain efficiencies in having students grade papers using the honor system. Doing random checks of a few papers each round will likely help students stay on point.
Dr. Melissa Read
As far as quizzes and tests they are all graded via a scantron. But having such things as workbook assignments gone over in class is a great idea. I can see how this would save a great amount of time.
I have already begun streamlining my grading process as I have been teaching the same classes for a while now. We have instituted online grade book and easier format for the grading of the and reporting of the test results.
A few ways that help me save time in the grading process is to have answer lines to the left of every question, this allows me to grade four to six test at a time instead of going through each one individually. When handing the test back to the students we go over the questions on the test with the answer key on the board. This allows the students to make sure there test are graded correctly and to review any material that they may not understand. For quizzes I have the students grade them themselves with a different color ink pen as FARPA regulations state that we cannot have students grade each other’s paper.
Lynn, In teaching, we often have to balance efficiency with quality of assessments. Some assessments are fast to grade but do not deeply test knowledge. We must find the right balance between the two.
Dr. Melissa Read
I understand that giving multi-choice, true/false, short answer tests is more time efficient, and it is the type of testing used in our school. However, many of the students I teach lack a basic knowledge of writing skills. In the past I have used the essay question to augment the multi-choice test, in order to help them develop or improve their ability to write complete thoughts in complete sentences. While they don't like them, many students have come to me and stated they see the value in them. As a teacher I have seen great improvement overtime.
I have done both in the past- multiple choice and short answer/essay questions. I used to always use multiple choice because of the ease of grading. Then I heard another instructor say he NEVER used multiple choice because it doesn't really test what they know. So I switched to short answer. But now reading these suggestions on time management, I think I will go back to what works for me...multiple choice. Why make it harder and more time-consuming on myself if I don't have to?
In my program we have weekly exams and spell/term quizes, all of which are standardized, which is nice when you have new instructors. Our exams are graded through scantron and our quizes are oral and do take a bit more time to grade. I would like to change the quiz format to an oral quiz for the words and matching for the definitions. I think this would cut more than half the time in grading.
I teach a college math class and picking up the homework and passing out to other students to grade seems easy, but what about those who don't take the time to grade other students papers correctly. I usually give quizzes that are short answer and fill in the blank to find the answer. They can show the work in the space allotted between each problem, but put the answer on the line provided.