William, Excellent approach! The highlighting method works wonders for so many instructors. It can really help focus your students on providing the highest quality responses too.
Dr. Melissa Read
Currently, the institution I work for is very small, with small classes. I use test handout with multiple-choice type question, students circle their answer choices on the handout, an hand them in when they're done. Since my class-size is about 15 students, grading each individual test paper doesn't take a lot of time. So unless I am responsible for a larger class-size and/or more sessions, I don't believe that will make any changes in the immediate future.
I save time through peer grading homework assignments with the students using different color pens than what the homework was written in. Also, I've never implemented this, but a consequence of "being too easy of a grader for their peer or friend" is to deduct the points from the grader for any "freebies" they give away. I collect the homework and skim over the grading for honesty and to record the results. The quality of homework has improved since I started peer-grading because I think they don't want to be embarrassed in front of their peers.
I do not do essay questions at all. I try to have at least half, if not 3/4 of the exam multiple choice and/or true and false. After reading this course, I will go through and eliminate more of the long-answe questions.
My exams/homework was originally written short answers with little multiple choice or T/F. Now homework is short answer, list, and multiple choice, while exams are M/C, T/F, Fill-in-the-blank, list, and short comparisons of 2 to 4 sentences. Grading is much quicker than before, although it would be a breeze if all was M/C. My students ask me all the time why won't I do this. My reply is that clinical work is not M/C. Your job requires you to fill out a medical file and give clients instructions. If you can't write on an exam/homework, what do you think you will do in practice?
I like to mix up the answers from fill in the blank, to a quick short answer essay by doing this it helps me streamline my time with exams. I also have a built in Rubrics for the essays to make it easier to grade them and me.
In my institution we primarily use multiple choice and true/false questions. Every once in while we use fill in the blank or short answer questions. Certainly using multiple choice and true/false questions makes it easy to grade. It is very objective and there is no discussion about interpretation of an answer. However, the initial time investment in making up the test is certainly greater than with an essay test. But the ease in grading a multiple choice test makes up for the hours spent coming up with appropriately worded questions.
I tend to check email multiple time a day out of fear that I will miss something important. I see that checking once every 24 hours is adequate and should really be as often as I need to check.
I have struggled with the idea of coming up with certain days of the week to do all my grading versus doing some a little at a time. I will define a day for grading and take care of it all then - it keeps me in a "mental zone" that will make me more efficient in my grading process.
The format we currently have "is what it is" and we have no choice over altering it. the key is grade in an efficient manner looking for key words and making remarks brief for the student. Remember quality cannot be rushed.
Dr. Read,
I try to make my exams and homework as simple as possible, but at the same time providing the students with a variety of questions to challenge their thinking process. For example, when I create exams, they are typically composed of true/false, multiple choice and short answer. I am very specific with what I wan in short answer essays. I ask for a list of two, three, four, etc. of a given topic. I tend to stay away from essay questions. When the student complete homework in their clinic class and other classes that use the same book, the workbook pages consist of several sections such as multiple choice, short answer, matching, completion, and a few critical thinking questions. A couple of my coworkers use scantron, which I may look into to save a little more time with grading assignments and exams.
Ron, That sounds like a great approach. Mixing up questions is especially helpful when deeply testing knowledge. Rubrics streamline grading, but also keep it consistent and fair.
Dr. Melissa Read
In my physics homework that required calculations, I gave four possible answers, and students would hand in their answers on scantrons. One day I noticed students copying each other's scantrons. I know students copy homeworks, but they are at least reading the questions and answers while copying. Now I require worked solutions. To save my time, I grade 4 out of about 10 to 12 problems, and post the solution to all problems.
Heather, Sounds like an efficient system and one that facilitates learning in new ways too. I should note that it's ok to have the students use a code number instead of their names to identify themselves on their papers. This way, friends have less of a chance of figuring out whose paper they are grading!
Dr. Melissa Read
Khalid,
Cheating can be a real problem in college settings and that’s unfortunate. You are right. Sometimes asking people how they arrived at solutions can be much more productive when testing knowledge when compared to asking for final answers.
Dr. Melissa Read
I have already been using a lot of the ideas in this module, and it has made me feel I am on a good regimend. I will continue to use the online exam assessments that my school has given us to use along with the books for our students that come with numerous online activities and exam taking tools. Great reinforcement that I am on the right track.
I will use more multiple choice and true and false when developing tests...
I also avoid essays unless I see a huge benefit with the subject matter in question. Multiple choice (objective) is uusually more efficient for my students and they still learn from it
This course has confirmed for me that the assignments for the courses I instruct are formatted correctly. I find the best way for me to be efficient is to break up the grading into 2 hour intervals. This allows me to work fast and stay on task. If I try to do it all at once, I get bored and I tend not to focus as well and make mistakes.
Edric, Sounds like multiple choice are the more effective option for you when it comes to both testing knowledge and grading efficiently. That's wonderful to hear. Essays are great when trying to test critical thinking skills or written communication. They are not always necessary.
Dr. Melissa Read
About 70% of our tests and quizzes are setup to be graded as scantron tests. that is a big time-saver for me. We have recently started a class that has tests on the computer and it is a change for the students. I have to spend a little time with talking through that process, especially for the older students who are not familiar with taking computerized tests. But I like the format for using the computer to take exams. Mindy Smith
