I particularly like the idea of asking students to underline the pertinent points that they will cover in their essay questions.
Where I teach the class is "rolled", so I don't actually make up the class. BUT, I do have one class where I make up the assignments and such and it's a great idea to have the students underline the main points. One issue that I see with that is that if a student happens to not underline something, but does talk about it, they could have a case if I take off points...I would feel stupid as a teacher if I didn't give the points...it would be like I didn't read the work (which essentially is the tip that is given).
The tips/tricks in the lecture portion of this module were great for brick/mortar classes. In fact, as a classroom teacher of high school and college students I made good use of many of these techniques, and I highly recommend this. For example, avoiding essay exams, or creating ways to streamline those exams, is a great idea.
I also was amazed how many teachers created exams that seemed unnecessarily difficult to grade, such as by having students put their replies on the actual exam instead of a separate answer sheet. Whenever possible, I also recommend using computerized scoring sheets (such as "scantron"). Many schools purchase these systems for their instructors to use as a definite time-saver.
Now, I teach online, and I would say that the thing I use the most to streamline my grading time is rubrics. Rubrics are great as an assessment tool for instructors and students, but are also helpful for students if you publish the rubric ahead of time to help students understand the expectations. I find that students perform much better on assessments and also create assignments which are easier to grade after viewing the rubric.
It does take some time to create a rubric for an assignment which works, and sometimes there is a learning curve, but again this is something that once created, like lecture content, can be re-used and perfected through experience.
It is unfortunate that most of the schools I work at come with a "canned" syllabus and course outline, so there is much I can't do to change that. However, in the school where I do have more control, I am going to make use of the Quizstar and offer up some exams in place of the essays and written work that they do.
This will make my life a lot easier if I can implement something besides essay writing.
Thank you so much for supplying this.
In the schools I teach, majority of them require essays, I like the idea of using underlines and bold to highlight key words - this is a great time saver. I have Oslo used the ctrl + f feature in ford to find the key words and terms to assist the grading process.
The answer to this question depends on how much flexibility an instructor has with their university. For one of my schools, the exams and homework are uniform and the instructors aren't allowed to make changes without permission. For another school that I teach, it is the opposite. The goal for that school is to keep fine tuning my rubric until it is at its optimal level.
Hi Dr. Read and fellow classmates.
One of the schools that I teach for only uses Discussion Board assignments and Individual Projects. When teaching online the use of these methods is preferred over giving students multiple choice exams. One technique that I will try to incorporate is to have students underline the main points in their assignment. Hopefully this will speed up my grading time.
Regards,
Brian
Hi Victor,
The schools I teach at also require essay format as well. I teach online and use Discussion Boards and Individual Projects. I have also used the find feature in MS Word 2007. Do you teach online?
Regards,
Brian
The assignments in the course I teach are pre-defined, so I do have the luxury of altering any of the assignments. However, something that I have found that has helped me to streamline my grading process is a program called Short Keys. (It costs about $20 and is worth it!) Short Keys allows me to create a shorthand code for each item on the grade rubric. So, instead of copying and pasting each portion of the rubric as it pertains to the student's performance, I just type two or three keys and the full text appears. I can also set up short cuts for common feedback that I give. Once I can get the “nuts and bolts” of the assessment completed so quickly, it then takes very little time for me to add my own one or two sentences of personalized feedback beyond the rubric.
Another program I sometimes use is Mac Speech Dictate. This is a text to speech program. So, if I find that I have a lot of writing to do, I can use the dictation program. This saves me an enormous amount of time over typing.
Wow Brandy, Short Keys sounds like it could be really useful to many instructors who take this course. Thanks for sharing!
Excellent Brian! Yes, this will speed up your grading time after a little bit of practice with the new grading system.
As a teacher of composition, I have to grade a lot of essays. I love the idea of having students underline key elements of their writing. In my traditional classroom, I may try redistributing quizes for the students to grade eachothers. Great ideas!
I have found myself with the same dilema. I think I might change the type of homework that I have assigned as well.
I will keep my current assignment setup the same. I like the strategies here, but feel that the processes I use currently are efficient and that I model best practices currently that were described in this module. Yay!
I will obtain a to-do list and make certain that I won't feel the urgency to address everything as soon as I receive it. It is important for me to realize that I should prioritize when to correct exams and when to respond to emails.
I wonder if there are any more tips I can obtain from others that I may not have thought about during this training.
It sounds like you are on the right track with your plans Glenda. One thing that I should note is that it's sometimes hard not to experience a sense of urgency when you have many tasks on your list. But it's easy to remind yourself to focus on priorities when that feeling arises.
This sounds like the right approach Nicholas. If you've got a good strategy in place, just keep it up!
I have eliminated essay questions, and make myself a careful key to help aid in grading.
With many students in the class and a 72 hour deadline, it is important to set up your week to assure that you plan time to meet the deadlines.
The courses I currently teach are prepared by the school and do not require or accept modifications. I don't necessarily agree with the "underlining" technique in essay questions. I admit that these are time consuming to grade but I believe underlining lures the instructor into looking at only certain parts of the essay.
