I was recently struggling with this very thing as I sought to challenge my students with producing results from a 10-week elective. Essays have been the standard method. This is a heavy burden for the students and the staff as the elective complements a heavy load in the core curriculum. This module has helped me think of some other approaches that might accomplish the same check on learning in a more productive manner for the students and for me.
Andrew, What a great system! It sounds like you and some of your fellow faculty have streamlined grading together. That's wonderful to hear. Yes, being able to use bubble sheets can significantly speed the grading process.
Dr. Melissa Read
Angela, Excellent to hear you will adopt these two grading techniques. Yes, you will find they significantly speed grading and take away nothing from the rigor of the exam question format.
Dr. Melissa Read
I teach for two different institutions. one uses scantraons and the other does not. Scantrons reduces my grading time tremendously. The only issue is that I have is that I do not get an opportunity to see how the students answer in their own words.
Definitely it is easiest to grade exams or homework by scantron. But "Garden variety" is more interesting and stimulation than the single format. I would chose multiple choice, true or false, or short answer, but also some important concepts need to be tested in short essay format to enhance learning process by asking the student to define, describe, give examples, etc.
A change I will make is to have students highlight or underline the key words within the answer.
This variety format will help the instructor evaluate student's understanding of course material or the lecture. This feedback will help me evaluate m own effectiveness in teaching.
I teach a hands on class with a bunch of projects. I am going to change my grading process by only having them turn in one example of the wrok from each section covered. This will reduce my grading by about 75% or more!
I teach English--specifically, responding to Literature. Aside from quizzes on writing mechanics when needed, my students write essays. Grading these essays is time-consuming, by nature, and there is no way to shorten the process without giving short-shift to their work. I have no problem with spending as much time as is needed to help improve my students' writing. Plus, I find that pouring over these essays makes me a better writer, and a better teacher.
In our class, most of the homework is done in workbooks. Instead of having the students tear out pages or make copies to submit, I collect the actual workbooks and grade each chapter completed at the same time.
Dennis, Interesting observation. Is it possible for you to ask your students to underline or highlight the most important parts of their essay answers. Perhaps they could highlight the thesis statement and three supporting arguments for example. I find this speeds essay grading for me.
Dr. Melissa Read
Mario, Excellent to hear. I hope some of these new approaches work well for you. Try just one or two and see what happens. I do hope you are able to drive some great results in such a short semester.
Dr. Melissa Read
I am a fan of Multiple choice and True false. When written correctly they can be challenging as well as easy to grade.
I really like the idea presented this module for having the students underline main points in their essay questions. I teach online courses so this would be more difficult to implement. I think having multiple choice quizzes that auto grade is a very effective grading tool for online classrooms.
I have always liked multiple choice, true & false, and fill in the bank type exams. I also believe that when you develop your testing materal, you design it to check the leveling of learning that you want your student to achieve.
Thanks for the feedback, Dr. Reed. That is a good technique for short essays. I wish I had a "speed-up" for checking grammar and punctuation.
as a rule I use multiple choice, true and false and fill in the blanks, I may give one essay as a bonus question, however like correcting research papers is very time consuming that is why I avoid them also the answers may not be cut and dry. also the tip to use texts with accompanying PPTS and a test bank are very helpful, I make use of any materials including test banks, also for grading the on grading systems are most helpful we use engrade
I currently use multiple choice, multiple multiple choice & true/false type questions to assess recall of information, analysis & application. These exams are easily Scantron scored, plus I run the Scantron test analysis. I will try having students review one another's work so I do not have to invest so much time/energy to do so.
Unfortunately, these modifications only apply to written exams or papers.
I am still, after 17 years, trying to find an easier way to grade projects from lab classes, example patterns and sewing projects. Any suggestions?
We have the access to make our tests on-line, however I have always shied away from this process. Maybe I'll give it a try because it would definately save time.
I try to grade the students on a one to one basis we do most of our work in class. I try to grade and assist in the process as the students complete the tasks. I can then better help them to realize what they did right and also assist them better if they did not do it correctly.
Sherry, I know it can feel intimidating at first but do go ahead and give it a try. A little investment of time up front can save you so much time in the end! Online tests are fantastic in helping you speed grading and administer exams in an organized fashion too!
Dr. Melissa Read
