Love the idea of how to guides Steven. Great approach and thanks for sharing. It sounds like production of the guides will be a big investment of time. That being said, once they are finished they are going to really take your teaching to the next level!
There are certain classes that I teach, that essay exams allow the student to get their thought process accross vs. a scan tron exam. I feel that I have done a pretty good job of grading these quickly, but I really like the idea of having them underline the important parts of their answer. I think i scan for those anyway and this will definitely be a time saver. I also need to re-evaluate how I am formatting the essay questions themselves on the paper for ease of grading.
Thanks
My exams include true/false, matching and multiple choice which are easier for students to study and easier for instructors to grade. Home work usually involves the end of the chapter questions which are in the book and easy to access. The syllabus explains everything in detail so students know the expectation from the first day of class. Consistency is the key to tests and homework.
Some of my homwork assignments require the students to go to different bakeries and compate the pastry items between a lages supermarket type outlet vs a small bakery. I do enjoy reading the comments & oberservations the students make. Anothe assignment is defining pastry terms. This makes the student research the term & a is a very valuable learning tool. Most of the exams are scantron. Math test are written. I think it is a good mix.
I love the idea of having students list the correct multiple choice answer in the margins for ease of grading! Will incorporate in my next sessino!
Sounds like a good mix Brenda. Some of your assignments may be more timely to grade when compared to what the average instructor deals with. However, it sounds like the grading is a little more engaging too!
I have learned from this module the importance of highlighting important material. As a culinary instructor we required students to provide daily recipe assigments which quite frankly are very hard to grade. Highlighting some of the the most important aspects of each daily recipe will help me review the assignment much faster.
I use a combination of exams, quizes, and class presentations. For the presentations I use a rubrics which I have created based on the skills that I am looking for and the quizes and exams I have a ready made answer sheet. I find that this way I can do all my grading in school and not have to take any of it home with me.
I am going to use the format on test of having the student underline the important parts of the answer, this will help me so much in getting homeowrk and test back on time.
I love the ideal of putting everyting on the computer, because the students can get their grades as soon as the testing process is complete.
I have eliminated graded homework because many of the students would turn in the homework late, or not at all. I was the only instructor in my department assigning homework. I now give ungraded review sheets in place of homework. Students can choose to complete them for reinforcement of lecture if they choose.
Students grading of of other classmates' work is helpful for assignments with short answers not for essay type assignments where you have to read and find the relevant points for students to earn marks.
Austin
I use multiple choice tests that uses scantron. It really helps save time. I also use a test bank from a textbook I use in my course. However, I have seen inconsistancies and "correct" answers which is actually wrong. This has cost me a lot of time, revising tests and correcting student's grades. My goal this term is to thoroughly go through all the questions in my tests to make sure all the questions and answers are correct.
You bring up a good point Aprilyn. When we rely on automated systems, they sometimes produce errors. As instructors, we need to focus on identifying and correcting those errors early.
With current time contraints, I recommend to new instructors to use existing tests and materials, and determine what to modify as time permits. What are you thoughts on this?
It takes forever! I just signed up for the teacherease website. I am hoping this will save me lots of time to spend doing other things at home in the evenings!
One big way I hope to help streamline the grading process is to utilize the technology available. For a while, I have been aware that tests can be made and graded using online programs, but have not taken the time to research exactly how it works to do this. After this class, I plan to research what is offered at the school and also the websites suggested in this course.
I really like the idea of students highlighting key information when submitting essay type assignments, this is one method that I will definately utilize in the future.
I have moved most of my exams and quizes online and have set them up to self grade automatically, leaving me to only have to grade the essay answers
I think that consistancy with the test also is a great help to the students, they know what to expect as to how the test is set up.
