I have been teaching and grading exams for almost ten years, and I think that I have successfully streamlined my method for efficient and effective grading of my students' assignments. I rely upon multiple choice, true false, fill in the blank, and concise short answer formats so that I am able to use an instructor test "key" for fast and accurate grading.
Excellent to hear Mike! Yes, those instructors who have been teaching for a long time often experience the benefits of years of streamlining. Those who are new struggle. You might reach out to new faculty members and see what you can do to help them.
I teach online and the curriculum is already set but if I were to change them I would set it up so that all assessments were automatically graded and the instructions for the homework assignments were more specific (i.e. the essay should be 1 page in length, all work should be proofread for spelling and grammatical errors, references should be cited,there should be a warning about plagarism, all attachments should end in a rtf or doc extension, etc). I believe this would help reduce the number of assignments I send back for editing. I would also not procrastinate in grading them and set a certain time aside every day to accomplish this.
We dont assighn home work at this point and the exams are multiple choice. The challenge is with the lab sheets. Alot of the instructors wait untill the end of the course before they are graded. I have found that if you grade labs on the same day you dont have a back log at the end of the course. You can also let the students see what they are doing corectly and coach them on the ones that are not.
Since I teach IT courses our exams are a combination of written exams and lab work. I work very hard to keep the questions revelant to todays technology. I measure a students understanding based on some of the questions in the exam and or quiz. I change my questions often to prevent cheating and keep the topic current.
Yes, sometimes a little immediacy is helpful and I agree with your approach in this case Steven. Tasks can be harder, in some cases, when we let too much time pass.
Fortunately where I teach the testing is laid out in advance for you. The only thing that needs to be looked at hard is the lab work. By preparing the students ahead of time as to what needs to be on their lab work it makes it easier to grade objectivly. Making sure that all the students have all the same information also makes it easier to grade.
There are three methods of testing I feel are appropriate and necessary as part of post-secondary instruction; takehome exam, in-clas exam, and group project. This way all learning styles can be incorporated into hoe the class is taught.
I liked the part about setting the answer off to the side so that it is easier to see it quickly. That works well for some classes.
I am still struggling with math tests/homework and balancing my need to save time versus thoroughly reviewing students work. Some are artists at presenting the question and the answer correctly with some carefully crafted mumbo jumbo in the middle. Without spending the time to read the work thoroughly, you don't realize that they just don't know what they are doing.
I believe that I will target certain questions thoroughly and let other questions pass my radar. Depending upon the size of the class it really is unmanageable to read all the math homework. Also I will put more effort into the tests and less effort on the homework.
I took an online course as a student, and our instructor required us to have two students proofread our essays in a round robin style prior to submitting them to her. We learned from each other, and I believe it saved the instructor some time as well. This was a graduate level class so the students were more independent and focused, don't know how well that would work at lower levels.
Highlighting important words is a great idea to streamline the process. Use particular words such as define, describe rather than give the details. This would make the overall process go by faster.
Great point Joan! Some techniques work well for higher level students but not lower level ones. We've got to modify our approaches to work with each unique kind of student.
If your students are asked to make a complex computation and then provide a short answer for that computation, make sure to design your exam so that the final answers must be written out to the side.
I have often had the students grade each others tests anonymously, and it has saved a great deal of time and the grading is very efficient. I have always had difficulty creating multiple choice exams that look professional because my keyboard and computer skills are weak. The online test maker will greatly help save time and create better tests.
I'm not sure how much I will change my tests. Depending on the type of course I teach situates what type of test I design. Wiley and Prenhall publishers provide excellent tests and test generators that are available through your sales representative. When I give short quizzes I opt for short answer responses and for longer tests such as Midterms and Finals I opt for Multiple Choice and use a scantron that I grade using a mechanical grader.
I will definitely begin to use the online testing and grading resources offered in this module. Additionally I will reformat my short answer tests so they are easier to grade.
I plan to use more multiple choice tests as long as I get assistance from the textbooks. Short answer tests are the easiest to creat and grades fairly quick.
Great idea Peter. Multiple choice is wonderful when it comes to saving time. Short answer is great too, and still tests student ability to recall information.
Dr. Melissa Read
So true Theodore! It's nice when we can design our exams for quick grading as well as detailed grading. Having complete answers written out also prevents student cheating.
Dr. Melissa Read
I have a very good system for myself. I have several standardized tests and quizzes that evaluate the students. I can grade them on the computer and record them on our portal. I don't think I'll change that much.
