Dr. James ,
You bring up a good point. Just because we are the teacher doesn't mean we can't learn from our students. Engaging them in the assessment process provides for a level of buy in from the students.
Dr. James and David,
Self- and peer-assessment can be excellent tools in the assessment process. Thanks for your input.
I think this would be difficult in seven week courses. I believe that evaluation of the rubric (if the student will do so on a voluntary basis) would be ideal. That way the instructor could take the suggestions for clarity and implement them if warranted.
A good place to use students in rubrics creation would be for an assignment that occurs multiple times throughout the session - e.g. a discussion board assignment that happens every week. Have students buy-in right from the get go and the rest of the weeks will go smoothly.
I agree - students using rubrics to grade each others work sounds like a great idea.
Donna,
Why on a voluntary basis? Why not make self- and peer-evaluation a part if the course grade?
Grace,
Yes, this would be a good time to involve students. I think once you begin to involve them, you will see the benefit. Thanks.
Grace,
It works for me and my students. They all learn the expectations better and learn how to give constructive feedback. Thanks.
Interesting thought, but that still leaves those students who are uncomfortable with the process out of the loop, and those that are, with a better grade for their input.
This question stirred up some classroom memories. I recall several research and methodology / capstone classes that made student involvement in rubric development critical. These particular courses involved major projects involving semester long group planning and presentation.I asked the classes on the first day to provide me with their interpretations of how such projects could be fairly assessed in the rubric.
Interestingly, most classes wanted the opportunity to control the direction of their work (personalize the process) and have their efforts scored numerically in the rubric. So, in a nutshell, my response is to involve students on opening day with specific criteria within the rubric.
That is an interesting observation. Sometimes I solicit student input regarding the rubrics and am met with surprised expressions that I would be willing to incorporate their ideas. One nice bonus is that oftentimes the students provide some excellent benchmarks or ratings for judging their work (and mine). Thanks for your post.
The overarching theme of this discussion seems to be structure and instructor's control of the final product. It is unreasonable to expect students with no training or experience to provide empirically grounded methods or scales for rubrics. I think their primary contributions are in the form of ideas, expectations of performance, and so forth. Thanks.
Donna,
But, the more we involve students, the more conforatble they will become. They may not all be comfortable all the time, but I'm not in my job either. ;-) Thanks!
Daniel ,
Always fun to go back in time! ;-) Ha! Keep those students involved and engaged. It's the path to success. Thanks for your input.
Daniel ,
Yes, many times students are not used to instructors asking for their opinion. It's good that they become comfortable with the process and become more responsible for their own learning. Thanks!
Daniel ,
right. They may not be able to quickly develop a perfect rubric (nor can we all the time), but they can provide input. Nice job.
Dr Wilkinson/Faculty, I like to involve students in in rubric formulation when dealing with group projects. To ensure there's no social loafing I want to get their input in creating a rubric that's reflective all everyone's individual contributions while grading the group for the final product. When I take this approach the students know up front what's expected of them, to include a peer performance reviews.
Regards, Reginald
Reginald,
Being up front with students is crucial to their success. Thanks you for sharing.
I completely believe in involving students in creating and evolving rubrics. When students understand and see the rubrics, then they will understand how to complete their assignments and understand how their assignments are graded.
Jim,
Great. As well all work together, students and instructor, we all learn from each other. Thanks!
