tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22001031.post6746136610203889406..comments2024-02-28T18:29:41.120-08:00Comments on Not of General Interest: Making grading human againundinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05589384016564587214noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22001031.post-1535886989578121672018-05-06T19:32:01.401-07:002018-05-06T19:32:01.401-07:00I still like to grade on paper with a pen.
I do a...I still like to grade on paper with a pen.<br /><br />I do also grade the AP exam in Spanish literature, and we use rubrics. It has turned me against them, although I see the point for a national exam like that. But rubrics are all about form and not content, in the end, and are too uniformizing.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22001031.post-8146342564117308502018-05-05T19:17:53.420-07:002018-05-05T19:17:53.420-07:00gasstationwithoutpumps--setting points and total p...gasstationwithoutpumps--setting points and total points is the way to go, I think. I ultimately had to clean out all the weighting and fancy stuff. "SpeedGrader" sounds less than optimal!undinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05589384016564587214noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22001031.post-42508066399498356042018-05-05T15:00:15.977-07:002018-05-05T15:00:15.977-07:00I'm using Canvas and the misnamed "SpeedG...I'm using Canvas and the misnamed "SpeedGrader" this year. It is definitely far slower than grading on paper, though returning papers electronically is faster. I did have to change my grading scheme, as Canvas's handling of weighted averages and letter grades is worse than I could have imagined. I now set points for each assignment and just do total points (no weighting, no letter grades), since that is all that Canvas can really handle.<br /><br />Stylus and iPad would probably not work with Canvas, given how bad SpeedGrader is.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22001031.post-9649690878771142422018-05-03T16:01:27.988-07:002018-05-03T16:01:27.988-07:00nicoleandmaggie--you totally need to get an Apple ...nicoleandmaggie--you totally need to get an Apple pencil (or stylus)! <br /><br />In other news: after some worried student emails, I spent the whole morning figuring out just where Blackboard was going horribly awry with its calculations. It had, of course, hidden all the features where weighted averages and dropped grades could be entered, since the last time I taught this course. It's right now, according to my Excel gradebook. The only problem is that I apparently gave out good grades on the discussion boards like Oprah giving out cars ("YOU get a 25/25! And YOU get a 25/25!), so the grades skew higher than their papers would warrant. That's a problem for next time, though.undinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05589384016564587214noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22001031.post-45127551293109132182018-05-02T06:35:20.426-07:002018-05-02T06:35:20.426-07:00I teach math classes in a math-heavy major and kid...I teach math classes in a math-heavy major and kids these days (TM) don't know how to calculate a weighted average like kids of yesteryear. Maybe it is them getting used to having blackboard calculate it for them.<br /><br />I have a really hard time assigning points to written work without a rubric because once something is below B levels of bad, I have no way of figuring out what kind of C-F it deserves just based on my gut (or where in the 0-79% scale it belongs). I do include subjective things in the rubric, but it's nice to have an idea about how many points royally screwing up any part of the paper is worth.<br /><br />I want a stylus!nicoleandmaggiehttp://nicoleandmaggie.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22001031.post-72915232857103854012018-05-01T20:22:15.750-07:002018-05-01T20:22:15.750-07:00gwinne--that was my experience with rubrics, too. ...gwinne--that was my experience with rubrics, too. I'd be too kindhearted (not wanting to put a check mark under "missing" or "needs work" when one was warranted) and then end up with grades that didn't reflect the quality of the work. I had to comment on electronic docs all semester, either with Word or with the stylus, and the stylus definitely made it quicker and more fun. <br /><br />And yes to what you say about calculating grades! There are X points completed. There are Y points left. There are Z total points in the course. Can't you do Z - X = how many of the Y points you need to finish to pass the class? <br /><br />Fretful Porpentine--You're right about grading. Even keeping the grades in the LMS won't help since the grades there aren't complete until the end. They could have 4 C+ grades, but if there's a big assignment still to come, it might get averaged as a D in blackboard because all the points aren't there. undinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05589384016564587214noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22001031.post-73503620736111487732018-05-01T19:01:06.612-07:002018-05-01T19:01:06.612-07:00OMG, yes, the "I have no idea what my grade i...OMG, yes, the "I have no idea what my grade is" crew drives me up the wall -- especially when it turns out that they have had, say, a C+ on every single assignment and somehow cannot work out that this means their current grade is a C+. I mean, I know what they actually want me to do is start using the gradebook in the LMS, but I have no idea why <i>I</i> should do more work because <i>they</i> can't do simple arithmetic.Fretful Porpentinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11165078003123517013noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22001031.post-32895807293051301812018-05-01T05:13:36.367-07:002018-05-01T05:13:36.367-07:00For most of my classes, I still collect--and write...For most of my classes, I still collect--and write on--hard copies. I use the language of the 'rubric'--from the assignment sheet--where I can. But mostly when I used rubrics it not only took longer but involved complex mental gymnastics where I fudged to come up with the grade that I would have come up with without the rubric. I still wrote comments by hand.<br /><br />For me that's about (a) saving time, (b) saving my body (I have a hand thing that is worse typing than writing), and (c) saving my soul.<br /><br />One of my classes this semester required me to comment on electronic docs. I hated it. I will say it made organizing grades easier (yeah, I still have a paper grade book for the others) but otherwise it took me longer, even cutting and pasting comments. It also meant I had to grade in the same space as my laptop, which is often not the case.<br /><br />But....I will say I'm intrigued by your stylus idea. I might have to give that a go for notetaking and see how it feels.<br /><br />This is a side-note, but I've been stunned lately by the number of students who have asked me if I can tell them their grades.... as if taking the percentages on the syllabus and their actual grades on assignments involves some professor magic and not simple math.gwinnehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04840990153103781272noreply@blogger.com