Michael Sylvester wrote:
> have you ever had students grade other students' work?On one
> occasion I was in such a hurry to get my grades in that I had
> students put their names at the back of the paper and they
> when done,I had them exchange papers and I read the answers
> to the fill-in- the blanks,and the multiple choice.Wow,I was
> done in 10 minutes.However ,although some students
> appreciated the instant feedback,some students reported me to
> the Dean and a memo was sent to all faculty to discontinue
> the practice.
>
> Are there pros and cons to this practice?
Not really--beyond making your students do your work for you, of
course.
By conducting that type of grading, you are simply exposing your
students to ridicule if their answers are clearly not as well done as
those of the person doing the grading--and you are making it possible to
clearly identify the student being graded, thus allowing favoritism and
friendship to play a part. If, for example, one of the men in your class
is grading the assignment of a woman he is interested in, do you think
he's as likely to be unbiased in his grade as he would if it were the
assignment of a stranger in another section? In addition, are your
students skilled enough in both your subject and grading to be _capable_
of objectively grading a response? Try a simple experiment: create a
"dummy" assignment similar to the one you gave, provide answers to the
questions that you believe would be typical of a mid-range student
(about a C+ level, according to the way YOU would grade that assignment,
were you to receive it)--being sure to have someone not in your class
(your keeper, perhaps?) write the actual answers so it won't be in your
handwriting, then make copies of it and ask your class, as an
experiment, to grade the assignment answers written by someone not
enrolled in the class (true, if misleading) and hand the assignment back
in. Then compare the grades/comments to those you, yourself, would have
created. Are the grades within a narrow range, or do they vary from an
"A" to an "F?" Are the comments to-the-point or rambling, constructive
or judgmental?
See how you feel about that kind of grading after you do that.
Rick
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Rick Adams
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Department of Social Sciences
Jackson Community College
Jackson, Michigan
". . . and the only measure of your worth and your deeds will be the
love you leave behind when you're gone." --Fred Small
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