Traci, Are you willing to share your rubric? I have tried several grading "things" with the paper in the methods class and have yet to find a system that addresses all the peculiarities my students generate.
Leslie Grout Behavioral and Social Sciences Hudson Valley Community College Troy, NY 12180 Traci Giuliano wrote: > Marcia - I started using grading rubrics in research methods, and now > I use them in all classes, for all papers. I've found that students > really love the detailed feedback, and it cuts down incredibly on the > number of comments and complaints. (And I've never had a single > complaint about the rubric itself). After 9 years of teaching, I've > found that the secret is in the presentation; that is, it's important > to convince students ahead of time that your strategy (whether it is > grading fairly by using rubrics or whatever) is a good one (for > them). I spend several minutes explaining to students in detail how > important it is for me to grade them fairly (with high reliability > and validity, concepts that methods students can understand) and all > the steps that I use. I also tell them that by using this rubric I > can account for every single point missed on their papers (sometimes > to the half point!), in contrast to, say, a humanities paper where a > professor just writes a few comments and randomly writes a "C-" at > the top. I tell them that I grade each section (even if only worth 5 > points) for all students at once, so that I can be sure I assign the > same number of points to sections of the same quality, and I invite > them to compare papers with other students because I am confident > that they are graded equivalently; I even offer to make adjustments > if they can find discrepancies (so far, no one has ever taken me up > on that). In the end, my end of the semester evaluations on "grading > fairness" are extremely high (even though I'm considered a difficult > instructor), so I think that either I really am a fair grader or I do > a good job of convincing them that I am (of course I argue for the > former! :-) > > > >> I have started to distribute my criteria (usually with sample > >answers) to the students after the exams. > > > >I have a follow-up question about grading criteria, since there have > >been several posts about those lately. After a few years of > >teaching, I began using grading rubrics for my students for papers; > >I stapled the rubric to the top of the paper, with the appropriate > >number of points circled, a few comments made both in the paper and > >on the rubric sheet, and their total grade. I tried this for about > >4 classes or so and it led to so many more problems. Students > >argued with me MORE about their grades and other students complained > >about the rubric sheets. They said it made them feel like children. > >So, I stopped using them and now, rarely have complaints/questions. > > > >Has anyone else had this reaction? Is there some way that you frame > >your feedback that makes it seem less "child-like" (which I don't > >really understand)? > > > >Marcia > > > >Marcia J. McKinley, J.D., Ph.D. > >Assistant Professor of Psychology > >Mount St. Mary's College > >Emmitsburg, MD 21727 > >(301) 447-5394 x4282 > >[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > > > > >--- > >You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > -- > > \\|||// > ( o o ) > -------------o00-(_)-00o------------------ > > Traci A. Giuliano > Associate Professor of Psychology > Southwestern University > Georgetown, TX 78627 > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > (512) 863-1596;fax (512) 863-1846 > http://www.southwestern.edu/~giuliant > > -------------------------------------------- > > --- > You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
