Hi I think the secret to the difference (assuming there is a difference in the actual doing of assignments) is the 4 tests for Chris versus my 2 tests over an entire year. That is, students would not find out until Dec in my full-year course that they should have done the 3 assignments during the term, rather late at that point. It may also be that my assignments are substantial, and VERY time consuming over a several week period, perhaps too much so. You can see the structure of the class and assignment dates at www.uwinnipeg.ca/~clark/teach/4100.
I also find it interesting that Chris cannot mark assignments because of inadequate TA times, much the situation I appear to be moving toward. How many others have experienced very low or declining levels of support for TAs? I wrote a comment last year in response to an Access document created by a committee at U of Winnipeg about how they appeared to recommend all sorts of special assistance (e.g., in student services) but never really considered increasing class room support, arguably a primary consideration in success of weaker students (I've never looked for evidence on this, but it would appear to make sense that less classroom support harms weaker students more than stronger students). I've looked occasionally at the literature on classroom size (another form of teaching support?) and success, but not recently. As I remember it was quite messy, especially after one got to 30 or so students. Take care Jim James M. Clark Professor of Psychology 204-786-9757 204-774-4134 Fax [email protected] >>> "Christopher D. Green" <[email protected]> 08-Feb-09 11:57:18 AM >>> Jim Clark wrote: > One year I decided to make the assignments voluntary (I can't remember why > although I am now being taken to task for using too many TA hours for the > course, and this might have been the case earlier as well ... much of TA time > is spent marking assignments). Guess what? Completion of assignments > dropped off precipitously! My conclusion, even strong, well-motivated > students have difficulty working hard when there is NO direct consequence > with respect to grades. I can only imagine what the situation would be for > weaker, less motivated students. > > It is interesting that you say that. My experience has been somewhat different. I have never marked the weekly assignments in my stats course, mainly because there isn't sufficient teaching assistance to do so given my class size, but also because I think it gives students an opportunity to do some guided work without every mistake they make ending up in their final grade. Instead, I have the teaching assistant simply go over the assignment at the start of the next class. I cannot tell you what proportion of them do the assignments (though nearly all of them turn up to hear the TA each week). Their "motivation" is mainly that I tell them that the four tests throughout the year will prove rather difficult unless they have had the practice of the assignments (at a minimum). Those who don't believe me often get a shock when their first midterm test arrives and usually change their behavior. (And what of those few who are able to navigate my tests without taking the assignments seriously? More power to them.) Regards, Chris -- Christopher D. Green Department of Psychology York University Toronto, ON M3J 1P3 Canada 416-736-2100 ex. 66164 [email protected] http://www.yorku.ca/christo/ ========================== --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly ([email protected]) --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly ([email protected])
