In full swing…

The semester is officially in full swing…my students have completed their first module and we are getting started on the second one!

When I met with them for our third class meeting, I started off by talking a little about the last assignment and some problems I had (them not turning it into the right location, incorrect formatting, etc).  I also made sure to point out that for their next assignment, I created a rubric so that they would know exactly what I expected and it would be easier for me to grade.

I also gave them some time to calculate their grades so that they were aware of what they had in the course.  I plan on having them do this every once in a while, just so they can’t e-mail me at the end of the semester telling me they didn’t realize they were in bad shape.

After we went over the class material, we played a game of Jeopardy to review for their upcoming quiz.  I hope that by doing this it not only helps them prepare, but also realize they HAVE to read.  Anyway, we played in teams, and I gave the team that won 2 bonus points, and the others 1 (since they all had to take turns being the “leader” so they all participated).  Although I was pretty hesitant about playing a game in class (I thought they would think it was stupid or childish), they really enjoyed it.  I think we, as college educators, sometimes forget that we sometimes need to make learning fun.  I also gave them access to the practice test so hopefully they will use that to help them prepare as well…we’ll see on Monday.

I just got finished grading their third assignment and for the most part, I was pretty pleased with their grades.  Of course the points I had to count off were silly things that could have easily been fixed (not using the specified font or not posting to their blog), they did MUCH better on this assignment.  I also really liked having the rubric so that I didn’t end up like this….

Things I did this week that I liked:

• Played Jeopardy to help them review for their quiz
• Created a rubric for their assignment
• Taught them how to figure out their grade in the course
• Created a column in the grade book that tells them how many points they currently have
• Got all of their assignments graded and returned just 2 days after the due date! :)
• Added all of their blogs to my google reader so I can check to see if they updated before I grade their assignment (which was part of the requirements for each assignment)
• Alex helped me create an Excel spreadsheet to keep up with grades when I’m not logged in.  It is much easier to look at and having grades in two places helps me make sure I didn’t make a mistake.

Things I want to change:

• Since the rubric was so successful, I want to make sure I do it for every assignment next semester.
• Organize my online gradebook…I’ve got it the best I can get it right now, but I want to do that from the beginning next semester.
• Build “in-class assignments” into my participation points rather than just using them as bonus points.
• Set up an account on Soshiku so students can be reminded of assignments by text

I’ll update after their quizzes on Monday…I just hope they all remember! :)

On Grading

This week my students had their very first assignments due and I was anxious to see how they did.  The assignments started rolling in early in the week and I got busy grading.

I honestly had no idea what to expect for these first two assignments.  The first assignment was to write a 1-2 page paper on educational technology.  It was more of a reflective paper because it asked students to reflect on experiences they’ve had with technology in the classroom whether it be their own or something they’ve observed, give me their definition of educational technology, and to provide some benefits and limitations of using technology. They were to write the paper (using APA format) and then e-mail it to me as an attachment.  The second assignment was to set up a blog on Blogger, post their paper as their first blog post, and send me the URL.  Both pretty simple assignments right?

Apparently, not as simple as I thought.  They had so many issues with this assignment that I NEVER thought they would have, therefore I had to think long and hard on how to handle it.  Here are some examples:

Situation#1:  One student wrote their paper telling me all about their classroom experience, but didn’t mention technology until the very last sentence

My dilemma:  I could just count off and record the grade, however, I wasn’t sure how many points to count off because there was no rubric set in place for this assignment.  IF I did this, this particular student would also not be getting anything out of the assignment.

My solution:  I sent the assignment back to the student allowing them to correct it for partial credit.

Situation #2:  I had several students who turned the assignment into the Assignment Dropbox instead of e-mailing it to me as stated in the directions.

My dilemma:  I could just count off points, but again, I wouldn’t know if they actually knew how to do this task.

My solution:  If I caught it before the deadline, I e-mailed them to remind them to e-mail it to me and gave them full credit.  Some never bothered to send it to me, so I ended up just counting off a couple of points and moving on.  Again, I didn’t have a rubric so I just had to use my best judgment on how many points the submission process was worth.

Situation #3:  Technical issues (Examples:  Several students did not understand what a URL was and once I explained it to them, they continued to submit the wrong URL; One student had a problem with cookies on the Blogger site, the eLearning mail tool wouldn’t let students upload a file from their computer, students who use Macs can’t submit their documents, etc)

My dilemma:  I told them at the beginning of the course that computer issues weren’t acceptable excuses for not turning in their assignments and I gave them a list of computer labs on campus that they could use in case of problems BUT because I know how frustrating it is to run into problems like that when you are getting ready to turn in assignments.

My solution:  I did the best I could to troubleshoot for my end…this included looking up instructions on how to convert a .pages file to a word document, the help section on eLearning and Blogger, and even letting student submit their assignments different ways.

Of course, I also ran into the problems of students submitting assignments late or not submitting them at all and although I have  a late turn in policy in place, I did extend it for the first assignment.  The writing style and formatting was another issue that I am going to tackle when I meet with them again next week.

Things I would like to change:

• Rubrics, rubrics, rubrics  - Not only will it help me grade the assignments, but it will help students know what exactly is expected of them for each assignment.  I have already started on one for the next assignment and I plan to create one for each of the remaining ones as well.
• Help resources – I have already begun compiling a list of sites and documents that might help students if they run into problems.  Although I can’t MAKE them use them, they will be there if they choose to use them.
• Don’t assume they know ANYTHING – Even though the directions may seem elementary, I’m going to make sure that I include the most detailed instructions for each assignment.  I’m also going to go over the general rules of APA because it was clear the students did not follow these rules at all!
• Stick to your policies – I planned on doing this anyway, but because this was the first assignment, I was a little more lax HOWEVER for the next assignment, I will just count off points for incorrect formatting and submission rather than deal with having to e-mail them to remind them what the assignment instructions are.  Also, I am going to make it clear that I will not be searching everywhere for their assignments so if they MUST submit it in the correct place.

My first grading experience was definitely an interesting one.   I caught myself saying things like:

• I’m so sorry, but I do not have access to your blog password.  You might want to try to click on the Forgot password link to see if they can send it to you.
• Thanks for submitting your URL, but this is the incorrect one.  I do not need the address for eLearning, but the address for your blog.
• When I said your URL should be yourusername.blogspot.com, I meant that you should put your user name in the first part of the address, not just send that back to me.
• I understand that you didn’t drop any cookies on your computer…that is not what it means when it says you have a problem with your cookies.

And for smiles this week:

This is a little how I felt when grading papers this week…thanks PhD comics for letting me know I’m not completely alone! :)

When I was grading the last assignment this morning, I saw this in the header…

Professor Slaten…I kind of like the sound of that ;)

I won’t see my students this week but they do have their first quizzes…I hope they remember to take them!

I’ll be back next week with more fun stories :)