OMG YES!!! This is my dilemma too--I have been making and tweaking a rubric to make the grading go faster, but there's always one kid who complains about "a bunch of x's on a sheet" that "don't mean anything."
I have a rubric I've been using over the last couple of years, but I leave space under each of the various criteria in case I feel moved to make a comment. I make a point of making at least one comment under one of the criteria. This seems to keep them reasonably content.
A: I'd read it if I didn't have to. B: If the two of us worked on it, this could be good. C: I had to read it. D: It necessitated a beer. F: It was over quickly.
A-freaking-men. I always give detailed feedback on their first assignment and first major paper so they know what that is and how I grade. Then after that, I have students write at the top of their papers what kinds of feedback they'd value from me. Most indicate they'd simply like a grade. A few say they'd like end comments. Two always indicate they'd like detailed feedback.
In an online class I was once short of time and the uploading was going very slowly. So I simply submitted grades without the attached papers and told the class they could request comments by e-mail. Since I had already done the comments, it was no burden on me, but I didn't want to e-mail each student's paper unless they wanted it.
Out of a class of 20, three wrote back. So that pink circle is probably the largest.
BTW, just to be pedantic, the venn diagram doesn't work as pictured. "Just want a grade" and "want detailed feedback" are mutually exclusive, so the circles shouldn't overlap.
@slave: you're right. Technically, there should probably be a larger, overlapping set labeled "students who want a grade, fast," with a smaller, included subset, not overlapping with any of the other sets, that reads "students who just want a grade." The other problem (and the only objection I see to Cynic's plan, which strikes me, too, as brilliant) is that students don't really know where they fit, and/or shift position according to their current grade, anxiety level, etc. Picture a bunch of tiny little students scurrying around on the diagram, obsessively checking their grades on the LMS via smartphone, and shifting from "just want a grade, fast" to "want detailed feedback/will argue every point" as they see a B+ pop up (somewhere in there, there's an especially difficult category that adds up to "just want my A, fast").
I do let them sort themselves to some extent toward the end of the term, when I have dual deadlines for the long research-based paper: one which yields written comments delivered during a one-on-one conference, and a later one (just before the conference) which yields oral comments during a one-on-one conference. And I have a rubric, which sounds pretty similar, in design and use, to Merely's. I'd like to adopt, Reg W's however (provided I can substitute a hard cider for the beer).
OMG YES!!! This is my dilemma too--I have been making and tweaking a rubric to make the grading go faster, but there's always one kid who complains about "a bunch of x's on a sheet" that "don't mean anything."
ReplyDeleteI have a rubric I've been using over the last couple of years, but I leave space under each of the various criteria in case I feel moved to make a comment. I make a point of making at least one comment under one of the criteria. This seems to keep them reasonably content.
ReplyDeleteMy rubric is this:
ReplyDeleteA: I'd read it if I didn't have to.
B: If the two of us worked on it, this could be good.
C: I had to read it.
D: It necessitated a beer.
F: It was over quickly.
A-freaking-men. I always give detailed feedback on their first assignment and first major paper so they know what that is and how I grade. Then after that, I have students write at the top of their papers what kinds of feedback they'd value from me. Most indicate they'd simply like a grade. A few say they'd like end comments. Two always indicate they'd like detailed feedback.
ReplyDeleteIn an online class I was once short of time and the uploading was going very slowly. So I simply submitted grades without the attached papers and told the class they could request comments by e-mail. Since I had already done the comments, it was no burden on me, but I didn't want to e-mail each student's paper unless they wanted it.
ReplyDeleteOut of a class of 20, three wrote back. So that pink circle is probably the largest.
BTW, just to be pedantic, the venn diagram doesn't work as pictured. "Just want a grade" and "want detailed feedback" are mutually exclusive, so the circles shouldn't overlap.
CC, that is brilliant. I have never thought of just asking them what kind of feedback they want. I'm going to try that next term.
ReplyDelete@slave: you're right. Technically, there should probably be a larger, overlapping set labeled "students who want a grade, fast," with a smaller, included subset, not overlapping with any of the other sets, that reads "students who just want a grade." The other problem (and the only objection I see to Cynic's plan, which strikes me, too, as brilliant) is that students don't really know where they fit, and/or shift position according to their current grade, anxiety level, etc. Picture a bunch of tiny little students scurrying around on the diagram, obsessively checking their grades on the LMS via smartphone, and shifting from "just want a grade, fast" to "want detailed feedback/will argue every point" as they see a B+ pop up (somewhere in there, there's an especially difficult category that adds up to "just want my A, fast").
ReplyDeleteI do let them sort themselves to some extent toward the end of the term, when I have dual deadlines for the long research-based paper: one which yields written comments delivered during a one-on-one conference, and a later one (just before the conference) which yields oral comments during a one-on-one conference. And I have a rubric, which sounds pretty similar, in design and use, to Merely's. I'd like to adopt, Reg W's however (provided I can substitute a hard cider for the beer).
ReplyDelete