The most negative grading experience that I can remember from my schooling happened when I was in college. The class in which it occurred was a technical writing course that fulfilled my upper-level English graduation requirement. What frustrated me with the grading throughout this course was the lack of transparency and communication regarding the teaching and rubrics. We were never taught anything in the traditional sense. Instead, the teacher for the course would should us an example of a modern technical document, such as a blog, resume, or online training module during class. Each week, we had to use the sample document(s) to create our own document based on a topic of our choosing. We were never provided with rubrics for the assignments, nor were our instructions very specific. While some students may have enjoyed the creative freedom this provided, I hated the ambiguity and uncertainty that accompanied it. My grades in the course were never bad, but it was incredibly frustrating to never feel quite sure what the teacher was looking for. Occasionally I would turn in an assignment only to find out that I had misinterpreted what our teacher was expecting from us. I would also regularly lose points and not be provided with justification for why exactly I lost those points. This lack of communication meant that I could never pinpoint exactly what I was doing wrong, and therefore was unable to make the improvements necessary to benefit from the course.
The most positive grading experience I can remember also occurred in college, this time during my last semester senior thesis course. Even though this course was incredibly time-consuming and challenging, our instructor was very clear with his expectations for assignments. Every week we were required to submit a portion of our thesis. He would return that portion with his suggestions the following week, and we were expected to edit the previously completed section and turn it in with our next section for further edits. His willingness to provide us with timely and detailed feedback on our assignments was undoubtedly helpful in developing my research and writing skills. I could tell that our professor really cared about our achievement, and that he was doing his best to make sure we all succeeded and improved. In this course more than any other, I knew that I would learn a lot and earn a satisfactory grade if I put in my best effort.
Like many of the teachers who were described in the article we read, my least enjoyable grading experience occurred in college. Perhaps this is common because many college professors don’t have teaching degrees, nor do they receive formal training in an assessment course. Similar to my report, many teachers from the study reported being frustrated by not knowing how they would be assessed, causing them to receive grades that didn’t seem reflective of their level of effort and learning. This is exactly how I felt in my technical writing course. Consequently, I hope to use this experience to improve my own grading. I know how helpful it can be if assignments have clear expectations, detailed rubrics, and teachers provide timely feedback in order to improve learning. Using the negative experiences of myself and other teachers can provide examples of how not to assess students. For example, it’s clear that communicating effectively with students is key in ensuring everyone is one the same page in terms of grading. In my future classrooms, I could have an open-discussion with students whenever a major assignment is given, allowing students to make suggestions and ask questions. This simple action can help show students that teachers aren’t “the enemy” so to speak; rather, teachers are there to help facilitate the learning process and guide students towards success.
No comments:
Post a Comment