Enrollment rates in online programs have surged in recent years, and instructors have struggled to maintain delivery of prompt and quality feedback on student work. In this session, we will discuss how new strategies and tools can be utilized to support instructors in their grading efforts, and how grading can be transitioned from grading of learning to grading for learning.
Turn grading into learning: better ways of assessing student work is an important lever for improving learning, enhancing teaching, and reducing rates of attrition in online courses. In this session, we will discuss how traditional grading no longer fits with online learning, and how exploring the best practices within grading can contribute to greater student success rates for online classrooms.
To accommodate rapid increases in student enrollment in online courses without sacrificing quality of instruction, instructors are re-thinking some of the fundamental aspects of grading, and looking to solidify the core ‘best practices’. We will dive into three categories of grading best practices and discuss how each of these can be operationalized and applied to ever-growing online classrooms.
We will be discussing the importance of three categories in relation to feedback:
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Consistency
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Speed
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Quality
1. Consistency: Online grading requires consistency, objectivity, and accuracy. To accomplish this, instructors can set clear grading expectations clear to students to account for common communication gaps that can occur between students and graders in online classes. Digital rubrics is one way to scale grading consistency, as well as reduce bias and other inconsistencies that can detract from learning.
2. Speed: While timeliness is always important to students, this importance is even more significant for online programs and classes for two critical reasons. First, because online students are more independent, they often move at their own pace. Getting getting feedback quickly ensures they are able to move ahead successfully. Second, because online students often feel disconnected from class, connecting learning and feedback can create tighter connections for students leading to greater confidence and competence.
3. Quality: Professors that focus on feedback quality can narrow in on the precise solution. When professors and graders provide detailed and personalized feedback, students can find solutions to their specific problems and progress with greater success.
In the era of online education, we must move deliberately from grading of learning toward grading for learning. Online students need not only reliable scores and grades that add up to strong signals of their learning on college transcripts, but more importantly quality and timely feedback throughout their learning process. Faculty and administrators need for this feedback to happen efficiently, and ideally in a way that yields useful and actionable data for ongoing improvement and other needs. Ultimately, grading more learners in a more efficient and useful way will be key to our ability to serve more college students well at scale, reducing the rates of attrition for online courses.
Reflection:
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Do online students have different grading needs than traditional in-class students? If yes, what is different?
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How can professors grade with more consistency, speed, and quality?
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What are the obstacles to providing feedback that is consistent, fast, and high quality?
Q & A:
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Get in small groups
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Select one attribute (consistency, speed, quality)
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Discuss solutions to one attribute for online learners
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Present one solution as a group