Evaluation

Evaluating Student Work

Evaluating student work doesn't have to be any different online than in is in your face-to-face courses. Remember that you have the same opportunities  to address individual students and the group as a whole. Students have the opportunity to seek clarity if they misunderstand your comments. There are some things you can do, though, to preempt those questions and to manage your time.

Tips for Evaluating Student Work

Marking Major Assignments

Make sure your rubric reflects the assignment sheet. For example, Erin Anderson's assignment sheet for the audio essay that we say in module 3 says the following: 

Because the material you assemble for this project—the recorded “conversation,” your own audio commentary and self-reflection, and any additional music or sound you collect and repurpose—will far outstretch the boundaries of the 3- to 5-minute format, your challenge is to make careful decisions about how best to edit, layer, and recombine this material to construct and communicate your experimental narrative. Your final audio essay should reflect conscious attention to questions of arrangement, voice, and self-reflexivity and draw upon specific strategies from Wideman’s prose and the audio essay we work with in class.

Notice how the final sentence lists the criteria required for successful completion of the assignment. These are the criteria one would include in a rubric. Remember that the words you choose for evaluation matter. For example, I like my rubric to reflect letter-grades (A-level, B-level, etc.) because otherwise I often have students thinking in "points."  You might choose to use categories like Excellent, Acceptable, Inadequate, etc. 

Here is an example rubric for the Audio Essay assignment:

Along with the rubric, it's important to offer comments on the work itself. I try to use these to comments to "explain" the marks I made on the rubric and to include a summary comment that points toward what the work could become next (whether or not students are actually revising this piece). A time saving tip: Record these comments in Speedgrader! Just click on the icon between the speaker and the paperclip. You can record video or turn it off to record audio only.

Marking Lower-Stakes Assignments

I don't bother with rubrics for lower-stakes assignments. Instead, I try to offer a few general comments in the form of an announcment to the entire class addressing the goals of the assignment. For example, in the Genre Analysis assignment portion of the Audio Essay project, I would give students credit for completing the assignment. Then, I would post an announcement addressing the major themes and/or issues I saw in the posts.
For the Letter-in-Sound piece, I would focus my comments on the parts of the assignment that will lead to a successful final project.

The assignment includes the following questions that speak to the self-reflexivity required in the final essay: Why are you interested in speaking and “writing” about it? What do you hope to learn or accomplish? What challenges do you anticipate? How do you feel about taking on this project?

The assignment also includes the following instruction regarding connection to course materials and  voice: The language you use in composing this “letter” should (1) draw upon in-class discussions of strategies for “writing for the ear” and (2) reflect a conscious attention to issues of voice.

If these are the elements on which I've asked students to focus, these should be the elements on which I offer feedback.

Remember that your comments should be constructive and aimed at the next draft or step in the project.

Find more Advice on Responding to Student Writing by clicking here on the Teaching tab at the top of this page.