<<But for them to get that and be satisfied, you need to have already communicated what A standards are.>>
This is key, I think. I've found communicating expectations in advance to be very useful in heading off conflict about assessment. I write up clear instructions and guidelines for each assignment. Then, I also create detailed rubrics for them as well, describing what I am evaluating and what is expected for different scores in each category. For instance, what does getting 5 out of 5 in 'critical discussion of scholarly sources' mean, what does 4 out of 5, 3 out of 5, etc. mean. I've actually never had a single grade complaint from a student when I've used rubrics like this. It makes the expectations clear to the students in advance and they get a more concrete idea of why I give them a certain overall score. It's also constructive feedback because they can easily see the categories in which they do well and the categories in which they still need improvement. There is a practical and concise overview of using rubrics here:
http://www.saddleback.edu/uploads/goe/understanding_rubrics_by_heidi_goodrich_andrade.pdf
Best,
Francis
--
Francis M. Hult, PhD
Associate Professor
Centre for Languages and Literature
Lund University
Web: http://www.sol.lu.se/en/sol/staff/FrancisHult/
Editor, Educational Linguistics book series
http://www.springer.com/series/5894
Co-editor, Contributions to the Sociology of Language book series
http://www.degruyter.com/view/serial/16644
________________________________________
From: Teaching Linguistics [[log in to unmask]] on behalf of Angus Grieve-Smith [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Tuesday, May 19, 2015 18:11
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: breaking the bad news
Yes, I think the keys are empathy and constructive feedback. What
is the student's goal with the work? (It may not be the same as
yours.) What can you do to help them with their goal?
If their goal is just "to get an A" (it is with many of my speech
pathology majors) and it's the end of the term and there's nothing more
they can do, the main thing is simply to give them an explanation as to
why you felt the work was not up to A standards. But for them to get
that and be satisfied, you need to have already communicated what A
standards are.
Many years ago, someone recommended the book "The One Minute
Manager" to me. It's a very quick read (112 pages in large print with
big margins), and literally available for a penny (plus shipping)
online, but there's a summary here:
http://www.dumblittleman.com/2008/12/3-key-lessons-we-can-learn-from-one.html
I like the One Minute Reprimand, because it follows those principles:
> One minute reprimands are given as soon as an employee does something
> wrong. One minute reprimand has two parts. The first half includes
> telling the people that what they did wrong, how you feel about it and
> then let it sink in with a few seconds of uncomfortable silence. Then
> in the second half you tell the people how much you think they are
> capable of and how much you value them. One important aspect of one
> minute reprimands is that it criticizes the work not the doer. The
> employee is not blamed as a person, only his work is accused of not
> being up to the desired level. And once it’s over, it’s over.
But again, for it to be really effective it has to be combined with
One Minute Goals and One Minute Praisings.
On 5/19/2015 7:09 AM, Robert Lawson wrote:
> At BCU, our feedback sheets have two sections: Œthis is what you did well¹
> and Œthis is how you could have improved¹. At least showing the good bits
> of an essay first goes some way to softening the blow of the more critical
> feedback.
>
> Rob
>
>
> Dr Robert Lawson
> Lecturer in Linguistics
> School of English
> Birmingham City University
> Birmingham, B42 2SU
> The Social Linguist <www.thesociallinguist.wordpress.com>
>
> Fulbright Scottish Studies Award, 2012/13
>
> On 19/05/2015 11:57, "Dave Sayers" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
>> It's marking season... so let's hear your tips for how to break it to
>> students gently
>> that their beloved essay or dissertation is actually, well, a bit of a
>> dog's breakfast.
>>
>> Personally I try to point out how each and every shortcoming could have
>> been improved
>> (e.g. "Your analysis of the data was a little impressionistic and could
>> have been
>> improved by performing a test for statistical significance"). That way it
>> feels less
>> like a series of complaints, more like a constructive dialogue.
>>
>> Of course, I'm seeing plenty of excellent work too, but it's much easier
>> to give
>> students that message!
>>
>> Dave
>>
>> --
>> Dr. Dave Sayers
>> Senior Lecturer, Dept Humanities, Sheffield Hallam University
>> Honorary Research Fellow, Arts & Humanities, Swansea University
>> (2009-2015)
>> [log in to unmask] | http://shu.academia.edu/DaveSayers
--
-Angus B. Grieve-Smith
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