I have lots of essays to read, recorded debates and roleplays to listen to, etc. I'm sure that some of you are expereincing the same thing. I've heard lots of different ways to handle the grading. Some teachers work in their office, some go to a coffee shop, some go to a bar, etc.
I just bring everything home and grade it there, taking breaks to play with the dogs or talk to my wife.
The other thing I wanted to talk about is how some students, particularly seniors, assume they will graduate and pass all their classes. I just got an email from a student who I've seen in about 25% of the classes. She got a job before she graduated and the job had to come first. Anyway, she emailed her final essay because she had to work and couldn't come to school.
This kind of stuff happens in Korea (not often, but it's not that rare either) but never in America (where you don't start working full-time until you've completed your coursework) and it's hard for me to get used to it.
My normal conversation classes have their oral exams, which they do in pairs by having an 8-10 minute conversation on one of the 6 themes we've discussed in class (determined randomly by rolling a die) assessed on the following rubric:
Fluency / listening / conversation building = 0-5
Accuracy = 0-5
Complexity = 0-5
Content = 0-15
Content refers to the number of cultural differences discussed and the amount of detail given regarding each cultural difference. In class we discuss Korean and North American in order to compare the differences so the same thing needs to happen on the exam.
The difficulty is in giving feedback. The content area is likely to be the same or similar for both students and I won't be able to write the same thing twice (because I can't write fast enough). This means students end up with individula feedback sheets for fluency, accuracy, and complexity but partners have to share a feedback sheet for content.
This gives me an opportunity to address language issues individually by pointing out errors (plain errors in the accuracy column and avoidance in the complexity part). But it doesn't do the same for content - the discussion is a team effort and I can't really separate each partner's contribution to the overall depth and insight generated during the conversation. So I don't - I have one feedback slip for content that the two students share.
It's a little weird, but it's the best method I've thought of.
Midterms are here. For my advanced conversation class based on Conversation Strategies (a text published by Pro Lingua Associates) I'm using the following rubric:
Student:
Correct Incorrect
Fluency / listening (0-4):
Rejoinders (0-2):
Terrific, wonderful, That’s too bad, Oh really?, I can’t believe it, I see, That’s nice
Follow-up questions (0-4):
What, When, where, why, who, how?
Confirmation questions (0-2):
How big? Which corner? Could you repeat that?
Clarifications with question words (0-2):
You did what? You went where? You’ll meet who?
Keeping or killing (0-4):
I have no idea, I’d rather not say, I’d have to think about that, What do you think?
Probability (0-2):
Will, should, ought to, might, may, could, shouldn’t won’t
Interrupting (0-4):
Excuse me, wait a minute, hold on, Can I add something? But…
Echoing (0-2):
Did you say…? You said…? That’s…?
Polite requests, responses, excuses (0-2):
Would you mind… I wonder if I could… / would, could / I’m sorry but… I’d like to but…
Getting a response (0-2):
What do you think? Don’t you agree? Do you know what I mean? How do you feel…?
/30
The idea is to assess their ability to use the strategies from the first 10 units in a 10 - 15 minute conversation on whatever topic they choose. They've had time to plan what they want to say and how to incorporate the different strategies. The fluency / listening at the top refers to how well they build a conversation together by working with what their pareter says (they do the exam in pairs but are graded individually).
What do you think about the rubric?
Grading SLA quizzes is always interesting. First, there are a number of concepts that need to be discussed and then I ahve to evaluate how well each concept was analyzed. So if the question has to do with comparing environmental influences in L1 acquisition according to Behaviorists and Cognitivists, I need to make sure that the student mentions both input and language models. They must be in the correct context - too many students talked about Behaviorism and input which tells me that I didn't empahsize input as solely a Cognitivist idea strongly enough.
Then the hard part - the student needs to analyze the differences between models in Behaviorism and input in Cognitivism. And there should be some mention of models being imitated and then a good explanation of reinforcement compared with input triggering the LAD to begin gathering rules from the rules that make up the input. Which of course meand we should compare rules and habits. Reinforcement with the LAD organizing systems based on rules plucked from the input is another issue.
And that's just question #1... Obviously, the few students who ace this timed essay test have achieved something really great.
By the way, correcting quizzes isn't my only excuse for not blogging more frequently. I've also had a lot of work done behind the scenes to amke this blog run on newer software and be more resistant to spammers. Let's hope it was worth it!
With 2 days of class before final exams begine, I've come to a realization - having classws with no curve take a lot of pressure off teachers assigning grades. Now in my experience students who do not get an A in an uncurved class are complaint candidates but there will be fewer complaints from B students in uncurved classes then the B,C, and D students in the curved classes.
In addition to dealing with fewer complaints, since there's no need to assign a certain number of each letter grade, when doing the uncurved class it doesn't matter if one student gets an 83 and another gets and 82. In the uncurved class I could give them both A grades if I wanted. In the curved class, 83 might be the cutiff ofr an A so that a student with one less point gets a B+. As you might imagine, I end up checking my math several times in those classes.
The reason I bring this up is because I only have 2 curved classes this semester. I like it like that.
So far I've gotten two emails about grades from ym students. The first student I felt really sorry for and in answering her email I wrote:
Hi ________. I wish I could give you the grade you deserve.You do deserve higher than a C+ and you did an excellent job this year. According to my records you were absent only once and you got a 15/20 on the final
exam. Your number grade was 86/100.However because of the university curve, I had to give the "B" grades to people who scored higher than you. In your class students with scores from 88-91 received "B" grades.
I know this seems unfair. In fact in some of my other classes a number grade of 86 received an A+, but in your class there were more high-scoring English
learners than in most other classes.I'm afraid the only thing either of us can do is petition the university to change their grading curve system. I will see to it that this email gets to the coordinator of the IFLE.
And have a merry Christmas and happy New Year. I know it's hard, but try not to worry about the C+ because you are an excellent student.
The second student received a B even though her average was ten points lower than the first student who complained about her C+. I know it's crazy, but the curve is based on each class regardless of how good the students are. So a class full of motivated students has more victims than a class full of students who don't try. I replied:
Hi ________. I would love to give you a high grade that reflects your excellent effort this semester. Sadly, I can't. I can only compare the points you received to the points other students received because of the university curve. You finished with 76/100 and while you did an excellent job on the oral final, missing that test hurt your grade (8/20 for tests) and the final written test also didn't help.I understand that you want a higher grade, but I think you were lucky. There aren't many students who can miss a quiz and still get a good grade (and a B is a good grade although it's natural that you want better). When I was calculating the grades, I noticed that you were the last student to receive a B. One less point and you would have gotten a C+.
I will send a copy of this email to the coordinator of the IFLE. We can hope that there won't be a university curve in the future, but for now I can not change your grade. I know this is bad news, but there's nothing I can do Please don't let something like this ruin your holidays. I hope you have a very merry Christmas and happy New Year. And thank you for the Christmas card! I really did appreciate it.
I hate grading exams. I've tried to make it a little more tolerable this year by giving students situations and asking the to write something appropriate, and it is a little more fun (still not fun) and it takes longer. I have a few long long days in front of me.
I was talking to a colleague who was amazed at the amount fo work we do here at Catholic University. At Seoul University (or was it the University of Seoul?), students take their tests on a computer and the machine calculates their scores. No free response obviously, just listening and various multiple choice type questions. Anyway, it sounds good right around now...
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So I spent most of my day working on final exams. What I'm doing this semester is asking fewer questions that require more thought by putting each question in a special context. So I might ahve 2 or three sentences explaining a situation and then ask students to produce something relevant based on a word or two I give them that forces them to use the grammar we covered in class. Obviously I won't be giving any real examples, and I'm too burned out to think of more right now, but I promise to share more of what I've done later.
And if you were wondering about the timing of the final talking tests, it hasn't changed.
Nearly a year ago, I wrote about how important it was for students to be assessed by the same criteria. This is especially critical at Catholic University where I teach in Korea because each class is graded on a curve. For example in a typical class of 20 students I can give 5 As, 6 Bs, 6 Cs, and that means I must give 4 Ds and Fs.
So students are competing with each other for a limited number of high grade. Now as final exams approach, the university intends to do what it has been doing for a while. During Finals week, the written exams would be given on the first meeting and then the oral exams would be given.
The university allows teachers to begin oral exams the class before finals week; most teacher chose to do this because they would then finsih the semester sooner. I stopped doing that because I noticed that students who took the oral exam earlier (the class before exam week) did worse than students who took it a week later (after the written exam). It made sense; students with an extra week to study (say two weeks instead of one) will do better. Making all students take the oral exams during final exam week was more fair.
The course has been reduced from three class hours to two class hours each week. That means we meet only for two hours during final exam week. 1 hour for the written test and 1 hour for the oral test. But the oral tests take two hours (to do all the students in a class). This year I will be forced to assess some students a week apart because classes meet only two hours.
I've explined this to my boss and asked to do the written test the week before finals week so that all students do oral exams during finals week. But I have a bad feeling that this won't be possible and that I'll ahve to assign some bad grades based on a students luck in getting a good exam time rather than a students English.
Thesis 0-4
Organization 0-4
Topic sentences 0-3
Concluding sentences 0-3
Arguments/examples 0-6
Introduction 0-2
Conclusion 0-3
I found that this worked well because I wanted the sum to be 25. Otherwise I would have made arguments more heavily weighted.
So my EAP/CBI classes are writing essays for their final assessment. What do you think of these prompts for argumentative essays?
American History essay questions. Some from http://www2.arts.gla.ac.uk/CAS/US_History/question.html
Early American colonists came to America seeking religious freedom and economic opportunity. How did their treatment of Native Americans fail to reflect these values?
The Declaration of Independence proclaimed "All men are created equal." Did this include Native Americans?
The Declaration of Independence proclaimed "All men are created equal." Did this include black men?
The Declaration of Independence proclaimed "All men are created equal." Did this include women?
In 1776 Britain's American colonists enjoyed a profitable trading relationship, the protection of the Royal Navy, a higher standard of living, lower taxes and greater religious liberty than the people of Britain. Why, then, did the colonists declare independence?
Was reconstruction a success or a failure?
Choose any historical event discussed during the course. How does this event reflect or fail to reflect two or three of the following values: freedom, human rights, democracy, opportunity, initiative, entrepreneurship, inventiveness.
Remember that class that said everything was too hard? Well I was right, they liked the grammar cloze. I took this section of a speech by Bill Clinton:
I have traveled all over the world. I have met with the wealthiest and most powerful people in the world. I have been in the most successful communities in the world. I have also been in the poorest villages of Africa, of Asia, of Latin America. And I believe, more strongly today than ever, that intelligence and ability and a human spirit are evenly distributed across the rich and the poor, in every continent on Earth.
I knew I was in trouble when I read in Content-Based Instruction in Foreign Language Education about the "huge effort" invloved in planning a CBI course. This includes finding all sorts of authentic materials. For example I gave my first lecture on Urban Sociology last week. I studied sociology in college, but I still found myself scouring web pages trying to put everything together.
The work is intersting (luckily for me). The main goals of the two CBI courses are to teach EAP through CBI. So before I gave my lecture, we talked about lectures in the US vs. lectures in Korea and strategies for taking notes during lectures. I hope the students are getting as much out of it as I am. My former director once quoted someone as saying "The first time you teach something, you learn something. The second time you teach something, the students learn something. The third time you teach something, no one learns anything".
This is the first time I've taught Sociology or History (well I taught British History for a few weeks once) so it might be my turn and not the student's turn... I'll have to see what I can do about that.
My director recently asked how I felt about having students given oral exams by a teacher they weren't used to. For example my students would be assessed by some other teacher and I'd assess his/her students. I said that would be fine. The important thing is that all students in a class are assessed by the same criteria and person since each class is curved.
By curved, I mean each class can have x number of As, x number of Bs, etc. which is really bad as a student might end up with an A in one class but the same student might have received a C in another class. It all depends on how well the other students do.
I don't like it because it's like saying that only some students can be good and some have to be bad. That's not motivating where I come from...