Live feedback

I am using twitter and SMS in my history course this semester. What I do is tell students to tweet or text their questions at any time, and periodically I break and check what has been written. I also sometimes ask everyone to answer a question (e.g., what was the muddiest point). I tell them a hash tag for their tweets and I use Google Voice for the SMS. I check with my iPhone and do not use the computer connected to the projector. I also send out tweets once in a while with those hash tags in case any of my students are following. I do not require students to do either, and so I would not rely on either for roll or awarding points. There is also an instant messaging tool inside D2L, but I would limit the tools that students use as that reduces the number of places you have to check. It is possible for SMS messages sent to google to be forwarded as emails to any account .

Evidence of Outcome Achievement and Future Work

One of the assignments in my history class asks students to do a close analysis of an individual document. For those students who clearly excel (earn an A grade or better), I will try something this semester and let them skip  the remaining assignments in this category with a C grade. I wonder how many will take up the offer not to do the later work.

Frustrating Grading Rubric

Tonight I discovered that the grading rubric when using custom points counts as points possible the sum of the highest level of each criteria, which means that I have to create a level with the perfect score possible (maybe the "A range" instead of "A" as its label) so that the points calculate correctly. I was happy that the latest update to Desire2Learn's software finally allowed editing the feedback and points of the rubric grade.

Based on a lack of comment on this from students last semester (when I used the rubric with its cannot-be-edited flaw), I think it might be better just to write a grade for each of the criteria (they already have the rubric) and add additional comments as necessary.

Attendance and grading beyond the drop limit

My face-to-face history class meets twice a week for 30 times this semester, and I tell students in the syllabus that a fourth no-show means I will drop them from the class. However, there is a date when the only transcript option for students who get dropped is a W grade, which counts as one of their three attempts at this class. So what is the point of dropping students after that date if they can stay in the class, achieve its learning outcomes, and earn a passing grade?

I give points for attendance in the belief that presence and learning are correlated. If 70% of the points possible is required to pass the class, then at least 70% attendance is required to pass. With 1,000 points possible overall, then the attendance penalty should be greater than 300 points once the student has exceeded nine absences.

A simple progression does the trick:

• Perfect attendance = 120 points
• Four absences = -4 points each or -16 total penalty
  If the fourth absence occurs before the drop-without-notation date, I drop the student.
• The fifth absence = -8 points (-24 total penalty)
• Sixth = -16 (-40)
• Seventh = -32 (-72)
• Eighth = -64  (-136)
• Ninth = -128  (-264)
• Tenth = -256 (-520)

If a student misses class exactly nine times, the points for attendance will be -144. A tenth absence drops that to -400. Even if they earn all 87 points of extra credit, those students will have a maximum point total of 687 and therefore not pass the class.

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This also works with a class that meets once a week. In fall 2011 I awarded 10 points at each of 13 meetings and also had 1,000 total points possible in the class. Three was the limit then, but it should have been two and the attendance penalty should be greater than 300 points once the student has exceeded four absences:

• Perfect attendance = 130 points
• Three absences = -10 points each or -30 total penalty
  If the third absence occurs before the drop-without-notation date, I drop the student.
• The fourth absence = - 260 points (-290 total penalty)
• The fifth absence = -390 (-650)

If a student misses class exactly four times, the points for attendance will be -160. A fifth absence drops that to -520.