Posted on No Comments on Using a rubric to grade student submissions in SpeedGrader

Using a rubric to grade student submissions in SpeedGrader

Using a Rubric to grade in Speedgrader

Greetings!

This may be a refresher or something new, either way I’m sure you will pick up a tip if you review the information below from the Canvas website on using a rubric in speedgrader to grade student assignments.  Note that rubrics are included FOR MOST ASSIGNMENTS. If you run across and assignment that doesn’t have a rubric, please email curriculum@belhaven.edu.

https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Instructor-Guide/How-do-I-use-a-rubric-to-grade-submissions-in-SpeedGrader/ta-p/1015Links to an external site.

How do I use a rubric to grade submissions in SpeedGrader?

If you have added a rubric to an assignment, you can assess the rubric in SpeedGrader.

Use Rubric for Grading

If you want to use the rubric to calculate a grade, be sure you have selected the Use this rubric for assignment grading checkbox when adding a rubric to an assignmentLinks to an external site.. Make sure this checkbox is selected before you begin grading submissions.

If you do not select the rubric specifically for grading, you can still use the rubric to evaluate an assignment but the score will not update automatically.

Outcomes Extra Credit

If your rubric includes outcomes, you may be able to assign extra points for the outcome criterion if this feature is enabled for your course. Learn how to manage feature options in the course features lessonLinks to an external site..

Notes:

Open SpeedGrader

Open SpeedGrader

Open SpeedGrader from any assignment, graded discussion, or quiz.

Open Student Submission

Open Student Submission

Use the student listLinks to an external site. to locate a student submission.

View Rubric

View Rubric

Click the View Rubric button.

Resize Rubric

Resize Rubric

To view the entire rubric window, you may need to scroll both vertically and horizontally. To resize the rubric window, click and drag the sizing column horizontally.

Complete Rubric

Complete Rubric

For each criterion, click the rating that applies to the student’s submission [1]. The selected rating displays the rating value in the Points field [2]. If a criterion includes a range, clicking a rating selects the entire range and defaults to the highest value in the range [3].

To select a different value within a range, type the value into the Points (pts) field [4]. You can manually enter points above the criterion maximum point value. Each criterion value adds to the student’s total points [5].

To deselect a rating and revert the point value assigned, click the rating assigned [6].

Outcomes may also be able to support additional points. If additional points on outcomes are not retained after the rubric is saved, this feature has not been enabled for your course.

You can also add a comment for each rubric criterion by clicking the Comment icon [7].

Save Rubric

Save Rubric

Click the Save button.

View Score

View Score

If you set your rubric for grading, the rubric points will be automatically populated in the grade field. Otherwise, you can enter the grade from the rubric manually.

Posted on No Comments on Using the ReAssignment button in Speed Grader

Using the ReAssignment button in Speed Grader

Using the ReAssignment button in Speed Grader

Greetings!

I wanted to either give you a refresher on the Reassignment button in SpeedGrader, or make you aware of its existence and how you can use it. The information comes directly from the Canvas website: https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Instructor-Guide/How-do-I-reassign-an-assignment-in-SpeedGrader/ta-p/469484Links to an external site.

How do I reassign an assignment in SpeedGrader?

As an instructor, you can reassign an assignment in SpeedGrader. The Reassign Assignment button is available for graded assignment submissions once a comment has been added by an instructor.

Students can view reassigned assignments from the List View Dashboard.

Notes:

  • The Reassign Assignment button is not available for quizzes or graded discussions.
  • The Reassign Assignment button is not available for External Tools (LTI), on paper, and no submission assignments.
  • The Reassign Assignment button is only available for assignments with due dates.
  • If the assignment’s settings do not allow students to make an additional attempt, the Reassign Assignment shows that the assignment is not able to be reassigned.

View SpeedGrader

View SpeedGrader

Open SpeedGrader from an assignment Links to an external site.and select the studentLinks to an external site. for whom you want to reassign the assignment [1].

Reassigning an assignment is completed from the Assignment Comments section [2].

Add Comment

Add Comment

In order to reassign an assignment, you must first add a comment in SpeedGrader.Links to an external site.

Enter your comment in the Comment field [1] and click the Submit button [2].

Reassign Assignment

Reassign Assignment

Click the Reassign Assignment button.

Notes:

  • The Reassign Assignment button is not available for External Tools (LTI), on paper, and no submission assignments.
  • The Reassign Assignment button is only available for assignments with due dates.
  • If the assignment’s settings do not allow students to make an additional attempt, the Reassign Assignment shows that the assignment is not able to be reassigned.

View Reassigned Assignment

View Reassigned Assignment

Assignments that have been reassigned display a Reassigned button.

Student View

Student View

When an assignment has been reassigned, students can view your comments [1] and a Redo label [2] in the List View Dashboard.

Reassigning an assignment will not change a student’s due dates or availability dates for that assignment.

Posted on No Comments on New dean and other updates

New dean and other updates

I am, Dr. Stacey Duke, the new Dean of Adult, Graduate and Online Studies. I am here to serve you and our students. I am very excited to join the team at Belhaven. I am relaunching this blog as a communication tool to encourage and support you. There are resources related to teaching tools, new updates, and other forms of encouragement. I hope that you subscribe and find this useful. If you are in Jackson, please make an appointment to come by and meet me. If you are remote, please feel free to schedule a zoom meeting. >>Click here to schedule an appointment.<<
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There is a new update to Final Grades submission that everyone should review. You will now be required to submit final grades in Blazenet under the new tab system – you must select Final Grades (see image) If you do not select that Final Grades tab – grades default to Midterm Grades.
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Watch your email for an invitation to an online fall professional development workshop. We will be showcasing new items in Canvas for the Spring.
We will also be sending out Spring course offers starting next week. Please note that Genice Knight sends out the course offer then later Alicia Harper sends out the course contract(s). You need to reply to both emails, “I accept.” If you have a question about the course format/modality, please call before you accept the course. 
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I would like to share this song to encourage you in your journey. In the midst of the everything going on in the world, may the lyrics speak to your heart. May we invite God into all that we do. 
Posted on No Comments on Rubric for Writing Assignments & Final Papers

Rubric for Writing Assignments & Final Papers

Grading is one of the most challenging parts of teaching. This is even more complicated when you want to be fair and objective, but the quality of the work submitted is so uneven. The best way to solve that is to use a standard rubric for assessing writing assignments/final papers. According to Wikipedia: “In education terminology, rubric means “a scoring guide used to evaluate the quality of students’ constructed responses”.[1] Rubrics usually contain evaluative criteria, quality definitions for those criteria at particular levels of achievement, and a scoring strategy.”

There are several ways to construct a rubric, but doing so can seem overwhelming and time-consuming. So, I’ve built you a rubric that is extremely easy to use.  You can find it at this LINK.

The Directions for using the Rubric are on one of the tabs of the file you will find on blazenet.  If you are inquiring from outside of Belhaven’s system, send me a request at rupchurch@belhaven.edu.  Keep in mind that the criteria language on the rubric are not original, nor do I have any idea where it originated.

Here are the Directions:

1 Review rubric and tweak as necessary, including adding course name and number along with the points for the assignment.
2 Save the blank rubric as a .pdf and attach to an announcement to students indicating that the rubric will be used to grade the assignment.
3 When grading the assignment, open the rubric in Excel and enter the appropriate number in the Faculty Score column. If you have entered the total points for the assignment, the spreadsheet will calculate the final points.
4 Save the completed rubric as a pdf for each student
5 Upload to the assignment under Speedgrader (at the bottom of the right column) – under comments. Add a comment letting the student know there is a grading rubric attached along with any other comments desired.
6 Repeat for each student

I want to encourage you to give this a try. Once your students get over the shock, they will perform better and you will have a better ability to communicate more objectively and evenly.

Posted on No Comments on Grading in Speed Grader and Feedback Studio

Grading in Speed Grader and Feedback Studio

This was a webinar which was just presented by Dr. Kim Priesmeyer, Dean of the Center for Teaching and Learning.  The webinar was recorded and can be viewed at this LINK.

This was one of our best attended webinars and a LOT of great information was shared about using Speed Grader and Feedback Studio.  The conversation evolved into best practices related to grading overall and I know you will find something useful in this presentation.  I hope you will take the time to watch/listen to the presentation.

Dr. Priesmeyer, in her new role as Dean of the Center for Teaching and Learning, is also interested in hearing from you about other webinars or faculty development experiences. You can contact her at: kpriesmeyer@belhaven.edu.

 

Posted on 3 Comments on Grading Classroom Participation

Grading Classroom Participation

Grading classroom participation, if you are like me, has always been somewhat subjective. I start out with the best intentions of keeping good track of participation, but get caught up in the teaching and quite often drop that ball.

I’ve just added a new section to the Faculty Development Canvas course which specifically addresses this area of instruction, titled “What is the Best Way to Grade Participation.” You can find it in the OnSite section of the Development Modules. I think there are some good ideas there that should help in this area.

There has also been some confusion regarding how participation grades are to be recorded in the on-ground courses for Adult Studies. After receiving some clarification, the process going forward is to consider each week to stand on its own and mark participation for that week. If you have any questions about that, please get with your Dean or contact me at rupchurch@belhaven.edu

Blessings,

Rick

Posted on 1 Comment on Academic Rigor

Academic Rigor

What is Academic Rigor? I suspect that the definition of that phrase is somewhat nebulous in most of our minds. When we do think about academic rigor, we tend to think in terms of extensive and/or weighty assignments that “really make the students work.”  Some will equate the phrase with a harsh grading of those “weighty assignments,” or any assignments for that matter. Others will  also include a classroom environment which is suitably “serious” and “no-nonsense.”

None of these, however, address the case for academic rigor. Without understanding the philosophy behind the call for academic rigor, it can quickly devolve to the concepts mentioned above. Foundational to academic rigor is the consideration of the spoken and unspoken objectives/outcomes for the course. The spoken (or listed) student outcomes for the course are included in the module.  These outcomes spell out what the student should know by the end of the course. They are course specific and the accomplishment of these outcomes is the understood reason for the course in the curriculum.

The unspoken objectives/outcomes for the course aren’t listed in the module, but are part of the overall objectives for those in the Adult Studies program, i.e. graduates should be able to:

  1. Apply learning experiences to professional and other situations
  2. Be able to articulate a Christian worldview and its implication for their home, work, and society.
  3. Demonstrate habits of clear, constructive, critical thought,
  4. Demonstrate a command of standard oral and written English.
  5. Evidence a lifestyle of moral and spiritual integrity
  6. Compete in the job market for positions in keeping with their major course of study
  7. Incorporate ongoing learning strategies toward the fulfillment of their life goals.

Achieving both sets of objectives, spoken (outcomes listed in the module) and unspoken (objectives for the Adult Studies Program) is the instructional goal. Appropriate academic rigor is that which will accomplish this goal.

This will include appropriate assignments that are focused toward the spoken objectives, but managed by faculty within the scope of the unspoken.  For instance, we fail when we grade a paper without also taking into account the writing quality (point 4 above) or whether or not it reflects “clear, constructive, critical thought” (point 3 above), etc. This applies not only to grading but to the conversations, lectures, and activities within the classroom.

Our role as teacher places us in a precarious position. In God’s eyes we carry extra responsibility for our students’ learning. For me, grading has always been the more challenging aspect of the instructional process. The temptation is to only give a cursory look at the papers to make sure the major content points have been hit. I confess to you, THAT IS WRONG AND LAZY THINKING. We owe our students and ourselves better than that. Each submission should be read and marked so that it contributes to learning as much as assessment. Each submission should be considered both for the spoken and unspoken objectives, and the grade given fairly reflects the work the student has done. Giving a good grade when the work is only average, or less, is an insult to the student and speaks poorly of our own integrity and the value we place on the role we have accepted.

I ask you to reflect on the phrase academic rigor. “Like” or make a comment in response to this post. More importantly, please consider these things when you are focusing upon academic rigor in your courses.

Posted on No Comments on Webinars to Inform and Improve

Webinars to Inform and Improve

Greetings,

We are working on a re-design for the Faculty Resources tab of our site and in the process the webinars, which have been listed there, have all been moved to YouTube for easier access.  As I was compiling these links I reviewed some of the webinars and was reminded of the wealth of information these contain.  I’m posting that information below and encourage you to look over the list and review a couple yourself – I’m sure you won’t be disappointed.

Don’t forget to register for the upcoming Webinar of the Faculty’s Role in Student Retention – see the calendar link on this page to register.

APA and Grading Writing Across the Curriculum. Presenter: Dr. Everett Wade https://youtu.be/HFeLIpg2lUk

Bring Life to Your Classroom. Presenter: Dr. Ed Garrett https://youtu.be/urKi7DGVGQM

Christian Worldview: Practical Applications for the Classroom. Presenter: Dr. Paul Criss https://youtu.be/jFm9nNoFoXc

Effective Use of Library Resources. Presenter: Dr. Kim Priesmeyer https://youtu.be/CxpBGF8AHAs

Introducing Critical Thinking into the Classroom. Presenter: Rosemary Foncree https://youtu.be/HotogEC0PEc

Plagiarism: Helping Your Students Avoid It. Presenter: Dr. Kim Priesmeyer https://youtu.be/jFmhBggVdzw

Student Engagement Strategy: Experimentation. Presenter: Dr. Thomas Randolph https://youtu.be/vvOAQl2Q_48

Using Bloom’s Taxonomy to Foster Critical Thinking. Presenters: Dr. Jerald Meadows & Elizabeth Juneau https://youtu.be/Qdt7Mu5sGno

Using Canvas to Facilitate Team Projects. Presenter: Dr. Rick Upchurch https://youtu.be/RWuMnPtAvZA

Millennials in the Classroom. Presenter: Emma Morris https://youtu.be/0kgNsVN3SDs

Canvas Updates 2017. Presenter: Joe Villarreal https://youtu.be/0wWkVfKNNbA

Andragogy: Adult Learning Theory Applied. Presenter: Dr. Rick Upchurch https://youtu.be/KnDc3zfpvrs

Accessing Case Studies from Belhaven Library. Presenter: Charles Gaudin https://youtu.be/3k_X6RQ5jvM

Posted on 2 Comments on Student Created Rubrics?????

Student Created Rubrics?????

A rubric is simply a way to assess something by breaking it down into its component parts, and weighing them according to the importance of that part.  For instance, a rubric for evaluating a writing assignment could include a breakdown of items to be considered such as grammar, APA style, structure/layout, introduction, body, conclusion.  These would all be given different points possible relative to the overall importance of that item to the whole, e.g. grammar might only be 5% whereas the Body might be 25%.  In effect, a rubric is a way to evaluate something by looking at its component parts.

As you probably are aware there already exists an evaluation form to use for student presentations.  This is located in the Resources section of the Faculty Orientation Canvas Course and on Blazenet under Faculty Resources/Adult and Graduate/Documents.  The link above takes you to the Canvas course but you can find the evaluation at either location.

What I have found to be extremely useful as an activity a week or two before the presentations are to be made is to distribute the evaluation form to the class and engage them in a discussion about the weight of each of the items, whether there should be more or less items, and how the evaluation form might be modified for their upcoming presentation.  The Instructor, of course, needs to protect the points awarded in the content area, but this activity has tremendous power to increase student buy-in and awareness of how the evaluation will be assessed. Typically you can conduct this activity in about 30 minutes and it also gives the opportunity to discuss the assignment itself and answer questions.

Going a step further, on the day of presentations, have students evaluate each other using the rubric they created, and use those evaluations when considering the final score.  By doing this you not only emphasize the importance of the subject, but the importance of the presentation itself, which is also a learning objective of the program, if not the course.

Having students create their own rubrics teaches critical thinking skills and make them part of the learning process.  Give it a try and let me know your thoughts.

Posted on 1 Comment on END OF COURSE EVALUATIONS – SOMETIMES THEY STING

END OF COURSE EVALUATIONS – SOMETIMES THEY STING

The post below was originally made in December 2014.  Since then we have fully moved back to paper evaluations and will continue with that model until we can find a way to achieve a similar response rate through electronic means.  When the evaluations come in from the classes, the quantitative data is processed through a scantron like process to yield the individual and summative scores.  The individual comments are all typed in manually for easier consumption.  Hopefully, you are looking at your scores in each area as well as reading through the comments.  We never pull any comments out, even those which seem unduly harsh, thus the title of this blog.  Since the recent TEBS data for Spring 2017 has or will be released soon, I thought this might be a good time to re-post this.

Rick

Dr. Chip Mason, Dean of Belhaven’s School of Business, sent me an article titled “Cruel Student Comments: Seven Ways to Soothe the Sting,” knowing we are moving back to paper evaluations for the Adult Studies courses.  I’m excited about this move because it means we will get a much better response rate, which will yield better information about the course and classroom instruction.  However, it also may yield more of those stinging comments which we all would rather not hear.  In this article by Isis Artze-Vega, she expands on the seven points below.  I encourage you to read the article.  This is always a touchy subject where it is easy to get defensive, but it is also can be one of the most useful tools available if approached from the right perspective, even if painful.

Seven Ways to Soothe the Sting:

1.  Analyze the Data

2. Resist the lure of the negative

3. Let your critics be your gurus

4.  Find counter-evidence

5.  Dwell on the positive ones.

6. Read them with a friend

7. Be proactive

Thanks, Chip, for sending this to my attention.