I Dream of A Papers

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I Dream of A Papers

• How to Grade Faster and Improve Student Writing
• By Charla Strosser and Kelli Wood

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Why Ask Students to Write?

• Helps students draw connections to course
  objectives, practice critical thinking, analyze
  content, and develop communication skills.
• Helps you evaluate student learning,
  comprehension, and skills acquisition.

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How to Get What You Want

• The first step to good writing is writing a good
  assignment
• Give a specific written assignment so that both
  you and your students are aware of what you want
  and how they will be evaluated.
• When students dont know what you expect, you
  often get garbage. When your instructions arent
  specific, neither are their papers.

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Key Components of a Writing Assignment

• Purpose
• Audience
• Occasion
• Evaluation

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Purpose

• It is important to understand what learning
  outcomes and product you are looking for and
  communicate that with your students clearly.
• Here are some of the most commonly used types of
  writings and how they are applied in the
  classroom.

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Informative

• Information words ask students to demonstrate
  what they know about the subject, such as who,
  what, when, where, how, and why.
• define give the subject's meaning (according to
  someone or something). Sometimes you have to give
  more than one view on the subject's meaning
• explain why/how give reasons why or examples of
  how something happened
• illustrate give descriptive examples of the
  subject and show how each is connected with the
  subject
• summarize briefly list the important ideas you
  learned about the subject
• trace outline how something has changed or
  developed from an earlier time to its current
  form
• research gather material from outside sources
  about the subject, often with the implication or
  requirement that students will analyze what they
  have found
• (Reading Assignments
• http//www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/readassign
  .html )

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Relationships and Connections

• Relation words ask students to demonstrate how
  things are connected.
• compare show how two or more things are similar
  (and, sometimes, different)
• contrast show how two or more things are
  dissimilar
• apply use details that students have been given
  to demonstrate how an idea, theory, or concept
  works in a particular situation
• cause show how one event or series of events
  made something else happen
• relate show or describe the connections between
  things
• (Reading Assignments http//www.unc.edu/depts/wcw
  eb/handouts/readassign.html )

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Interpretation

• Interpretation words ask students to defend
  ideas of their own about the subject. These words
  do not request opinion alone (unless the
  assignment specifically says so), but require
  opinion that is supported by concrete evidence.
• assess the student summarizes his or her
  opinion of the subject and measures it against
  something
• prove, justify give reasons or examples to
  demonstrate how or why something is the truth
• evaluate, respond the student states his or her
  opinion of the subject as good, bad, or some
  combination of the two with examples and reasons
• support give reasons or evidence for something
  the student believes (be sure to state clearly
  what it is that you believe)
• synthesize put two or more things together that
  have not been put together in class or in
  readings before do not just summarize one and
  then the other and say that they are similar or
  differentthe student must provide a reason for
  putting them together that runs all the way
  through the paper
• (Reading Assignments http//www.unc.edu/depts/wcw
  eb/handouts/readassign.html )

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Audience

• Its important that both you and your students
  understand the goal audience for the paper.
  Knowing who the audience is helps students
  understand
• what level of formality and language to use
• what foundational knowledge they can assume the
  audience has
• a general set of expectations about audience
  bias, etc.

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Possible Audiences

• Instructor
• Classmates
• Someone Unfamiliar with the Subject
• Experienced Community Members
• General Communities
• Other Specific Groups (ex Citizens of El Paso or
  Pediatric Nurses)
• Or Combinations of the Above

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Occasion

• It is important to decide early and clearly
  inform students whether writing is high stakes or
  low stakes because it will impact the level of
  formality and depth of discussion.

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High Stakes/Low Stakes

• High Stakes Formal essays, Research Papers,
  Critical Analyses (In short, anything that is a
  major grade or component of the course.)
• Low Stakes In Class Writing, Prewriting, Reading
  Logs, Journals, Informal or Short Responses (In
  short, anything that could be considered writing
  to learn or to check basic understanding and
  knowledge of the material.)

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Formatting

• If you have specific requirements for the way
  the assignment is formatted, it is important that
  you clearly explain those. For instance, you
  should include specific instructions for
• Margins
• Font size and type
• Documentation style
• Paper length
• Spacing
• Use of graphics

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Evaluation

• In order to help students better meet your goals
  for the writing, share the criteria you will use
  for grading before they write their papers.
• This allows students to address the criteria
  before, during, and after their writing. One of
  the easiest ways to do this is with a rubric.

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What is a Rubric?

• A rubric can be anything from a checklist to a
  chart. Rubrics clearly outline the grading
  criteria for the assignment in an organized
  fashion. Here are some examples

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Evaluation The essay will be evaluated based on
the following standards. Approximately 20 points
will be allocated to each criterion.
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Comments Total Grade ____________
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All criteria will be evaluated using the
following six-point scale
________ 1) Quality of description of
nonconforming behavior. Is it clear to a naïve
reader how the behavior violated a social
norm.? ________ 2) Identification of the
condition you selected to manipulate (i.e., group
size or group desirability)? Did the two
situations accurately manipulate the identified
variable? ________ 3) Description of the
students reactions and the reactions of other
people to the behavior. Focus on any differences
in those reactions between the two situations.
________ 4) Description of at least one past
situation that involved normative social
influence. Based on the description, did the
situation actually involve normative social
influence? ________ 5) Description of how group
size or group desirability might have affected
the students experience in that
situation? ________ 6) Mechanics (grammar,
spell-check, etc) ________ HOLISTIC SCORE
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Using Rubrics to Grade

• Plan your work work your plan.
• When students turn in their papers, also have
  them turn in the rubric you handed out with the
  assignment.
• Use the rubric to guide you as you grade.
• A good time saving tip is to read the paper
  through once, then read through the rubric. As
  you do, mark criteria that are clear from the
  first reading.
• For those issues that are unclear, go through the
  paper again, specifically looking for those
  things and mark your rubric as appropriate.

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More Using Rubrics

• Dont add new stuff at the last minute.
• If there are things you notice about the paper
  that are not addressed in your rubric, wait until
  next semester or the next revision of the rubric.
  
• Your rubric should reflect your assignment, so
  dont include points unless they are important to
  the assignment or your expectations for the
  paper.

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Minimal Marking

• When grading student writing with a rubric you
  dont need to write a novel in terms of end
  comments. Long comments not only tend to
  intimidate students but also dont get read.
• You dont need to make copious comments in the
  text itself because students should draw
  connections between the rubric and their writing
  and come discuss problem areas with either you or
  the consultants at the writing center.
• You may find it helpful to use abbreviations and
  shorthand in your in-text comments.
• For example GWS goes without saying, AWK
  awkward, ARQ avoid rhetorical questions.
• Of course, make sure to either hand out a key to
  these or cover them in class when you hand back
  graded papers.

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Tips

• Include sample topics and models of papers
  whenever possible. This allows students to feel
  more confident and generally results in better
  work. Its really worth the effort.
• Make sure to provide students with a list of
  topics you dont want them to write about if
  necessary.

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Links

• Designing Assignments
• http//www.utoronto.ca/writing/design.html
• http//www.lib.washington.edu/help/guides/design.h
  tml
• http//tengrrl.com/tens/034.shtml
• http//www.cwru.edu/artsci/engl/writing/pedagogy/a
  ssign.html
• Reading Assignments
• http//www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/readassign
  .html
• Rubric Generators
• http//teachers.teach-nology.com/web_tools/rubrics
  /general/
• http//rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php
• http//landmark-project.com/classweb/tools/rubric_
  builder.php3
• http//www.shambles.net/pages/staff/rubrics/
• Minimal Marking
• http//tengrrl.com/tens/032.shtml
• http//titan.iwu.edu/writcent/minimal_marking.htm
  
• http//www.indiana.edu/cwp/lib/gradebib.shtml

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Discussion