Hi Susan:
To paraphrase what you've mentioned here - we can help students make changes in study habits to have more successful outcomes at the end of the course.
Regards, Barry
Students want to know how they are doing! It should help them stay motivated if they know exactly where they stand.
Students attend school to earn a degree or certificate in a chosen field of study. Our goal as educators is to prepare them for what they will encounter in the real world of work. Students however are anxious to know how they are doing in a course, and often after an exam or assessment, students want to know when they will receive their grades. Students should not have to go through an entire term only to find out at the end of the term that they are failing the course.
It is important to keep students informed of their status in a course. The best way to do that is by using some type of formative evaluation system. I have heard students tell me that they did not know their status or grade in a course until they received their final grade through a prgress report. This is not fair to the students, nor is it indicative of best practices in a class setting.
Ruth Armstrong
Why is it important to keep students informed of their status in the course at all times?
It is vital to them to know what their grade is and how they are doing in order to reduce their performance anxiety. To that end, I find the use of an electronic grade book that they can access from home to be very useful.
I further remind them that when they take a state or federal exam, they often have to wait for three months to get their results. That reminder tends to make a week period (a time-frame I give them at the onset of the course) feel less troublesome. I then endeavor to get the tests graded earlier, with the result that they are often pleasantly surprised.
My two ended approach is first to make an effort to work with each student one-on-one to evaluate and coach them on their progress and elements for success in the course. Second, I have a spreadsheet on our student portal where students can plug in their accumulated points versus the possible points for the course in real time. Not only do they get subjective evaluation, but also a numerical one to which they can see where they need to make adjustments.
I meet one on one with all of my stuents every 3-4 weeks. This way we stop issues BEFORE they start!
It's important to keep students informed so they are not surprised at the end of the course when it is too late to change the grade. I keep students informed of their grades throughout the term so they always know where they stand. The students who aren't doing as well as they would like work harder, and the students who are doing better than they thought get a confidence boost. So, in the end, it's beneficial to everyone to keep them informed.
This is one of the most important topics for our students. They are very concerned how they did on each test, quiz, or project. It's no wonder they are concerned - individual grades determine their overall grades. We owe it to our students to inform them of their grades as soon as possible after they take the test. Even if they have done not as well as they would have liked to do, their stress level will go down just because they have the feedback.
The students like to know where they stand in the course as far as their grade goes. They want to know if they are passing and if so what else do they need to do to get a higher grade and if they are not passing what do they need to do to pass the course.
Our University used to do this also campus wide. Then changes happened and it is not required in most of our departments. My department still does the midterm grades and we speak to the student’s individually and give them real time feedback. I let them know where their grade is currently and how many points are still in the course. This gives them a perspective on what they have to do to maintain the current grade and or improve their grade.
We ask the student to be proactive and take responsibility for their education. As instructors/professors we have an obligation to the students to keep them informed of their success or failure. One way of doing this is by giving them timely feedback on how they are performing the course. My University has its own electronic grade book so as long as I have the grades updated the student can access their portal and view their grades at any given time. The student will let you know if you have failed to complete the grade book and I ask them to inform me if I have not entered a grade for them. I let them know that I am human and sometime I could inadvertently miss entering a grade for an assignment or exam. They do let me know and then I can make the correction. The students should never feel like they can’t speak to the instructor/professor even if it is about their grades this should be a two way conversation. It is good to let them know that maybe they were not successful on one assignment and give them feedback on how they can improve their grade on the next.
They need to constantly be reminded where they stand in the class.
Early is always better than later and early intervention (when needed)is especially helpful to students as many will not approach you for help.
Keeps anxiety down. Shows the student and the teacher where the student's strong/weak areas are. Allows the student to work on the weaker areas before the final examination.
We have the option to use a portal system or a gradebook. I prefer the gradebook because it is portable and many times it is when I am sitting in class giving out grades that students want to know what their over all grade is in the class. Even though I have the students record their own grade, they seem to miss one or two tests or assignment grade. If I have the gradebook, I can immediately get them back on track. Either system works to motivate and encourage them to do better. I find that the gradebook is more personal and we can address any problems right then and there.
I also talk with my students early on. I can assist by tutoring, making suggestions for studying and student mentoring.
It is important to keep students informed of their status in the course so they are aware of their current progress towards course goals and are able to take corrective action and additional help if necessary to ensure success. Every serious student wants to know how they are progressing and if that progress is satisfactory and acceptable.
Students want to be kept informaed of their progress in class, because they can grade thier success or failure on the effort they are putting into it. I try to keep my students informed on a regular basis on their progress and it seems to encourage them to work to their full potential.
This is important because students need to know where they stand in the class as well as be able to make any necessary adjustments or improvements. Otherwise, students will have to guess where they are at and their guess may not match up well with the reality of where they are at.
I teach in an accelerated program. This means that a class might only meet on 6 occasions. It's super important to let the students know where they stand because they don't have a lot of time to remedy mistakes. That being said, after informing a student of their status, I invariably get the questions, "what do I have to get on the rest of the assignements to pass the class" While I don't mind calculating this for a final exam, some students are asking when there are still multiple tests and quizzes. Any ideas on the best way to defer this type of question?
