Betty, Excellent new approach! I hope it works well for you. Yes, at a guess, grading is going to be so much easier. You may even be able to grade several exams at once using this method.
Dr. Melissa Read
When doing multiple-choice tests, I have always placed the answers so that I could grade several tests at a time; however, I have always dreaded grading essay tests. Now, after taking this course, I will have students underline the main points of answers to save time. It will make grading so much easier!
Fortunately for me the school I teach at uses starQuiz (not Quiz Star) as its testing format. We are mandated to use multiple choice questions, minimizing true/false types. We are not permitted to use the essay format as the tests are 100% computer graded and essay/short answer questions must be literally verbatim with no spelling errors or the computer will score it incorrectly, not very effective or useful especially in time management.
Allen, Wow, sounds like you are dealing with a high volume of grading each week. That can be tough. It's also tough when our organizations don't give us the flexibility we need to test in streamlined formats. You might talk to your administration about your needs and ideas on alternative methods of tests and grading. You never know if they will be open if you use the right approach.
Dr. Melissa Read
instead of giving the students an essay question, i may change the format and make it fill in the blank or complete the statement.
Robbi, Excellent direction. Yes, when you invest a little time up front to streamline your materials, you will find that you save quite a bit of time in the end. The initial investment can be tough to fit into your schedule, but well worth it.
Dr. Melissa Read
This is one stress I dont have,our institution determines the tests,and homework,even how the lab work is graded.If I could lower the 600 papers in three weeks,life would be perfect.
The organization I work for determines all test and homework assignments.
I will finish creating my answer sheets and master copies for the quizzez and exams. This way there is only 1 paper that needs to be looked at and it is much more direct. It will seriously cut down on grading time as well.
Gail, Sounds like you have a great system in place! Yes, some professions lead themselves well to multiple choice questions. For many, nursing is one of them. Culinary seems to be just the opposite and requires much more complex grading.
Dr. Melissa Read
I teach nursing. It lends itself wel to multiple choice questions since that constitutes their licensing state board exam. I use three exams a midterm, final,and various homework assignments. I have access to a scantron and will utilize this time saving tool more. Thank-you
I have actually gone and made my own scantron grade sheet for my students to help streamline my grading process, I can grade about 30 papers in less than 30 minutes. Where as with grading from each individual page of a test that is 10 pages long took me roughly 5 minutes each.
Currently I create my tests and exams in Microsoft Word. I will plan to utilize Quizstar to help streamline creating the tests as well as correcting.
I also will utilize the suggestion of passing homework assignments out and have the students correct their fellow student's papers. I think this is a great timesaving tool and will also provide reinforcement for learning.
From what I've I learned I believe that having a plan of attack on the grading before the exam or homework is assigned is the best way of completing the grading in an efficient manner. Knowing and having a plan for what needs to be done before you have to actually do it will always make it smoother to complete.
I believe creating a rubric or grading template will help in the grading process. This will speed up the process especially when you have multiple students or even classes to grade.
In dealing with "perfectionist" students who argue every point lost, I believe I will institute a policy of no grade change unless it is a 2% or more difference in the grade.
I absolutely enjoyed this module. The content about "streamlining the grading process" was great.
The merits were quite obvious for traditional classrooms. I found myself trying to make some of the advice work for online courses. I instruct an online Marketing course that requires essays from students each week. I have to review student essays that range from 2 to 10 pages per student per week. Even if essays are required to demonstrate understanding, the underlining/highlighting of the pertinent content will make grading more streamlined for me.
I copied the entire section about "streamlining the grading process" to share with the department head for my online course. There must be a way to incorporate some of those streamlining methods into the homework that students submit.
Separately, I believe that these streamlining methods will force students to zero-in on the pertinent content (instead of getting "distracting" with the composition of an essay). This module provided me with some ideas that I will share.
Multiple choice and True or False exams using the SCANTRON save a lot of time. Different versions of exam may aslo be printed and answer keys for each version prepared also saves a lot of time.
Entering test results in the computer also calculates the students' grades immediately.
Most of my quizzes and exams were in the short answer format. But now, after this course, I'll definitely be re-writing my quizzes/tests to include more True & False, fill in the blank, and multiple choice questions!!
Most of our exams are multiple choice/matching and completed on scantron. This is not only for ease of grading, but also because students will be taking a board exam when done with the program that will be all multiple choice. Our format gives them the necessary practice to complete these types of exams. From the material, it may be a good idea to incorporate some essays the the assessments. I think that this will help us to gauge how well the students understand the information.
