Hi Iris, these are excellent responses to learners. If Kathy is accurate with her evaluation of her performance, you may have to probe her to determine what the issue is and also encourage her to reach out to you before she submits an assignment instead of struggling alone. It is important that they understand that you are there to support them. Tina
Scenario 1: Mike turns in a self-evaluation of his performance on an assignment that indicates that he thought he did an excellent job and met all of the criteria in the grading rubric. When you grade Mike’s assignment, you see that he has not done as well as he thought he did.
Describe how you will communicate with Mike regarding his performance in relationship to how he thought he did.
Hello Mike, thank you for submitting a good self-assessment of your performance. You mentioned that....in this situation there are several ways to look at this..we all could say as you did however, one suggested improvement from another perspective would be......we always can look at situations from another point of view, I use self reflection alot but do benefit when another provides their points of view which helps me to improve my overall "self". Thanks for a job well done.
Without providing the details of your feedback, discuss the ways you could provide actionable feedback to him to help him improve his performance. See my response above..
Scenario 2: Kathy turns in a self-evaluation of her performance on the assignment that indicates that she knows she didn’t do a good job on the assignment. When you grade it you find that she accurately evaluated her performance.
How will your communications differ from how you communicated with Mike?
Kathy thank you for sending in an excellent assignment. You indicated that you did not feel you did the best you could, sometimes we are too critical of ourself...you accurately addresssed....correctly applied the principles of ...and the entire assignment met the grading rubric very well..
I would enhance the positive trying to accenuate those areas done well...striving to improve the self defeatist attitude...job well done goes along way with shown areas that were excellent..
Good observations Mark. Kathy could potentially drop out, so encouragement will be very important in your feedback. Tina
Mike, your evaluation of performance does not match with mine. In the following areas where you percieve your performance excellent I found the following flaws. In reviewing these areas for improved performance it is clear to me that you may not have understood the requirements for this assignment, please review the syllabus for a detailed description of what is required to achieve an excellent rating in this area.
Kathy, your self assment is in line with mine. This shows that you accurately understand the directions and the criteria for grading. If there is anything that I can do in the future to help you raise your scores be sure to contact me.
In Mikes case it is necessary to point out where the perception differences arise, in his case not following the directives. Once the feedback is communicated then he will have a more accurate basis for evaluating his performance.
Kathy needs encouragement and direction to improve. Since she has accurately evaluated herself she needs help with time management or study skills needed to raise her performance.
Hi Melissa, do you feel that Kathy may be loosing motivation to learn? Tina
scenario 1: my first response will be to thank him for his self-evalution and point out the positive criteria that were met. Next I would give him tactfully areas in his assignment that needed improvement.
scenerio 2: I would commend Kathy of being very self-aware and give her direction in how she can improve her performance.
Hi Gelena, I appreciated our examples. I think for Kathy, she may also be loosing motivation, so it's important to provide motivating comments to keep her engaged. Tina
In everyone's work we can always find at least one good thing. So, when giving feedback, we always start with positive comments. After building up the student's ego, we can move on to the constructive criticism.
Scenario 1: "Dear Mike, thank you for submitting the assignment on time. You did very well in such and such area, and I agree with your self evaluation on such and such points. In this other area, however, your performance needs a bit more work. I would adjust it like so...."
Scenario 2: "Dear Kathy, thank you for submitting your assignment on time and doing a great job evaluating your work. I must agree with your evaluation here and here. What do you think is the reason for such performance? What do you think you can do to improve your own performance?"
Hi Aisling, I am really impressed with the different strategies you use in your course to engage learners. Grading rubrics are an excellent way to inform students of the expectations of activities and can provide opportunities for students to do their own self-reflection on the criteria before submitting assignments. Great suggestions for supporting these learner types. Tina
For all my classes I put up the Rubrics for the discussion board and the written Assignment under the instructor files and I would also email them to each students. For each assignment I give an example of an excellent assignment that meets all criteria in the rubrics and I show it to the students in the live chats. This presents very clear instructions on what needs to be done to excel in the assignment. In the first example with Mike, I would point out the areas where he excelled and also give some personal detail on what I really liked about his work. Then I would go through the Rubrics in detail and show Mike where his assignment fell a little short. I would offer suggestions on how he could improve this part of the rubrics. I would finish on a good note complimenting the excellent points that he did have.
For Kate, I would also use the Rubrics and start with some positives on her work and then go into the rubrics and offer suggestions and try to build up her self-confidence and encourage her to go into more details in the areas that she did not do too well in. I would offer her a lot of positive support to help her. Show her the areas of the rubrics where she excelled and then offer her suggestions in the areas of the rubrics where she did not do that great. I would always end on a very positive note and encourage her with a little praise.
Hi Angela, we also use grading rubrics in all of our courses. Not only does it make for consistent grading from student-to-student, but it also allows students to review the criteria their work will be graded on. Tina
Hi Cyndy,Kathy's issue may also relate to motivation,so encouraging her that she can succeed and you will be there to support her is important. Tina
I always perfer to grade using rubrics as it presents a clear picture to students as to their areas of strength and opportunities for growth on each assignment. For Mike, I would first point out the areas he did well in and then focus on the areas that were lacking - offering detail and suggestions for improvement. I like to use a smile sandwich - start with the good, then the negative, then end on a high note.
For Kathy, I would of course use the rubrics and show how well she did in all aspects of the assignment then write a personal note of encouragement and letting her know the strengths that she exhibits.
Mike is over confident and I interrupt the response as they really think I don't read what they send. I send back examples through questions for critical thinking and encourage them to reconsider the response, If it is turned into me with in the assignment deadline, I reconsider the grade. My goal to to learn, not destroy the effots. Many times they give another roll when they see their efforts are rewarded.
Kathy may be having difficulty with the material and she may need actual one on one discussion to lead her in the right direction. The same offer is made to her with pointers on how to get where we need for her to go.
Hi Rebecca, I really appreciated your application of the peanut butter and jelly sandwich. We use the same sandwiching technique, which is helpful in giving learners actionable feedback and keeping them motivated! Tina
Hello Forum: I just finished reading all of your comments which were outstanding! I don't wish to repeat your excellent points. I agree with all of you and use these same strategies in my online feedback mostly.
Feedback is profoundly critical to keeping students' motivation up as well as using it as a teaching moment -- so we hear over and over how important it is to deliver it effectively as we are the messenger as well.
to the confident student who is a bit off base, Mike, I use phrases like,
It is evident you spent some time reflecting on this topic, Mike. I can tell this by your phrase, "when I was reminded of me and my brother's argument" . . ." (Top slice of whole wheat bread)
I got a little confused and the reasoning was not applicable, however, when you were relating your argument with your Brother to our Facilitative Mediation Model and how you applied the process to resolving into settlement. The facilitative method of conflict resolution is . . . and would best serve a different type of dispute. Let me know if I interpreted your intention incorrectly. I offer one re-write paper per course without penalty. Let me know soon if you want to take advantage of the offer. (Peanut Butter & Jelly)
All in all, I was impressed with the extensive resources you used to support your theory. The quote from Wilkenson was right on! Great Job.
(Bottom slice)
Scenario 2: Kathy turns in a self-evaluation of her performance on the assignment that indicates that she knows she didn’t do a good job on the assignment. When you grade it you find that she accurately evaluated her performance.
I love using rubrics because they are an excellent tool to grade everyone fairly on their work.
The reason I chose Kathy is because I enjoy encouraging students to believe in their talents.
My feedback to Kathy would be words of encouragement and my feedback to Mike would be constructive critiquing.
Hi Michael, these are all excellent suggestions! Tina
In both cases the wording might be slightly different but the approach is the same which is to be direct. With Mike you can detail where you disagree with his personal assessment and make sure he understands it is not a personal attack. Encourage him to go back a review the material so that he has a clearer understanding. Let him know you are there to help.
With Kathy you can encourage her to trust herself more and congradulate her on the good work.
Scenario 1: I would first address the most positive aspect of his submitted work in order to keep the feeling mutual and supportive. I would then go into detail about what did not meet standards, followed with evidence of where this occurred and examples of correct ways of doing it. The reason I would be so precise is that I want him to see all deductions/scores are validated, because he will want to know that. I would end with a summary of the areas that needed the most attention, and another focus either on something positive about his work (the sandwich) or some supportive cheerleading. With someone who is convinced the submission is prime work, getting a lower grade than expected is a letdown and can sometimes lead to grade conflicts. I also get students who interpret it as my having standards that are not clear or stated because they did all they could to meet them and still didn't get it right. As said with how to begin a course, it is best to document everything. I believe it is essential in all cases. Then, I can refer back to everything I provided as well as show where and how mistakes were made and this helps bridge the gap of misunderstanding.
Scenario 2: I would still document everything, but I would begin differently than I did with Mike. First, I would praise her knowledge of the material and requirements anywhere where she addressed them. This would mean that she paid attention to instructions, and it is also important to show her that I appreciate her efforts and honesty. I would review everything I needed to, and summarize the main points at the end. I would then give her a kind word of encouragement or praise in order to keep the lines of communication open and maintain trust.
