I follow what the boss says to do. The school tries to have sameness in all classes and schools so I follow the rules.
Hi James:
Collaborative discussion with your colleagues is a n extremely valuable tool to get the best ideas and dismiss what's not working.
Regards, Barry
Hi Wendy:
Yes, using all of the elements you've listed will provide a better outcome for a fair, reasonable, and accurate assessment.
Regards, Barry
Hi Mary:
Pretesting is one of the more helpful way ans instructor can determine where their students still need some work while there's still time to prepare or review. Good.
Regards, Barry
Hi Rich:
Wow, you've been at it for a while. And the same grading system since (upgraded to electronic grade book). Amazing. Nevertheless, electronic methods of scoring and reporting grades makes for fewer errors and can be shared with student a lot easier than handwriteen methods.
Regards, Barry
an evaluation system is where the round table discussion can come most handy. Gathering others opinions, understanding their sensory perception and motivation of the students will help you create the most effective evaluation system
equality in the grading system is important. Creation of a rubrics system via round table discussion of best practices can be the best vehicle to this obtaining this goal.
Fairness, accurate assessment, and it has to make sense to the students. I consistantly pre-test my new classes to see where they are, and I am constantly re-doing my testing methods to best reflect what my students need.
We've used the same grading criteria for almost ever, (atleast since I started in 1979). The biggest transition was to the electronic grade book and the amount of hand figuring it removed from our Friday the last day of class. Having the EGB do the calculations and assign a score has been a real plus. The school has set up the program for grading and we have had input into adjustments and corrections as necessary.
Hi Jason:
Grading on taste seems to be quite a subjective matter. One way ti assure objectivity is to use a grading rubric wherein a number of different characteristics are defined beforehand and a certain number of points are associated with each category. The instructor would then check the appropriate categories.
This method is still a bit subjective but at least it's consistent among the students that are being graded by it.
Regards, Barry
I see problems with juding food on taste it is difficult becouse peoples taste have a wide range. So I try to develope a palate around what I belive a neutral guests taste would be.
Explaning the grading criteria in a culinary class in general has its challanges. Professionalizm to one person may be differnt from source to source. But again I guide it around the way that I design my class.
Hi Jack:
In instances where someone else has established a grading system, of course it's expected the instructors follow it. In this setting, an instructor can make sure they have taught the material that is to be tested and that the test questions are accurate to the lesson material.
Occasionaly an instructor may feel they have covered the material thoroughly because they understand it. But they find students miss questions on the test. One method to address this is to orally reveiw material before a quiz or test to determine to what degree the students have mastered or learned the material.
Regards, Barry
At our school management has set the grading system and we as instructors can not chane it. we sometimes have some input but not a lot. we do not have to develope a system, we follow what is already in place.
Hi Glen:
Often grading systems are dictated by college policy or administration. Presumably there is some rationale to thier position. In that case, that's the line that needs to be shared with students and you have to work your best within that system.
Oftentimes the setup for a given lab requires a lot of preparation, time and effort. To redo and ready the lab set-up for one or two students is and additional burden on the faculty. That said, there circumstances where it is legitimate to provide a make up lab (family death, illness, accident, or hospitalization).
At my school, labs have to be completed regardless of the grade. So a missed lab may earn the student zero points, but they still need to do the lab to demonstrate proficiency.
I'm sure there's lots of variations that exist. As educators, we just have to try to provide the best learning experience given the resources and environment we work in.
Regards, Barry
Hi Hank:
Right on! Really, this is the only way to assure accurate measurement of the progress students have achieved in in given course.
Regards, Barry
Our grades are tied to student learning outcomes then you can be assured what is being measured is consistent with the desired results.
How would you recommend working within a grading system that is pre-determined by the institution as rule that states-- Labs that are graded may not be made-up if missed,late or absent?
Hi Robert:
Well, you've provided a simple but straightforward process of assessment. I hope it's working for you.
Regards, Barry
Hi Earnest:
I guess in some instances we have to rely on imprecise measures to measure something. I like your thre C's. They're very useable.
Regards, Barry
Curricular validity. Lacking curricular, and consequently construct validity, an instructor is faced with data that lacks assessment utility.
Reliability may be presevered, even in the face of an invalid instrument, and this can compound the confusion an instructor experiences when students perform in an unexpected manner. Using internal reliability as an indicator of the quality of an assessment instrument is never a reasonable alternative to measuring the instrument against measures of established validity. So what's an instructor to do: focus on the three C's of test construction: clarity, congruency, and composition.
