Janet, Sounds like a tough situation. On one hand, management often creates these rules to streamline operations and make us more efficient. On the other, they can be constraining to individual instructors. I recommend reaching out to share your perspectives if you think they would be open to feedback on enhanced performance.
Dr. Melissa Read
I actually use as many scantron test as possible but as intergrate write-in question which are usually formulas. So this helps with time management and grading because I have my students write the answers out after the exam to show their steps for other students.
We are mandated by corporate to abide by their timelines for every aspect of our class each day so there is nothing we can do to change anything whether or not it works well or not for students.
Since I teach MBA-level classes, the use of true/false and multiple choice questions are generally not very effective ways to "test" student knowledge and conserve grading time. I do incorporate group discussion boards to conserve grading time and make all assignents and course materias available to the students on their student portals. The university also has a good course management system that aids in time management.
Wow, this is a difficult question for me to answer. My current format for some of my classes is as follows: if you complete the assignment, you recieve a completion grade (this is for a class that is about themselves, like an intro to college/ learning who you are type of class). This style of assessment does not take me long.
For other classes, I use a variety of assessment tools, 1-6 page papers, in class activities, presentations etc.
All of these assignments have rubrics which are wonderful. Students know the rubric and in creates a 'fair' grading policy.
I tend to utalize my peers as well for guidance on grading homework and exams.
I do like, for speed, the scan-tron questions (multiple guess, t/f) however I make most of these questions application type questions I.E. apply the knowledge of X idea to this example. This lets me know they get the concept taught in class and can apply it to a different situation.
Melissa, Sounds like you have a great system. Note that when students grade their own papers, it's really important to protect their anonymity. I usually like to do that by assigning a unique code number to each student that only i know.
Dr. Melissa Read
Antonio, Yes, it's great to encourage your students to ask themselves questions just like this. These are the kinds of questions that will help guide their behaviors when they enter the workplace and when you are no longer there to guide them.
Dr. Melissa Read
Amer, Thanks for bringing up test storage. You make a good point. Some examination methods lend themselves well to physical storage and others don't. I should note that online / digital testing can give you a new kind of flexibility in this area.
Dr. Melissa Read
I use a combination of multiple choice and short answer which saves time. However I must also use essays to ensure they understand.
You can also have the student submit the paper to "Turnitin.com" and print out the comparison, too. I had an instructor in college that would only accept a paper if you received a score of
I like using word banks and multiple choice exams as I find that by using a seperate answer sheet they are very easy to grade. I stay away from essay questions because there are always students that spend my time wanting to justify their answers by argueing things like " well thats what I meant to say" or "thats' what I was trying to say", etc...I have found that avoiding such problems saves me a great deal of time and the students know that they must be accurate with their answers...Paul T. Rougemont
I usually have the students grade each others homework, which definately saves me time. Another thing we do is check that the homework is done, but actually only grade one particular portion of it.
My tests include multiple choice, true false, short answer and case studies. I make the case studies easier to grade by asking very specific questions about the information provided to avoid a lot of "essay like" answers.
I use a combination of types of questions, and I also use the class to help grade. They save me time and get to see their score immediately.
Depending on the type of test that is given , one must try to present it in a practical way . For example, if I am only giving a true/false and multiple choice types of test, then the use of a scantron or an answer sheet would be useful. It would allow for the grading to be done quicker, and it would make the storage of these tests more possible.
Michael, This is so true. When students assist with the grading process, it gives them another opportunity to engage with class content. Often times, they look at the material in new ways. It's a wonderful learning experience.
Dr. Melissa Read
Bernie, That's a challenge for sure. Grading essay exams can be quite subjective. With this time of grading, it's really important to document the success criteria for each answer and assess each exam against these criteria.
Dr. Melissa Read
Recently we changed from multiple choice, true/false quizes which we scored with a answer key to short answer quizes. It not only takes much more time to grade, but we have found more arguments on the answers.
The institution I work for has essays along with assessments to be graded on a weekly basis. Most of the assessments do not require manual grading for the exception of a few of hem. I like the idea of having the student identify the important areas. It will make them think, Is it really important?
I like the idea that students grade each other's papers in class. This gives an opportunity to discuss answers for better understanding and also makes students more accountable for doing homework if they know work has a deadline that is also peer oriented.
Yes Melissa, at our school we use a website called TurnItIn.com to check for plagiarism in our students' compositions or research papers. The website will actually examine the paper and then send a report telling us what percentage of the material has been plagiarized.
