Grading


 * GRADING**


 * THE LEARNING PROFESSOR**

I chose to title my wiki "THE LEARNING PROFESSOR" to underscore how I approach my own life.

I offer myself to you, my dear students, as a role model for what I encourage you to be: passionate about your career and a self-directed learner for the rest of your life.

Personal note: My sophomore-year epiphany at Georgetown on how to be as smart as my professors.

My approach--both to the format of our course and how I assess your overall semester performance--emphasizes behavioral aspects crucial to your future success:

a. You yourself must set your own high standards and drive hard to reach them.

b. Hard work alone is not sufficient: how you come across to your bosses, colleagues, and clients is almost as crucial.


 * MY OVERALL GRADING PHILOSOPHY**

1) My goal is to be your coach, friend, and mentor, but not be a cop.

See the article by Professor Peter Kakela (Michigan State University) http://thelearningprofessor.wikispaces.com/No+Longer+a+Cop

In that ideal world, we would not have grades.

2) Yet I must award grades.

3) In the grades I award, I want to act justly and be merciful.

a. Micah 6:8 "And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."

b. Such a just and merciful approach might well argue that everyone should get a high grade. I wish.

4) Grade inflation is an issue on college campuses across the nation.

I must take into account the admonitions about grade inflation from the Dean of our College of Liberal Arts and Sciences as well as from the chair of the Department of History and Political Science.

5) So I face a conflict.

6) This excellent article from the //New York Times// concerning student grade expectations illustrates that conflict:

"Student Expectations Seen as Causing Grade Disputes" http://nyti.ms/g7rbUz

On the one hand, students want an "A"; on the other hand, many professors often feel that a "C" should be the default grade.

7) How do I personally try to resolve the dilemma?

I choose to use a "B-/C+" as my default grade.


 * OUR COURSE**

Let this be your motto: "Be the kind of student in this course that you as a teacher would want your own students to be." [I borrowed this from Paul Kress, a long-time colleague and great friend.]

1) Your semester grade is not so much about the grade **I** give you.

Your grade will be what **YOU** have earned.

Your grade is based on your own effort and consistency over the course of the entire semester.

What you do in our course will be quite visible (to me and to your classmates as well):

a. Your personal wiki page (your "portfolio")

b. Your contribution to our class time.

2) Our course differs from others you are taking:

a. The pacing is different.

b. I ask you to work all throughout the semester.

c. Our course is more like going to work each day. It won't appear to have many big "ups and downs."

As in life, just showing up is essential.

NOTE: Excess absences (more than 3 in MWF classes and more than 2 in TTh classes) can push your grade lower.

3) Remember: You are not being asked to take exams or write a term paper.

4) What you learn over the course of this entire college semester will be demonstrated by the reactions on your wiki page.

5) Those reactions should demonstrate depth of thought at a college level and a semester-long engagement with the material.


 * MY GRADING OF YOUR WIKI PORTFOLIO**

1) I will evaluate the sum total (a holistic grading of your wiki page, your entire portfolio as it were) of your reactions.

2) I can't possibly read everything you put on your wiki page. (I have at least 100 students each semester, each writing the equivalent of 40 typewritten pages.)

Refer to this excellent article from the University of Hawaii at Manoa Writing Program:

"Tips for Teachers of Writing-Intensive Classes" http://www.mwp.hawaii.edu/resources/qt-tips.htm

Scroll all the way to the bottom to "Tips for Saving Time."

Notice: Teachers don't need to read everything that students write for a course.


 * COMPONENTS OF YOUR OVERALL GRADE**

The semester grade is a holistic one, not just a mechanical calculation.

The following four components comprise the overall grade:

The general weights are only guidelines.


 * A. CONTENT OF YOUR REACTIONS (60%)**


 * Note**: **Reactions are required even if you miss class**.

Read ALL of the assigned reading (reread if necessary).

Then //comment upon// what you read.

//Characteristics of "A" reactions://

1) Reactions that go beyond just merely reciting what happened. Don't merely tell the story.

2) Reactions that are thoughtful and evaluative, not shallow and obvious.

3) Reactions that are consistently more than the threshold minimum word count.

The word requirement (MWF classes 250-words; TTH classes 500-words) should be considered a threshold level for a B.

4) Reactions that make connections to other things you are learning.

//Characteristics of "less than A" reactions://

1) Reactions that deal with only a small portion of the material covered that day.

2) Reactions in which the thinking level is thin, shallow, standard, obvious, or superficial.

3) Reactions that are barely up to the threshold word requirement.

4) Reactions that read more like a first draft than a thoughtful, polished entry.

5) Reactions with an overabundance of proofreading mistakes.


 * B. FORMAT AND FULLNESS OF YOUR REACTIONS (20%)**

1) General format guidelines:

a. Put the most recent reaction on top of your personal wiki page.

b. Separate each reaction with a horizontal line.

c. If you didn't do an entry, put the title in anyway and leave the rest blank.

2) There should be an attractive "look and feel" both to your reactions individually and to your wiki page as a whole.

a. Make your page easy for me to read, like using regular black print on the white background

b. Employ the same font size throughout.

3) Inserting pictures will contribute to the effectiveness of your page.

4) The reaction needs to be posted on the wiki page to count.

5) **Your reactions should be posted** **on time** (generally within 24 hours of our class session) to count. No credit at all for any reactions more than a week past due.

6) How much you have written over the course of the semester will be assessed. Your word count over the course of the semester matters.

The word requirement (MWF classes 250-words; TTH classes 500-words) should be considered a threshold level for a B.


 * C. WRITING EFFECTIVENESS OF YOUR REACTIONS (10%)**

1) Key to this portion of your grade is the correctness and clarity of your prose.

2) "A" reactions will have virtually no mechanical (punctuation, grammar, and spelling) errors.

3) Your reactions should give evidence that your work is not just a first draft.

4) Your reactions should be carefully proofread.


 * D. YOUR CLASSROOM CONTRIBUTION (10%)**

1) Come to class. Attendance is required and will be taken. Success in life is often merely showing up.


 * Excess absences** (more than 3 in MWF classes and more than 2 in TTh classes) can push your grade lower.

2) Make an effort to insure that your facial expression and body language demonstrate enthusiasm and a positive attitude toward our class sessions.

A positive attitude and demonstrated enthusiasm are important to your career success.

3) Verbally **participate** in class through comments or questions. Participation is not just when I call on you, but when you volunteer during the course of the semester.

4) Look toward me and make eye contact periodically. [More on this below.]

5) Look at your fellow students when they offer a prayer request or make a comment

6) Be faithful in appropriately using your laptop during class time. [More on this below.]

7) Don't distract your classmates from learning.

8) If I show videos, keep your attention on the screen and try to show some emotion at funny/distressing scenes.


 * FEEDBACK**


 * NOTE**: I will provide an individual assessment (in writing) of your portfolio at least twice during the semester.

1) To make sure I connect with you personally and not just through email, at your request we can have one-on-one huddles as the semester rolls on.

2) Your response to my feedback can help you grow professionally.

3) I myself have needed to learn how to accept feedback.

4) Demonstrate a positive attitude toward whatever feedback I may provide.


 * Resolve to get better, not bitter**.


 * OUR LAPTOPS**

Here is some of what I grapple with—as a teacher facing a room full of laptops.

1) I am thrown off stride when only a few students ever seem to look at me when I am talking.

2) I ask myself if your lack of eye contact is an issue of good manners? (I am probably wrong in thinking so.)

3) When you look continually at your computer, I question—perhaps unfairly to you—what you are doing and assume--again, perhaps unfairly--that you are not working on class-related things.

As a teacher yourself, you will learn to recognize some of the signs of this:

a. a student is laughing when nothing has been said that is particularly funny b. a student is looking continually at his or her laptop when there is no particular reason to do so

4) Such behavior presents a real dilemma for me.

5) I don't want to go around patrolling the room to see who is not on our wiki page.

6) I have to **put my trust in you to be faithful in using your laptops appropriately** during class time (not doing email or surfing the web).

[Note the reference to eye-service in Colossians 3:22 (NIV).]

"Slaves [you are not slaves in the sense Paul intended], obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to curry their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving."

7) There are times when I would like you to concentrate up front:

a. during our prayer time and our Friday songs b. when I introduce the material for that day c. at other times

8) Help me figure out how best to signal to you my desire for you to partially close your laptop at those times.

Some possible ways could be having me say:

a. "Tracking" b. "Eyes" c. "Code Yellow" (computers half closed)

9) I certainly accept multitasking but somehow am not comfortable with too much of it during our class.

10) So let's try to "write the book" on how a laptop class can best meet your needs and mine.