tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6454161596094447448.post6242826788617026378..comments2024-02-20T12:26:24.682-05:00Comments on language goes on holiday: Alienation and pedagogyDuncan Richterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15708344766825805406noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6454161596094447448.post-30986172460415640952011-03-07T09:28:27.773-05:002011-03-07T09:28:27.773-05:00(Sorry, I've been out of town and couldn't...(Sorry, I've been out of town and couldn't respond till now.)<br /><br />Thanks, Matt. Right after I posted this I wondered whether maybe the only place to discuss this kind of thing is at In Socrates' Wake. I certainly will be following the discussion over there.<br /><br />"Blowing off" was probably not the best choice of words. What I do now is assign six essays per course, but drop the lowest one. In effect this means I assign five essays, and let the students choose which five of the six they will do. I don't think that sends too much of a message that each one doesn't matter. It does mean, though, that if they do one and it doesn't go well then they can discard it (as long as they haven't already passed on one). Maybe that sends a bad message, but I like to give them some choice, and requiring six essays seems like a lot to me. It's certainly a lot of grading if I let them re-write, which is starting to seem like the only thing to do. <br /><br />The only choice they currently have otherwise is that I offer three questions to the class and they vote on which one they want to do. That might be enough choice, though, since, like you, I think they are usually not good at choosing their own topics. Basically I'm trying to think of ways to get them more invested in the work they do, but there might not be any radical solutions or magic bullets out there.<br /><br />As for asking more of students, I have spent my teaching career asking for more and more until I go too far, then backing off, then asking more again. Right now I think I'm in an asking more phase, and it's going pretty well (except for the students who were expecting an easier ride and are slow to adjust).Duncan Richterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15708344766825805406noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6454161596094447448.post-13799741235208209612011-03-04T14:10:33.192-05:002011-03-04T14:10:33.192-05:00If you're worried about this kind of thing, I ...If you're worried about this kind of thing, I hope you're keeping track of the recent discussions at In Socrates' Wake.<br /><br />I tend to dislike dropping things from one's grade; everything counts (for me). You don't get to drop your worst report--or the one you didn't do--in the "real world." I think we should try to make class expectations at least somewhat like the real world, or at least make it clear that what's going on is "real," counts. (But maybe I just don't like the idea of calling it "blowing off"...) But doing so can also presumably take into account improvement over time.<br /><br />I also find that most students tend not to be very good at developing their own topics (unless the scope and formal instructions are pretty specific so that they have some kind of clear template to start with--I'm going to try something like this soon), but giving them options gives them some freedom (though too many options might be a bad thing, too, given the paradox of choice).<br /><br />Finding ways to incorporate revision seems good to me, and it's something I've been working on. And it does give you grounds for grading harder (more realistically). This can go both ways. In one class (the team-taught Honors classes I'm doing), revision is mandatory and students are expected to incorporate suggestions. They tend to need a lot of help here, especially in thinking about revision more globally rather than as just glorified proofreading. This IS very time intensive so wouldn't be good for a large class. (E.g. my 40 student intro class.)<br /><br />In the intro class, revision is an option (up to a certain amount of added credit) for students not happy with their grade the first go-round. Students have been making use of this, and I'm trying to keep myself grading the assignments hard (viz. honestly). In the past, I've been too prone to give credit for effort on smaller assignments, and that leads to disappointment.<br /><br />The lore seems to be that you can get more from students by asking more of them (up to some critical point, I'm sure)...so good luck with whatever innovations you try out. Be resolute. (I even think that many students are receptive to an interested in hearing our rationale for these sorts of things, and so you might try to mine the students for ideas and feedback, too.)Matthew Pianaltohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16380038537888895216noreply@blogger.com