Storming+the+Grade+Book


 * Friday, November 5**

// Activity Leader: Cathy N. Davidson, Duke University //
 * 12:00–12:50 **
 *  Storming the Grade Book **

 Inspired by the "storm" created by Cathy Davidson's blog post, "How To Crowdsource Grading" that was picked up everywhere from the New York Times to Digg ([]), this collaborative session will build a wiki resource of peer-to-peer alternatives to traditional grading.

CHALLENGE QUESTIONS FOR OUR SESSION: IF OUR GOAL IS TO CREATE THE IDEAL FUTURE CLASSROOM, THEN WHY SHOULD WE GRADE (TO WHAT PURPOSE? FOR WHAT GOALS?) AND HOW SHOULD WE GRADE?

Contract Grading

Peer grading of blogs by weekly paired peer leaders

Blind Group Peer Evaluation by Secret Ballot

Peer Grading Where Recipient Did Not Know Who Would Be Doing the Grading (lottery method)

Transparent Peer Grading (recipient knows accessor before and after grading)

Game mechanics/Computer-enabled process assessment


 * Live notes from event leaders/participants:**

 Tale of the first unveling of crowd source grading (Cathy's blogging about new forms of grading, which was inspired by end of semester note by 2 students) **no multiple choice testing in Norway! (first mc was TOEFL) MC good predictors of taking MC   developers of major Amercian MC test? No Child Left Behind? SUbsidery of Blackwater, the contract security people, recently taking heat for mowing down civilians. Zoinks. Student has to answer the challenge--that can be done in multiple ways Given the constraints of academia, how can we push those constraints for transformation? Who evaluates whether the answer is right or wrong? Other methods to challenge students besides traditional grading? Why grade?-- Place for dialog about why students are here? Defining what it means to learn? Defining learning objectives In US -- some graudate/undergraduate programs are going to pass/fail system <span class="author-g-z122zr4lssx0qegr4z122z31" style="background-color: #e5ffd9; cursor: auto; padding-bottom: 1px; padding-top: 1px;">Grades create artificial goal posts, turns learning into "education". The premise of what education is for differs. . . method of chosen assessment must map to learning objectives <span class="author-g-z122zr4lssx0qegr4z122z31" style="background-color: #e5ffd9; cursor: auto; padding-bottom: 1px; padding-top: 1px;">We are very narrow in what we choose to grade. Having resources may be more important that having "facts" <span class="author-g-5gijo2s3502pecoi" style="background-color: #e3f3ff; cursor: auto; padding-bottom: 1px; padding-top: 1px;">fear from North american in europe that north american systems trheatening european, "enlightened" systems <span class="author-g-z122zr4lssx0qegr4z122z31" style="background-color: #e5ffd9; cursor: auto; padding-bottom: 1px; padding-top: 1px;">focus on improving test scores and mastering the assessment method rather than focus on enabling learning