Nancy's Reading Notes #5

This is my first semester teaching an undergraduate course. I was extremely excited to be teaching two sections of Speech Communication because ultimately, I would like to be a professor. This past summer, as I mentally prepared for my first semester teaching, I constantly thought about the process I was going to use to grade students. That is why along with discussing student writing assignments and peer review, I believe our class should also discuss the process of actually grading assignments.

Even though I teach Speech Communication, I feel strongly about incorporating additional writing elements into the course. These writing elements help students “connect the dots” and better formulate their thoughts. By having a stronger grasp on material, it is easier for students to present their ideas in a clear presentation. In her text, Davis discusses the advantages of showing students how valuable their writing is. She discusses how instructors should “encourage specificity” (p. 307). The reason I feel we should discuss this in class is because I was always taught the opposite. Granted, my instructors always informed me that I should only use words that I knew the meaning of, and I had to use legitimate examples; however, if we only encourage specificity, then how are students going to increase their vocabulary skills? Along with textual and real world examples, do we not want students to be able to think in an abstract manner at times to draw from different viewpoints and possibilities? Or does this frame of thinking depend on the subject matter?

Another topic I believe should be discussed in class is the idea of peer review. I am a big advocate of students working together since they will have to do so in the real world. As instructors, how do we train students to provide valuable constructive criticism? I have only had 2 peer critique situations thus far; however, I have noticed that students are afraid to give constructive criticism. Maybe it is because they have a fear that other students will dislike them, or possibly it is the fear of hurting anyone’s feelings. Either way, no matter how much I emphasize the importance of peer review, the feedback is not as honest as it could be. Davis discusses multiple questions to ask students to answer, but it is worth actually taking time out (maybe half of a class period) to teach your class how to peer review?

Taking into account adjustments made through peer review and writing assignments to strengthen a student’s understanding of the material, when it comes time for the student to perform, what are the best guidelines to use for grading? Lang mentions that “the most disturbing aspect of grading…may be the lack of absolute standards or right and wrong answers” (p. 128). He also mentions how complicated grading is, and Davis mentions how rubrics may prove useful. My concern which I would like to discuss in class is while writing, peer review, and rubrics are so important, what happens in a case where you have International students, or students with disabilities that may not be on the same academic level as a majority of your students? Can you have a different grading scale for these students? Is it fair to?