How does alternative grading work in a STEM class? In a writing class? How does AI work anywhere when students use AI?
Answers to these and many other questions are discussed in the engaging and wide-ranging blog Grading for Growth. If that title sounds familiar, it’s because we are promoting the book by the same title for our January professional development. Our January presenter is Dr. Robert Talbert, co-author of the book and the blog. His day job is teaching math at Grand Valley State University.
Talbert, along with co-author Dr. David Clark, also of GVSU, writes for the blog. But the blog regularly features articles by faculty who write from within their disciplines about alternative grading and effective pedagogy. Here are some recent examples:
- A community college instructor who teaches anatomy and physiology writes about strategies to use test feedback to improve learning. Specifically, he encourages faculty to let students keep their tests and to develop alternative assessment formats to make this strategy manageable for instructors.
- A writing instructor describes success and challenges with attempts to track student progress across drafts and revisions.
- Talbert himself writes recently about retrofitting a math class to a “test-forward approach” in response to AI use by students.
We encourage you to visit the blog and read the book before our Jan. 7 PD workshop (8:30-noon in Osterlin). Books are available in the offices of the Experiential Learning Institute and Ed Tech.