Week 7 – Rubric

1. Overall, how well did your rubric work?

I am not overly impressed with my rubric. I felt like it didn’t give enough credit to students who did a little more work than the average student. It definitely did not grade harshly. Of course the student who did not do the work would not get the points but I fear that some students would get too many points for what they contributed. On the other hand, there will always be those who go above and beyond, so I guess that is their prerogative.

2. Identify and explain the strengths of your rubric.

I do think my rubric touched the main points of the discussion and focused on the engagement aspect. Discussion boards are a way to replace the engagement that occurs in f2f classes and I think my rubric definitely awarded appropriate points to those who engaged accordingly.

3. Identify and explain one weaknesses of your rubric.

I don’t think my rubric was detailed enough. I need to be more specific as to what exactly I am looking for in each topic. For example: outside resources-where citations included? I also think I allotted too many points for certain topics.

4. What changes would you make to your rubric now that you have used it?

Revised Rubric

Student:
	Possible points	Points earned
Did the student post a minimum of 3 times within 3 days of the start of the discussion?	6
Did the student directly reply to the prompt?	8
Did the student reference outside research and/or class readings and include citations as needed?	4
Did the student respond and engage in other student’s posts?	7
Did the student moderate his post in a timely manner?	5
Comments:

5. Reflect on what you have learned this week. What have you learned that has the potential to inform or influence you or your practice of online learning going forward? Explain why.

Between last week and this week, I have learned that grading is one of the most challenging parts of teaching, especially online. I can see why teaching techniques are ever evolving, kind of like parenting. It is a continuous process of trial and error.

I really liked some of different suggestions that “Protocols for Online Discussion” gave for discussion boards. I am particularly interested in the techniques that break students into smaller groups; I think that could have lots of benefits. It could prevent students from being overlooked due to the overwhelming number of posts, it could prevent the boards from being overwhelming, it would allow for a more intimate conversation, and I think it might make it a little easier to grade smaller discussions. The “Down and Dirty” article shared some fantastic suggestions. Expectations are definitely important, it sets the tone for the entire length of the class, as well as helping with the grading process.