Rubric’s Cube: Module Six

Compare the recommended assessment techniques from the readings to those that you will use (or currently use) in your own online course. What are 3 things you will adjust in your course to reflect what you've learned from these readings?

1. I found the “E-Learning and Constructivism: From Theory to Application” article to really challenge my ideas of how to model assessments. I currently do not include any self-assessments in my courses. There are a number of current assignments that I have that would benefit both the student and me as instructor. A self-assessment provides the student an additional opportunity to develop critical thinking skills as well as provide me with insights as to where I can more customize my feedback to address issues brought up in the self-assessment.

2. The rubrics that I currently use in my research writing course can be improved upon by incorporating the elements of instructional rubrics from the “Using Rubrics to Promote Thinking and Learning” article. The amount of detail the example rubric provides in the Gradations of Quality for the different scores would improve any rubric.

3. The cybercoaching article, though outdated in some of the aspects it discussed, still provided a good survey of many of the techniques and models that I found in depth in some of the other resources. At the hospital, we bring in coaches for managers and executives to assist them in enhancing their leadership skills. This article has inspired me to reflect on how these coaching principles can be applied to me as an instructor.

What are 2 insights you have about using rubrics and/or pre-course surveys?

1. I found the pre-course survey a potentially helpful tool for my future courses. It will provide me a snapshot of the students and their experiences with writing essays, conducting research, and presenting to peers in class.

2. The rubrics that I use currently are analytical in that I do have separate sections worth a varying degree of points. This does not mean though that each section is graded in a bubble. In the Final Research Paper rubric, the section labeled Development informs the section labeled Content and the Organization portion is only as successful as proper completion of the MLA Formatting section allows. I wanted to include this explanation before expanding upon the insight I had, which came from one of the additional resources that Maggie included on the Course News page for Module Six. The single-point rubric is not only the model I am using for my rubric assignment, it is how I plan to reconfigure all of my rubrics. The fact is that most of the students meet most of the recommendations for the rubric. This model will remove much of the tedious “meeting the requirements of the assignment” comments and provide space to focus on the concerns and areas of achievements in more detail. My future rubrics will be less forms to fill out and more meaningful discussions about the work.

What is 1 question you still have?

How will I keep the students engaged in the research writing course when it is online? There is something very personal and independent about how this course is currently structured and conducted in the classroom environment. Most of what we do in the classroom is based on an open discussion of students’ progress with their ongoing research. How can I capture this online?