Spring break starts Monday, and here I am saddled with three classes' worth of midterms. That's how it goes, I guess. My goal was to have 50% of their grades accounted for before the mid-term evaluations go out in two weeks, so here we are. Plus I thought it would be nicer for them not to have to study over break. Right?
I heard from some students that another instructor held a Jeopardy-style tournament in class in lieu of a test. Sounds like everyone wins: fun is had, candy is dispersed to the winners, and there's no grading afterwards. But if you choose to go this route, with no traditional test grades, what are they graded on? I suppose that they're doing projects throughout the semester, or maybe there's a cumulative end-of-semester exam (a method I don't really embrace).
I've tried before to move away from the strict two-thirds tests/one-third project model and to come up with other ways of evaluating student work, so I'm filing the tournament idea away for future application.
Posted by Heather at March 9, 2007 10:59 AM
Comments
hahhahahaha!!!!lolololol.
hhhhmmmmm. are you serious? I dunno... I think there was a government teacher in high school who did that, but i never had him. I personally am hating how students seem to be able to get away with murder these days. My newest pet peeve: use of the 2nd person in academic essays:
"You can see the emotion in Martin Luther King Jr.'s face." and such... that is wrong, right? Tell me I'm right.
But I do feel you on the grading. I hate it. I hate it so much.
Posted by: Chelsea![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.hemmungen.com/nav-commenters.gif)
at March 12, 2007 07:47 PM
Well, not really, I mean, I think it has some kind of potential, though I feel like there has to be a way to make it more rigorous. Like prep work or something. I dunno.
As for second person, *I* don't think students should use it in the essays they write for us, but it's always been hard to convince them of that fact. I try to put it in assignments, you know, state explicitly that they need to use "I." I think people still have some illusion that they're maintaining their supposed impartiality through the magic use of "you," and that if they use "I" they'll be accused of not being objective. That's how I've explained it to myself, anyway.
Posted by: Heather![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.hemmungen.com/nav-commenters.gif)
at March 12, 2007 08:10 PM
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