Okay, I'm going to talk about why I changed my mind about something. I guess that's what blogs and sabbaticals are for: thinking things through. It's remarkable to have time to really give thought to what I do. Normally, I have only 2-3 weeks between terms to hurriedly prep for 2-3 classes.
Here's what I changed my mind about since my last entry: I decided to cancel the Group Technology Project for my American Lit. course. Why? A couple reasons: (1) I kept thinking about that question from *Effective Grading*--"Is this really assessing what I'm trying to assess?" And, honestly, I think the exam that I devised is a better measure of assessment for these students. An individual and/or group project (esp. a group project) would not be as fair. (2) I'm really not comfortable with these students having one group projecst representing 65% of their course grade. I think it would be best if it were broken down for them (Midterm 20%, Final 45%). This is because they really need and crave feedback. In the writing classes, this is not a problem. They do a lot of writing. However, in the literature classes at Century, writing is not set up to be a primary focus. Still, on my exams, THEY WILL BE DOING ESSAYS ALONG WITH MULTIPLE CHOICE AND SHORT ANSWERS.
So, exams it will be for the American Lit. students. I'm okay with this. Again, I think these exams get at what I really want to measure: their overall competency in the field. The exams better measure whether the students have met the objectives of the class.
Great post, Brian. It takes a lot of energy and some courage to change a significant component of a course. Sounds like you're on a better track for this one. I'll be interested if you want to chat about the further questions related to this assessment--like, what exactly are you trying to assess in American Lit?
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