Back in January, I was looking for a new method of assessment in my writing courses. I decided to create video reviews for each student essay, rather than handing papers back with comments and red marks. I wanted to devise a way to force students to take a few minutes to hear to my voice, carefully listen as I explain my comments, and hopefully implement my advice on future work.
Too often, students simply look at the grade on the back page and never pay attention to what the teacher has offered. The videos seemed to help with that problem. The feedback I got at the end of the semester was quite positive, as students appreciated the more personal connection of the videos and understood my evaluation much more clearly than trying to decipher my scribbles in the margins.
Each video ended up being between five and ten minutes in length, depending on how much critique was required, so it didn't take much extra work on my part. I simply used Screencast-o-matic and highlighted areas on my screen while narrating and recording. The videos were easy to save and upload and email back to students through Google Drive.
If anyone is seeking a way to improve communication in assessing student work, I highly recommend the video route. Get rid of the red pen and the paper stacks for a semester, and see what you think.
Too often, students simply look at the grade on the back page and never pay attention to what the teacher has offered. The videos seemed to help with that problem. The feedback I got at the end of the semester was quite positive, as students appreciated the more personal connection of the videos and understood my evaluation much more clearly than trying to decipher my scribbles in the margins.
Each video ended up being between five and ten minutes in length, depending on how much critique was required, so it didn't take much extra work on my part. I simply used Screencast-o-matic and highlighted areas on my screen while narrating and recording. The videos were easy to save and upload and email back to students through Google Drive.
If anyone is seeking a way to improve communication in assessing student work, I highly recommend the video route. Get rid of the red pen and the paper stacks for a semester, and see what you think.