One possibility is to have us rate one another's forum posts and blog entries, and for the instructor to then use those ratings to assign participation grades.
Joanna Dunlap* encourages online instructors to have learners "establish criteria for determining value and then apply the criteria to their assessment of peers' contributions and the creation of their own contributions." She offers the example of the 'karma point' approach used by the Slashdot.org community, in which each learner is given a certain number of karma points to assign to the discussion contributions of other learners. A learner's score for class participation is determined by the total karma points they receive. The criteria for karma points are:
- 0 points: although an interesting idea was contributed to the discourse, it is not original enough or somehow unclear
- 1 point: a succinct, interesting, original, and well-documented argument or idea, a useful link or pertinent fact is contributed
- 2 points: the contribution is creative and original, and compellingly argues a very clear point. Contribution is supported with evidence.
- 3 points: An exceptional contribution to the discourse, one that really opens eyes and encourages a lively discussion/debate. Exemplary in all respects.
- Choose provocative subject lines to make postings stand out.
- present our own perspectives
- write clearly
- construct an argument. Provide evidence, present a rationale that supports the position, and reference the opinion of others, linking to supplementary evidence when appropriate
- open up the debate by remembering that the best response is one that gets people thinking and makes them want to reply.
- learn from others who have posted before us by reading through the posts and referring to appropriate posts on their own.
- only award points to those who have contributed significantly to the discussion.
- karma points should be awarded based on the quality of the message, irrespective of the content of the message.
- learners are more thoughtful and reflective about their responses, support their responses with evidence, and work hard to provide value to the learning community by moving the discussion forward.
- karma points can inspire lively dialogue, as they are assigned to postings even if learners share opposing views.
- learners may be unwilling to objectively rate posts that contain content with which they disagree. (this, of course, is a common failing of instructors as well)
- people may post, not what they actually feel about a subject under discussion, but what they think will bring the highest peer rating.
- the feedback doesn't help correct behavior. People who consistently receive low ratings, unless these are supplemented by specific evaluative comments, won't know the reasons for their poor scores and consequently won't be able to improve their numbers.
What do you think? Should we have peer ratings of forum posts? And, if so, how should these ratings be used in assigning grades for participation?
As a test case, please rate this post: survey.
* Joanna C. Dunlap, Workload Reduction in Online Courses: Getting Some Shuteye (Performance Improvement Journal, 1995)
P.S. I wanted to provide a link where you can see the article online, but as far as I can tell ISPI only offers their articles for a fee. (You can visit their publications website here.) If anyone is interested I can bring a hard copy to class.
3 comments:
Gordon, At first when I was reading you post about the Karma points, I thought it was a good idea, but after further thought, I don't actually like the idea. For me blogging has been a very big learning experience, and it has actually taken me a while to "find my groove", as I tend to be someone who self-edits quite a bit in my writing. Finally I am feeling more confident in my posts, and this has inspired me to restart a personal blog, which still don't quite have down...but I will continue to practice. While I kind of like the idea of having the Karma points as a form of feedback or positive reinforcement, I think that if my grade depended on it, I might be more apt to self-edit and maybe not do exactly what I want to do with my blog (which should be deeply personal). That said...I have to say I would probably give you quite a few karma points for this thought-provoking post!
I like the concept, Gordon, but I am on the fence about being given points for my posts and responses to others. I still struggle with genuine participation, and might add less if I had lingering thoughts about how what I am writing might score.
I can see the desire for accountability and meaningful writing, but hope that, as adults, people would only participate if they felt their writing had those components.
I have been thinking about how I,as an instructor who ask students to keep a blog, would assess a blog assignment. I once create a rubric to give points for blogging and use it for a semester. It didn't work for me. Students' blogs turned into reports. I want my students to use their blog as a notebook where they jot down ideas, and thoughts that they want to capture with the words. Usually when we take note or even we doodle, our learning experience is different. So in this course, I read each blog every week and keep my eys on their learning journey.
BTW, I still can evaluate who is engaged with the course and also they are reading materials or not.
Thanks, Amy, for keeping up with your writing. Thank you, Gordon, for your entry.
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