Hi Kelly and Everyone,
YIKES, that is not the kind of surprise that is fun.... :'(
I think Kathe's suggestion of rubrics for all assignments is a good
one. I also agree with her advice to DO LESS (this is a
tough one!). Better to do less and do it well and relaxed
and get good evals (important for your career) than do too much (even
though it's tempting and reading this list the bar is certainly high!)
and be a crazy, overworked b**** all semester and get poor evals or
worse. Remember that when colleagues are looking at your syllabus
and your materials and your evals they aren't going to excuse a bad class
because you lost your TA. They will expect you to have adapted as you are
doing. That means paring down even if it seems less creative or
less than what you had hoped to do.
First, as someone who also teaches large classes I recommend you use
multiple choice tests (graded with a scantron). 3-4 is fine. These
can be very effective and you can also structure matching and other types
of questions into it. Your Univ may have a Center for Teaching Excellence
where they can give you tips on constructing good and fair multiple
choice tests if you're not familiar with it. IF not, ask colleagues or
this list.
Second, for assignments, I think about how well I can grade the
assignments I'd like to give if I have 150 people (and also the
debriefing time with each person after, especially if my grading is
unclear or rushed). That is A LOT of grading and you have to figure in
your other classes (the writing intensive). You don't have to do
papers and can still give them some practice writing and hold them to a
high standard. I'm not sure a class of 150 is effective for
teaching writing anyway! In your case I would recommend skipping
the papers and turn them into shorter assignments where they are writing
short answers to specific questions or tasks (the ones you would have
posed in the paper perhaps). I have done this in my large classes and it
works well. (I have a clear rubric for these so the expectations are
clear and it makes grading easier. They print off a copy of the
rubric and turn it in with their assignment, then they get both
back. As Kathe said, the past discussion on rubrics was good. If
you want to see any of mine, let me know.)
For example, 1 assignment I use in my unit on Love asks them to 1) define
the concepts of need-based love and acceptance based love (1-2 sentences
for each). Then they have to respond to a scenario telling me how one of
the actors would respond if they were operating from need based
love and acceptance based love. Then they have to write a paragraph
giving me an example of how they used 1 of the types of love (need based
or acceptance based) in relationships. They do not all get As on
this by any means. Because I want to keep this to 2 pages (front
and back), I make it into a sheet that has the specific questions and
scenarios written right on it and they type in their answers and turn it
in. This eliminates grading complications related to structure and
organization issues.
I have also done something where I have them interview their parents and
answer a series of questions about the information they gathered, answer
questions about a reading that touched them etc
So, maybe you can turn some of your longer assignments into shorter
exercises like this.
Third, you could also consider short quizzes on readings that are graded
on scantron.
Fourth, what is your university policy on undergraduate TAs? These are
all I have for most of my classes and honestly they are often more
conscientious and interested than grad students. You may be able to
send out an e mail (to your past students or soc majors) and see if
anyone is interested in being your undergrad TA. Even if they can't grade
anything or get any course credit it would be valuable experience (resume
builder) and they could run your scantrons to the testing center and do
general errands that might make your life easier.
I've been assuming that your school has a testing center for computer
grading of multiple choice things on scantron. If these kinds of
resources aren't available, then I suggest you scale back even more (and
of course in your eval materials you will nicely note that for this
semester you lost your TA at the last minute which required some last
minute changes in the interests of the students which was a challenge but
you learned a lot from the experiences etc etc etc
.).
Hope this helps! Just do your best with it, have fun and stay
focused on the classroom experience and having fun with the students.
Stacy
At 12:25 PM 8/26/2009, klowney-RmVSdcxV0PH2fBVCVOL8/A@public.gmane.org wrote:
Hi Kelly:
First off -- I am sorry this is happening to you. That you might
have
lots of company in this economy does not necessarily make it easier,
but know that this list is a place for a soft landing!
I am teaching a 150 person class for the first time (today was my
3rd
day) and a 45 person class -- both Intro Soc. I have combined them
into one mega-section in Blackboard. While I have a GA, our school's
policies say GA's cannot do grading (at least that is the formal
policy, I have the feeling the informal one is quite different, but
I
am planning to adhere to it). I suggest you scroll down to a
discussion that I believe took place a few days before the ASA
meetings on this listserv -- about grading rubrics. Create
some
structured forms that are based on your grading criteria (which
should
be VERY clear!). I think then if you have very tight, focused
assignments, so you have relative limited evaluative criteria. I
would
strongly advise you to take a day or so in class for students to
read
each other's papers (if you are using papers), AFTER you do a quick
discussion of what you are looking for -- probably about 7-10 days
before it is due. Have a paper exchange day. If you have seen drafts
(another thing I do), I sometimes try to pair a stronger author with
a
bit weaker one, but not always. Next semester (and yes, I believe
you'll make it through this one!) perhaps ask some students from
this
semester if you could strip off their names, but use their papers as
examples. I find the "C" and "B" examples are more
"approachable" to
many students than the "A" examples. I usually ask if I can
show not
just the finished paper, but the draft (or one of them), so students
can see the sociological progression of analysis. I post those on
Blackboard, if I have student permission (be sure to blind the file
by
making it pdf).
I would also suggest talking about your writing if you are asking
them
to write (and not only the 'good moments' but the hard ones, the
"I
put it in a drawer for 18 months" moments "because I was
stuck",
etc.), so that they understand writing is hard work.
Another thing you might consider is staggering due dates. Perhaps
have
X number of assignments, with different due dates, but each student
has to do 2 by midterm and 1 by the 2nd to last week of the
semester.
This will help a bit (not completely, but a bit) about grading all
at
once.
Here's what I am doing:
-- weekly required discussions in Blackboard (they must post a
minimum
of 2x/week and I have a rubric to grade their contributions).
Just
opened up week 2 discussion Sunday evening and we have over 450
posts
already; it will close Monday at noon. I reply to some that are
really
nice, or really psychological, but I do not reply to all of them. I
did the first week because it was a non-graded introduce yourself
thread and I welcomed each person to the class.
-- four short papers (3-4 pages, double spaced) -- again, all have
rubrics and I will write some comments on the form
-- 3 tests and an optional final (they have to meet eligibility
requirements to take it)
If you are feeling swamped with this change so close to term, I
would
say this first term, my mantra, if this were happening to me, is
"do
less than do more." You could always add another assignment or
more
complexity to the assignment next term, etc.
But again -- find the thread around the 5th of August or thereabouts
about grading rubrics -- I know I learned a lot from it. And please
-
come back for support!
And a small plug -- if there is a group of people who want to work
on
a research article or teaching note about grading rubrics -- please
consider sending it to Teaching Sociology! I think that would be
a
piece that would be welcomed by lots of readers.
Kathe Lowney
Editor-elect, Teaching Sociology
On Aug 25, 8:51 pm, Kelly Fulton <kel...-mD4EcvzDNrj5xfTjtVVUew@public.gmane.org>
wrote:
> Hi colleagues,
>
> Two days before class begins I have found out that I will most
likely
> not have a TA for my 94 person upper-division sociology of
family
> course. (I have always had a TA for this size class
before.) I feel
> like I just got a pay cut, but that is beside the more important
point
> at hand 
.
>
> As you may imagine, I'm in a bit of a panic about restructuring
my
> assignments so that I do not drown in grading. I'm also
teaching a 20
> person writing intensive course, so I really won't have a ton of
time
> to devote to grading in my large class.
>
> If you teach large classes with no TA- can you give me a feel of
the
> number and type of assignments you require?
>
> Thanks,
> Kelly Goran Fulton
> Lecturer, UT-Austin
Stacy Silver
Associate Professor, Department of Sociology
The Pennsylvania State University
211 Oswald Tower / University Park, PA 16802
Voice: 814 865-8798, Fax: 814 863-7216, Email: stacysilver-8DAjSxpRXgY@public.gmane.org
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