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‘Grading’

One of these things was not like the others: Experiences with standards- and specifications-based grading

Aug. 30, 2021—This guest blog post comes from Richard F. Haglund, Stevenson Professor of Physics.   The following comments are reflections after a year of fruitful dialogue with colleagues in an on-line learning community sponsored by the Center for Teaching, organized and led by Cynthia Brame. What I experienced about grading in 2020-2021 is a significant difference...

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Upcoming Brightspace Worskhops

Feb. 1, 2021—CFT staff offer Brightspace workshops for instructors interested in learning how to use Brightspace tools effectively and efficiently. We are also available during the academic year to facilitate Brightspace workshops on topics both general and specific for departments, programs, and schools, upon request. Email brightspace@vanderbilt.edu to ask about these offerings or the possibility of an invited...

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Brightspace Workshops

Jan. 25, 2021—CFT staff offer Brightspace workshops for instructors interested in learning how to use Brightspace tools effectively and efficiently. We are also available during the academic year to facilitate Brightspace workshops on topics both general and specific for departments, programs, and schools, upon request. Email brightspace@vanderbilt.edu to ask about these offerings or the possibility of an invited...

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Brightspace Workshops

Jan. 11, 2021—CFT staff offer Brightspace workshops for instructors interested in learning how to use Brightspace tools effectively and efficiently. We are also available during the academic year to facilitate Brightspace workshops on topics both general and specific for departments, programs, and schools, upon request. Email brightspace@vanderbilt.edu to ask about these offerings or the possibility of an invited...

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Brightspace and Teaching Focused Workshops for the Fall

Sep. 2, 2020—We have several Brightspace and online teaching focused workshops lined up for September. Offerings include: Grades and Feedback in Brightspace Participants in this workshop will learn how to organize their gradebook and about the range of tools available in Brightspace to make grading and feedback more efficient and effective. September 2, 12:00-1:30pm. REGISTER Assignments in...

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August Workshops from the Center for Teaching

Aug. 3, 2020—For faculty and other instructors looking for a lot of ideas for teaching this fall in a short amount of time, the Center for Teaching is offering a variety of online workshops in August. Some workshops are focused on teaching with Brightspace, Vanderbilt’s course management system, while others focus on other aspects of adaptive teaching in...

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Rethinking Assessment Strategies and Procedures

Jul. 29, 2020—By Julie Johnson, Professor of the Practice of Computer Science, Director of Undergraduate Studies in Computer Science With major changes planned for the fall semester, many of us have had to rethink our assessment strategies.  One aspect you may have overlooked is the handling of graded student assignments. A simple homework can generate a chain of...

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Gradescope grading tool for handwritten exams, lab reports, and more is free through June 30

Mar. 26, 2020—Gradescope is an online, FERPA compliant grading tool that professors can use to grade handwritten exams, typed homework assignments, lab reports and more. Gradescope works well for many types of questions: paragraphs, proofs, diagrams, fill-in-the-blank and true/false to name a few. Six Vanderbilt professors have been using it for over four years and are enthusiastic...

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Faster grading for free response assignments? Yes, please!

Jan. 10, 2020—Gradescope is an online, FERPA compliant grading tool that professors can use to grade handwritten exams, typed homework assignments, lab reports and more. Gradescope works well for many types of questions: paragraphs, proofs, diagrams, fill-in-the-blank and true/false to name a few. If your students can upload a pdf of their work, you and your team...

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Grades as a necessary evil? How they affect student motivation and what we can do about it.

Dec. 19, 2019—By Heather Fedesco, CFT Assistant Director   During the December meeting of the CFT’s student motivation journal club, we tackled the perplexing question of whether grades help or hinder student motivation. Chamberlin and colleagues’ paper titled, “The impact of grades on student motivation” gave us a great launching point to embark on this discussion. The authors...

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