Session+Four

= __**SESSION FOUR: REFLECTION ON FEEDBACK AND ASSESSMENT**__ =

=
As you think back to your previous facilitation experience, describe one challenge you have faced in terms of providing appropriate feedback or in assessing the learning of your participants. Read over the challenges posted by your fellow colleagues and suggest strategies for addressing these challenges in future courses.=====


 * ~ Challenges ||~ Strategies ||
 * //Use the rows in this column to describe challenges you have faced with feedback and/or assessment.​// || //Use the rows in this column to suggest strategies for the challenges posted by others.// ||
 * (Cynthia Nesselroade) One challenge I have faced has been communicating my expectations for the final project. Sometimes you have participants that want to do the absolute minimum on their project. They might leave out basic information or leave sections of the template blank. They post it in the discussion area only to receive rave reviews by a few others.

(Betty Salvatore) The major issue with the class was making sure that feedback contained both positive and constructive responses. Feedback quite often asked for a modification of a submitted assignment and keeping track of the re-submissions can be cumbersome as you have to keep going back to previous sessions to check for submissions. As co-facilitators, we found that our collaboration on grading assignments was very helpful. ||
 * (Cynthia Nesselroade) I have found that using the dropbox along with comments in the discussion area related to the projects is a great way to model my expectations for the participants. It is nice to be able to make positive comments in the discussion area while requesting further information. I also try to direct them to information to add to their project. I then use the dropbox for direct comments such as, "In order for this project to be acceptable you will need to include........"

In order to eliminate SRS (slacker response syndrome) I try to heavily model and encourage the first week. Often I follow this up with a "good job" to those participants who have demonstrated good responses in my "Notes from Ness" news item. I might say something like, "Wow, this week we have around 90% of the participants who are responding thoughtfully. What a great group." Then during the next discussion session I directly comment on good responses. I usually see the quality of postings increase. I also create a discussion space for chit chat that helps with the off topic conversations.

(Mary Ann Triplett) ​In the Classroom Management course, participants completed a section of the plan each week, so it was easy to give constructive feedback. I began by telling them the things I appreciated. Then I would pose a question to get them to think about something they might improve upon. This also made the final week of class less stressful for me as the facilitator because I had looked at the plan each week and given feedback.** || Mary Ann--in the last 2-5 courses we have developed we have attempted to have the project component of each session added to the dropbox by the course participant. This is not being done as an expectation that the facilitator will review/respond to each post each session. Rather it is being done so the facilitator can review the dropbox submissions and keep a pulse on all work being completed and whether participants are on the right track. We will begin review of 4-6 courses this summer (21st Century, Lesson Study, PBL). When these courses are updated I would like to see weekly dropbox submissions related to the course project.
 * **(Mary Ann Triplett) One challenge that I have faced is when the project is only seen at the midpoint check and at the end of the course. With thirty in the session, it is difficult to give the projects the amount of time they deserve and a quick turnaround.** || (Donna)

(Nada Waddell) I think it's a great idea to have the course project submissed each week and not wait till mid course or at the end to be able to give constructive feedback. A weekly submission would allow us to give better formative feedback to the participants.

(Vickie Witt) I will try and grade ahead! I always have some early submissions and I will go ahead and try to grade those ahead of time, I just do not post in the gradebook. Hee hee.... but when you have 30 and only 5-7 finished, it is still quite a bit in a short amount of turn around time.

(Sue Allkire) I agree that a part of the project should be developed each week, but I think that perhaps having them submit it to the Dropbox each week is excessive since some would be already submitting the "next" assignment before others had submitted the previous one and I think it would be so hard to respond with feedback to everyone each week in a meaningful manner. I would like to see a submission at the end of Week 2 and Week 4 and then the final at the end of Week 6 instead of a Mid-Point check at the end of Week 3. I also think that the parts of the project that are introduced for development each week need to be incorporated into the Discussion question for that week and shared with all to help everyone get more ideas.

(Melissa Carder) I agree with posting piece earlier because some participants who are nervous about it need to have feedback before they turned it in for a grade. || One challenge facilitators face – participants not providing substantial responses as they reply to posts. Many times, “I agree” or “Good job” appears. Simply repeating what the original post “said” does not extend discussion either. These types of replies do not merit credit for discussion responses. Such replies indeed make positive feedback difficult! I often feel like a broken record, as I place comments in the grade book concerning the appropriate response needed to earn session credit. || (Donna) Mickie--this topic has been a theme throughout this course. I think we may need a module developed about appropriate responses to the discussion forum. Projects may be another module as well. I am still thinking about the best way to get the attention of the course participant when this information is delivered. If it is added to the Orientation --I am not sure it will be read. We may want to make a Quiz part of the Orientation. Moving to Session One could be dependent upon passing the quiz. just a thought.
 * (Mickie Richardson)

(Mickie Richardson) Donna, many participants skim the Orientation, especially if they have previously taken courses. Therefore, adding a module about appropriate responses will not be effective in the Orientation Session. I like the idea of passing a quiz prior to moving to Session One.

(Myrtle Holland)~ I think giving participants a rubric like the one in the reading in session1 would be beneficial to both facilitator and to the participant. If a participant was not offering reflective comments then the facilitaor could refer to the part of the rubric that pertained and then also could assign an incomplete until the reflection was rewritten. || (MaryJane Pope Albin) I agree that it is difficult to tell if students are benefiting from the feedback of either the facilitator or the participants. One of the things that we try to do is to include some of our reflections in the posts as it relates to the discussion questions as well as asking to confirm that participants have read our feedback. || (Vickie Witt) I have to agree with what is already posted! The quality of postings are just not there. I also get many of the "Great Post" and "Good Job" comments and that is tough to reach out and get them to go more in depth. I try very hard to start out really tough in a course, setting high expectations but they still occur. || ​ ( Tanya Baldwin) I agree - I have encounted the problem of "good job" - and that's the extent of the post. I believe using the new rubric for what response is may help with this some. Sometimes, it does help when the faciliator "stirs the pot," by adding questions/ comments, but what other options do we have? || (( Tanya Baldwin) The first problem that comes to mind for me in terms of assessment and the online class is the problem of many people being unable to post until the last minute. This makes it difficult to provide quick feedback, as well as makes it difficult for others to have something to reply to . || (Tanya Sinnett) I like Nada's suggestion for a self-reflection section. Self-reflection is very difficult but very needed. It is something most teachers struggle with. . || (MaryJane Pope Albin) I agree with you Debbie, asking questions will get the information from other participants-good idea! We used a graphic organizer with our detailed readings and found that some of the items from the organizer helped participants to pinpoint the details/information more easily. || In my course there was only a project check at the midterm and at the end of the course. I agree with others that this created a problem. In our project the participants had to develop a PBL unit. There were many problems with enduring understanding and essential questions. So when the participant had half of the project done and the initial concept was not appropriate, it posed problems for the remainder of the project. Many participants did not want to go back and change the project but they had to do so to make the project valid. This may be an example of the participants not truly reading the required assignments. ||  || It is easier to give constructive feedback in courses where the final project builds upon itself throughout the six week course. Participants are more willing to take the "constructive criticism" and use it to tweak their work in those instances. ||  || One of the challenges (as others have said) is the drawing pout of good responses in the discussion board. I have in the past asked participants to return to their response and add clarification in their response as to why they agree with the post. || I think that a reminder in the Orientation week of the class about proper responses with a note in it that a participant may be asked to clarify or add to a response in the discussion board might be helpful in correcting this problem. I think that most of thes "I agree" only type posts are done by participants who are participating in an online class for the first time. || I also have had people (in science courses) take canned lesson plans from science kits and try to claim them as their own lesson plan. || (Sue Alkire) I keep contacting the people who are late asking them if there is a problem and encouraging them to turn in their project so that I can help them determine what might still need done to it. I usually use the final course rubric for that particular course even though it is the mid-point draft and mark each area to date as satisfactory or not and make comments about what else needs done with suggestions/examples and I also praise what is really well developed and exemplary. I attach this to the feedback in the Dropbox with just a short overall comment telling them to look at the attached rubric for more specific details. For those who have tried to claim canned lessons as their own, I explain that they must make major modifications and add their own activities to the "kit" activities in order to develop a more well-rounded higher level lesson and that they cannot receive credit for simply borrowing a trademarked lesson. I usually come up with some example of how to do this to share with them. ||
 * ​ (Nada Waddell)​ I'm not sure that participants are responsive to the feedback that they receive from the facilitator and/or other participants in the course. || (Nada Waddell) I would like to see a self reflection section be added to the course project template or as part of the final assessment.
 * (Myrtle Holland) The problem I had was keeping track of students submissions. This was before the Dropbox. I took care of this by copying all submission to its own folder. I also had a summer class and participants were always behind because duringt he course several were on vacation and since there was only a midcourse and final project, I did not get all Midcourse submissions on time and I was not able to comment on them. || ( Sue Alkire) I create a folder for each course and in it I save their drafts and a rubric for each one by name. I use the rubric to mark their progress and to make constructive comments and share praise at the midterm and then attach this to their feedback. At the end, it is easy for me to open up that rubric again and see if they followed the advice and see whether they have satisfactorily completed the parts that were not done before. ||
 * (MaryJane Pope Albin) One of the problems we faced was when we knew that participants were not reading the articles to support their learning. Helping participants integrate their learning from the articles together with the questions for discussion and folding all of this information to course projects is a vital part of course design. || I agree Mary Jane and I think we all know that not every participant reads all of the required readings much less the optional ones. I found that I sometimes asked questions in the discussion section that were on a lower level but were directly related to the reading. Not always did the person answer that I posed the question to, but generally someone who had completed the assignments answered. My hope was that if the participant didn't read it for him/herself that maybe he/she would get the information from the post of another. Not ideal but hopefully it would help.
 * (Debbie Nicholson)
 * (Tanya Sinnett)
 * (Emil Whipkey)
 * (Sue Alkire) One of the problems that I have had is in people submitting mid-term projects late which does not allow much time for them to redesign them after they receive their initial feedback if there is something lacking in them.
 * (Marianna Leone) The main obstacle with feedback was when projects were due at the end of the course with no mid-point check. This was in the beginning and has now been fixed. But the problem now is with particpants that post late, which does not allow for feedback from their fellow class members. Also, there was some issues with using the templates provided within the course. || (Marianna Leone) Maybe the major project or assignment should be posted a week before the end of the course in order to have a week to reflect on what was completed. I really liked the vocabulary course in which the teacher had to actually teacher their lesson and get feedback from students. This allowed for excellent discussion. This was a very small class, though. Maybe considering numbers in classes may help solve some of the problems faced. I like the weekly postings. I agree that this does create a problem when you have eager beavers work ahead. As a facilitator, we should encourage staying within the guidelines of the course. ||
 * (Melissa Carder) Everyone has posted great points that I agree with about feedback and assessment. I have a hard time giving feedback first to participants when others wait until the last minute to post and reply. I have tried to explain how important it is for them to respond to each other, but then they just agree. Sometimes I think they just want to get it done and they do not see the importance in the conversation. || ( Melissa Carder) With many of the same problems with lateness, I have often thought about having participants to have their posting done by Saturday morning. I loved the midweek change in sessions, but think that maybe requiring a posting/project earlier that we could encourage and increase use of feedback. Weekends allow for time to do the homework, but with so many participants posting Monday/Tuesday I think they are waiting until the last minute which hinders conversation due to the sesssion ending on Wednesday. Just a thought! :) ||
 * The challenge I have faced with providing adequate feedback is only viewing the final projects during the midpoint check and then again at the end of the course. If I were viewing the projects more often then I wouldn't have to always provide feedback to everyone but I would be able to do in more depth then I do now. (Lisa Teeters) || (Lisa Teeters) The discussion of not being able to provide good feedback to the discussion board is also another issue. I think one way to work on providing feedback on the discussion board is to ask higher order thinking questions of the responses they have given. Many times they don't provide you with anything to reply to. As the facilitator we could ask questions that required a deeper explanation of the topic. This would allow for additional feedback that may be beneficial. ||
 * ​ (Joe Paolo) The challenge becomes having participants post in a timely manner. Those that post on Tuesday put the facilitator and the other participants in a position of restricting valuable feedback. Habitual late posts by a particiapnt indicate a lack of interest and just doing enough to get by. || (Joe Paolo) Certainly using email, etc. to prompt more timely posts is one avenue. As a facilitator, I sometimes wait two days before responding to those who are habiltual. In the response, I may say something to the effect that I just found the time to respond to their last posts. ||