Categories
I have made similar suggestions to other Social Studies teachers, but am posting here as well. I think that I have a new way to think about categories for my Western Civilization class. It will require yet another overhaul of the class, but I am sort of excited about it. I am thinking of the following categories:
Demonstrations of Understanding - Political Content (30%)
Demonstrations of Understanding - Economic Content (30%)
Demonstrations of Understanding - Social Content (30%)
Citizenship (Responsibility / Participation) (10%)
The biggest drawback, in one sense, is a bit more work for me - for example, on tests, I will have to divide the questions into three content sections (political, economic and social) instead of simply question-type categories (multiple choice, true/false and written), and I will have to enter 3 grades into the computer for each test. However, in reality this makes more sense from a learning perspective. Using the SEP (social / economic / political) model, I could spend more time helping the students compare the SEP institutions of the civilizations we are studying (Greek, Roman, Byzantine, etc.) All homework would fit into one or more of the categories too. For example, the students read about Greek art, philosophy and education at one point. The homework check on that information would go into social content. The Middle Ages project would be 1/3 political (code of chivalry for the 21st century) and 2/3 social (personal coat of arms using medieval symbolism and fictional castle story). This method would also help the students understand their historical strengths and weaknesses. For example, political content would include knowledge about systems of government, wars and other political conflicts, and geography. Economic content would include knowledge about economic systems, crops and economic motivators. Social content would include knowledge about the art, music, philosophy, education, gender relationships and religion of the eras. Making connections between eras and comparing / contrasting would probably become much easier for the students.
I will have to think about the weighting. Does each SEP area get weighted equally, or not?
Demonstrations of Understanding - Political Content (30%)
Demonstrations of Understanding - Economic Content (30%)
Demonstrations of Understanding - Social Content (30%)
Citizenship (Responsibility / Participation) (10%)
The biggest drawback, in one sense, is a bit more work for me - for example, on tests, I will have to divide the questions into three content sections (political, economic and social) instead of simply question-type categories (multiple choice, true/false and written), and I will have to enter 3 grades into the computer for each test. However, in reality this makes more sense from a learning perspective. Using the SEP (social / economic / political) model, I could spend more time helping the students compare the SEP institutions of the civilizations we are studying (Greek, Roman, Byzantine, etc.) All homework would fit into one or more of the categories too. For example, the students read about Greek art, philosophy and education at one point. The homework check on that information would go into social content. The Middle Ages project would be 1/3 political (code of chivalry for the 21st century) and 2/3 social (personal coat of arms using medieval symbolism and fictional castle story). This method would also help the students understand their historical strengths and weaknesses. For example, political content would include knowledge about systems of government, wars and other political conflicts, and geography. Economic content would include knowledge about economic systems, crops and economic motivators. Social content would include knowledge about the art, music, philosophy, education, gender relationships and religion of the eras. Making connections between eras and comparing / contrasting would probably become much easier for the students.
I will have to think about the weighting. Does each SEP area get weighted equally, or not?
posted by Crosby at 6:52 PM
2 Comments:
This is great thinking! I agree that this is more work for the teacher (at least initially), but I think it is worth it. I wonder if there is a way to structure your tests in a way that makes this easier? For example, do you have to have one "test" that assesses all three SEP areas - or can you assess them at different times (or in different ways)?
I also wonder about homework checks - do you really grade those for content? If so, then they need to go in the SEP categories. But if not - if they are more of a "make sure they are doing this stuff" assignment, maybe they could go into the Citizenship category. And you might also be able to spend less time grading the homework checks if that's the case.
For me, it still comes back to how we can provide more feedback to students to help them learn, and spend less time on "grading" for the sake of turning in grades. I think your ideas will definitely help students understand what they know and what they need to work on.
Homework checks are definitely graded for content - students use their notes to answer questions about the reading. They do not get credit for taking notes - the idea is that they will do better on the homework checks if they take and use notes. This also does not punish those 1 or 2 students who really do not need to take notes to remember the reading.
In response to the test issue, see the post on tagging grades.
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