What I Value in student work, as determined from my grading and comments.
Typical grading comments on programming assignments:
• Comment!
• Hard to Read (or, Good Readability)
• What does this method DO?
• Why are these attributes a part of this class?
• What did you learn from this exercise?
• Test cases Skimpy / well covered
• Not to Specs!
• Is there an easier / more efficient/ better way to do this?
Assessment comments include some of the above, plus:
• Close - but not precisely correct
• WHY this way?
• Explain what difference this makes
• A bit vague / Very clear!
• What about ....?
I then polled my students, and got these responses: (shortened and slightly edited)
• Following directions
• Good testing
• Comment well
• Mastery of concepts is more important than specific language constructs
• Clarity, Concision, and Elegance of the answer / solution
• Additional research
• “going above and beyond your own skill to improve”
• Explain your choices
• “Be sure to read what he writes on one assignment before turning in the next!”
•
From this, I realized that the things that are important to me in student work are:
• Completeness - that is, that they have followed the specifications correctly
• Thorough testing
• Clarity of code - through readability and comments
• “Defending” your choices
• Understanding of the concepts presented/being tested on the assessment or program
• Efficiency and Elegance
How does this compare to my written learning goals?
What I mainly noticed here was that there is NOT a direct correspondence between learning goals and course objectives, and what I appear to value! Most of the elements that showed up in THIS document are NOT a part of the written, or even recognized goals. As I examined this, I realized that there are TWO levels of learning in this class:
1. There is the “CONTENT” - the “outcomes” or “class coverage” type things - the data structures, the language constructs, recursion, etc..... which is the usual list of things
2. Then, there is a META-level of concepts, skills, etc.... that are REALLY the MOST important thing for me to impart to my students!
a. These include such things as mentioned above -
i. Clarity and completeness
ii. Comments
iii. Stretch and learn extra
iv. Efficient, BEAUTIFUL code (There is that BEAUTY again!!)
b. I seem to assume that the first level is there - by reading the book, listening and discussing in class, and if the program even WORKS, they basically got THAT part.... But then, I look for MORE - deeper, harder/
Now the question arises - “Do I keep the objectives / learning goals / etc. that are written the same as they currently are, or do I include these deeper values?” To me the anser is that I perhaps should include these deeper values in my syllabus, for the students... but leave the Official Statements as they currently are!
How do I present these to my students is the next question? My students came up with the same concepts without being prompted - I had them write them down, and then we compared them. Therefore, my values in grading are clear, if not explicitly stated. However, what about that first assignment? How does the student know for THAT one? That is the next thing that I need to add to my courses.