Volume 1: Reimagining Remote Teaching, Issue 1
In face to face classes we can engage our students through our personalities. We keep our students focused with non-verbal feedback, entertaining stories, and jokes. Unfortunately, in a remote class, these skills do not always translate. With this in mind, we must reimagine how we are going to structure our remote, synchronous classes so we do not end up with the dreaded “Mute and walk”.
Simply put, we must stop our students from logging into class, hitting mute, and then walking away while we talk at them. Volume one of ReImagining Remote Teaching discusses how modifying our course assignments and grading policies will encourage student attendance and keep them actively engaged in class.
Grading
When grading for the semester, consider the following breakdown:
These assignments are completed during class and should count for roughly 30% of your entire grade. This means, if students do not engage routinely in class, they will not be able to earn higher than a 70% for the course.
One way to accomplish this is by creating a “note taking” template for the day and have it available in your blackboard shell. Students can download it and take notes during class for the day. These notes will include review lectures, discussions, and small group interactions. Students should record initial comments and then add detailed notes as content is discussed in more depth. At the end of each class, students will submit their assignment in either a discussion board or as an assignment.
If a student is using a mobile device to log into class, let them know they can write their notes onto regular paper, take photos of them, and load them into blackboard for their grade.
One additional thought to consider: you can also have students complete a reflection after class which is submitted as a homework assignment but can only be completed if they attended class. Simply ask students to write a 100 – 200 word reflection answering a reflection prompt
similar to one of these: What was the most shocking idea discussed today?, What idea from your small groups do you believe should be explored more?, What questions do you still have from today’s class?, If you have no questions about today’s class, summarize the key learning ideas we discussed., How do you see today’s content being useful in the “real world”?, Take one idea from today and apply it to something in today’s world.
Grading these assignments can be done quickly and efficiently with a holistic rubric similar to this one:
- A – Exception detail is provided in all note taking. Initial notes are included for all activities in class, and additional bullet point notes are added in each activity which elaborate on content and topics as ideas are explored more deeply during class.
- B – Notes are taken for all initial activities in class. Additionally, most activities include elaborated bullet points on content and topics as the ideas were explored more deeply in class.
- C – Notes were taken in most initial activities in class, and there are inconsistent elaboration notes on content and topics discussed more deeply during class.
- D – There are more than 3 missing notes on initial activities in class and there are less than 3 elaboration notes on content and topics discussed more deeply during class.
- F – There are some initial notes and no elaboration notes, or there were no notes at all taken during class.
Homework is just that, homework. This is what you would typically assign, like reading guides over chapters, pre-quizzes, publisher content. Your homework assignments should count for roughly 30% of your entire grade. Combined with your synchronous class assignments, this would mean 60% of a student’s grade is tied up in formative learning expectations which require them to be actively engaged in absorbing and processing content.
Summative assignments consist of exams, tests, projects, presentations and papers. These assignments should make up 40% of your overall class grade.
For faculty who use a point system when grading, you can use the following chart to help you translate % into total points. You can convert your own points system using the following calculation: total course points X assignment %. For example, 3000 total points X 30% = 900 points.
| Assignment Type | 100 Total Points | 1000 Total Points | 2000 Total Points | 3000 Total Points | 4000 Total Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
30% Asynchronous Class Assignments |
30 total points | 300 total points | 600 total points | 900 total points | 1200 total points |
|
30% Homework Assignments |
30 total points | 300 total points | 600 total points | 900 total points | 1200 total points |
|
40% Summative Assignments |
40 total points | 400 total points | 800 total points | 1200 total points | 1600 total points |
Syllabus
While the table and percentages might make sense above, being able to translate this information into your syllabus can be an entirely different thing. To this end, I have created a way to present both the percentages model and the total points model in your syllabus, depending on which approach you plan to use. Again, please know these are just samples and feel free to ignore, modify or, use as needed for your own syllabi.
Percentages
All assignments in our course fall into one of three categories. These categories include Synchronous Class Assignments, Homework Assignments, and Summative Assignments. A more detailed explanation of these assignments can be found below:
- Synchronous Class Assignments make up 30% of your overall grade for the class. These assignments include all work you are required to do during our scheduled class time. These assignments can include taking notes for the day, completing surveys, and participating in polls. If you do not attend class and actively participate, you will not be able to earn 30% of your grade, which means the best you can earn in our class is a 70%, or a C.
- Homework Assignments make up another 30% of your overall grade for the class. These assignments are to be completed between classes on your own and submitted prior to the beginning of our next class session. For example, our class begins at 8am. Your homework must be submitted by 7:59am the day of our class. Your homework assignments include readings from the textbook, completing reading guides, completing publisher materials, and taking pre-class quizzes. Just like the Synchronous Class assignments, if you do not complete your homework, the best you can earn in our class is a 70%, or a C.
- Summative Assignments make up 40% of your overall grade for the class. Summative assignments include our midterm, final exam, and paper. If you do not complete these assignments, the best you can earn in our class is a 60%, or a D.
Total Points
All assignments in our course fall into one of three categories. These categories include Synchronous Class Assignments, Homework Assignments, and Summative Assignments.
Synchronous Class Assignments:
These assignments are completed during class. The specific assignments and total points for each assignment are listed below:
1. Daily Class notes 30 classes 10 points each 300 total points
Homework Assignments:
These assignments are completed between classes. They must be submitted at least 1 minute prior to our next class meeting. The specific assignments and total points for each assignment are listed below:
2. Content Reflections 10 classes 10 points each 100 total points
3. Chapter Guides 10 chapters 10 points each 100 total points
4. Textbook Questions 10 assignments 10 points each 100 total points
Summative Assignments
These assignments are completed to show mastery of content. They are long term assignments and have set due dates. The specific assignments and total points for each assignment are listed below:
5. Midterm Exam 1 exam 100 points 100 total points
6. Final Exam 1 exam 200 points 200 total points
7. Paper 1 paper 100 points 100 total points
Total Assignments: 63 Total Points: 1000
