• June 09, 2008

    Reading:

    • Chapter 10 of Ramsden’s book
    • Gross Davis, B., Wood, L. & Wilson, R. (1983). Giving interesting assignments. A Berkeley compendium of suggestions for teaching with excellence. University of California.
      The Berkeley material provides an idea of the variety of types of assignments that might be used in a course and how to help students do well on them.

    • KU Writing Center. Assignment Design. University of Kansas.
    • Carbone, N. (2001). Thinking and talking about plagiarism. bedfordstmartins.com/technotes.

    Writing:

    • Please post a response to the assigned materials on the Dialogue Forum prior to the class on June 9. I would be particularly interested in hearing about how the material has influenced you to develop or revise your thinking about any particular assessment procedure or assignment you have been considering for your courses.
    • Please also post replies to at least two of your colleagues’ response papers before the class on June 11.

    If you have more time, you may find a look at some of the following valuable:

    • Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning (1997). Working in groups: A note to faculty and a quick guide for students.
      Group assignments are widely recommended as beneficial for learning, yet many students are highly resistant to group work. This material provides resources and guides, for both instructors and students, to help overcome the problems and gain the benefits of group assignments.
    • DiBattista, D. (2007). Getting the most out of multiple-choice questions. A workshop at the York University Centre for the Support of Teaching.
      If you are likely to be in a situation where you will be using multiple-choice testing, it is worthwhile investing some time in learning how to write good items at levels above knowledge and comprehension. DiBattista’s talk is a good start in this direction.

    • Wood, D. (1961). Test construction: Development and intrepretation of achievement tests. Columbus, Ohio: C.E. Merrill Books. [LB 3051 W56]
      Wood’s book is an old standard and for good reason; she is excellent on the technical aspects of constructing good test questions, particularly in the multiple-choice format.

    • Academic Integrity in Courses at York University
    • The Academic Integrity Tutorial
      York has developed an excellent set of resources for both teachers and students on academic integrity. There is a wealth of good material on the Academic Integrity site, and I highly recommend use of the Academic Integrity Tutorial if you are directing a course in which students will be writing papers. This online tutorial takes students through clear descriptions of what constitutes plagiarism and how to avoid it. The tutorial provides a test at the end that allows students to demonstrate that they have understood the material, and many instructors require their students to turn in a print-out of their results at an early class.

    • Library Tutorials and Research Guides.
      The library has created a number of other very good online tutorials for introducing students to use of the library for a variety of kinds of assignments. Follow the link above for a complete list. I particularly suggest introducing your students to the Subject Research Guide for your discipline.