This is a game changer – a new way to do writing assignments in a large enrollment class Jon Harbor 7 Writing Assignments 7 Weeks 700 Students 1 TA

We all think students should learn to write…… Proposal Rewritten Final Peer Review Draft

We all think students should learn to write…… but, Students don’t learn much from feedback unless they are evaluated on rewriting Highly variable peer review unless there is training and evaluation Massively time consuming for the instructor

Then came… Effective writing assignments online Calibrated Peer Review (CPR) Effective writing assignments online with much less instructor time..... Web-based writing assignments. Students: submit their assignment assess 3 instructor-written assignments (calibrate / learn) assess 3 assignments of other students (peer review) assess their own assignment (self assessment)

We even did research on it “reading the feedback of my peers on my writing has given me confidence that I can get my points across effectively in writing.” “great tool to help improve upon writing” “The main benefit from this is seeing what other students mess up on, and learning from their mistakes...” “CPR is better than a term paper. It does make us think more about our class work which would otherwise be mindless memorization and repetition. It basically makes us learn the material.” “By reading other’s work it reinforces the learning material” “During the calibrations section of three peer articles, I was able to develop a critiquing skill”

Then ITaP developed GRADIENT A standalone tool, can be accessed through Blackboard Instructor: Create Assignment, Rubric, Calibration Responses, Deadlines Student: Assignment, Calibration, Peer Review, Self Assessment Instructor: Deal with problems (missed work), requests for regrades

And it does not have to be only text

EAPS (7 week course) 7 writing assignments (+2 extra credit) 700 students Before - Create a new assignment: 2 to 8 hr During - Deal with problems and grades: 1-3 hr After - Update an assignment: 1-2 hr + intro video and handout for students new to gradient Campus wide, >2000 students/semester and 26 instructors using gradient. ITaP studio staff provide great support.

This is a game changer – a new way to do writing assignments in a large enrollment class Jon Harbor Want more info? Google Purdue ITaP Gradient