The Grading for Equity Twitter chat is tonight at 8pm EST, although some West Coasters have been coming in later and taking part somewhat asynchronously -- there are no late penalties in this chat! This week, we will be continuing the discussion of biased grading practices with chapter 10: Practices That Value Knowledge, Not Environment or Behaviour (continued)... aka the Homework chapter. Please feel free to join in the discussion! Here are this week's questions:
- What, in your opinion, is the purpose of homework, especially in physics or science classes?
- Think about students in your class who routinely do not complete homework. What sorts of things might be stopping students from getting homework done?
- How do you count homework in your current grading practices? If a student does not complete homework, what is at stake for them?
- Feldman argues that we actually encourage cheating by giving points for homework; b/c students know they'll be penalized for not doing it, copying seems a reasonable strategy. Have you seen this to be true? How can we avoid inadvertently encouraging cheating?
- How might we support our vulnerable students - those who need more time to do homework or those who have fewer supports and resources outside the school - and who most need the practice that homework is designed to provide?
Incidentally, in one of his questions at the end of the chapter, Feldman suggests comparing marks/grades of a class with and without homework and participating categories. I've done something similar to this (with quizzes & looking at different weights for assignments, eg, since I've never "counted" homework or participation), and it can be eye-opening. Highly recommended.
Last week's chat is archived in this Wakelet You can access all the past chats from the resources section. See you tonight!
