Instructors cannot tell if students understand or just copy text

“This is a genuine question. I am a new adjunct, so thiis why I'm asking. I teach writing in composition to college freshman. Pur, the college requirements students are given four major essays. In class we do smaller writings, more content focused, where I provide in class feedback, along with heavy feedback on Essay 1. My question is how heavy of the feedback do you provide on the subsequent essays? Should all essays have feedback if a rubric is provided? submitted by /u/FederalH”

“I feel like I spend a lot of time and effort on AP Lit but it is also my worst class by far. I just got back my first major grade and it is a lot worse than my grades in my other senior year classes and also past honors english class grades. I just feel like the effort I put into the class is not materializing into results. But if I choose to withdraw from the class now and go to honors english, it will be shown as a withdraw in my transcript. Is it a bad idea to choose to withdraw? I don't”

“Students, If my rubric says "write at least 10 sentences" and you are struggling to get to 8, I recommend you try using shorter sentences and get to at least 10. We both realize that this doesn't show any more knowledge, but when there's a rubric, use it to your advantage. Got more to add? submitted by /u/hungerforlove [link] [comments]”

“My students just completed their midterm on the psychology of adolescence. It’s the first exam I’ve ever made, and consisted of 55 multiple choice questions, many scenario-based (a short case example and then a question). I tried to make it fair, but also challenging. For example, a lot of the questions were ones that asked what the BEST response was (so yes, there were response options that could have worked but they were never the best response). I also included a handful of questions with res”

“Looking for help from the freshman comp teachers. Does anyone have an expository/ example/explanatory essay prompt they would share? I need something students can write in a 50 minute class as an essay test. I will be assessing basic structure: thesis, topic sentences, evidence, commentary, and general clarity of thinking. Appreciate any help. Thanks. submitted by /u/Two_DogNight [link] [comments]”

“Hey guys I have a class of foreign language for immigrants and I’m running into two issues: One of my classes simply doesn’t read nor listen to the instruction to make an exercise and they just do it and get everything wrong. I’ve tried to create a dynamic where they do an exercise, hold on for a moment for the correction then I explain the following exercise, but they are refusing to stop working on the worksheet. This leads to me having to explain and correct the same exercise about 10 times.”

“What would you think if your advisor came back with this feedback on your essays… because I’m genuinely confused I always need AI to interpret (this guys gets paid hella lot a money) 1st: Dear Lucia, Thank you for your patience. First, I think your Dartmouth essay on books is... not as good as it could be, given you love books (the Matt Haig essay). It also repeats points from your main essay, which is a no-no, unless you expand on the ideas. I think your Stanford application is ok. I would not”

“I teach an intro science course for first year college students at a large private university. My chair emailed me expressing concern that I must post my lecture slides for the students. I want my students to learn to take good notes because they are studying to be health care professionals and this is an important professional skill. My guess is some students have complained to an administrator. Am I wrong to expect college students to take notes? submitted by /u/TieIndependent3859”

“This morning I had a group of 7th grade who asked me to let them study for a Geography exam they had later, and I thought it was a good opportunity to practice writing, which is EFL, since Geography is taught in English as well. Content-based learning, you know. I asked for the material that they had to study for the exam and started writing questions about it on the board. They were sooo confused and didnt want to do them because the other teacher had given them the questions that would be on t”

“Once a semester I DO straight-up lecture, and my students take notes. I do it with the door shut. My kids have to have that experience if they're planning to attend university. Interestingly, that topic is consistently the one that they NAIL on the subsequent test. [re: IT’S FINALLY HAPPENING: Sold a Story Season 2 investigates how a broken educational policy system lead to the downfall of direct instruction]”

“I've seen a few discussions about open-ended assignments like “Pick any topic and make a presentation.” I can see the appeal, but I wonder how often students get stuck choosing a topic before they even get to the assignment itself. From the outside, it seems hard to tell whether a student has too many options, doesn't understand what's expected, or just needs some time to work out an idea. When this happens in your classroom, how do you decide whether to offer a few choices or give t”

“There’s a difference between actively sythesizing and organizing information in notes and copying down stuff word for word. What do you think true average student in the US is doing when their teacher lectures for 50 mins? And doctors do more than just take notes in lecture. They do a lot of self quizzing and practice and application. Otherwise, med school can just be watching videos of lectures [re: IT’S FINALLY HAPPENING: Sold a Story Season 2 investigates how a broken educational policy syste”

“Hello! So next next week I'll have a demo for the topic: Quoting, Paraphrasing and Summarizing for Grade 10 English. I still haven't figured out a good instructional material for this topic although I have my lesson plan and ICT integrations settled down. I need help in figuring out an instructional material (traditional) that fits this lesson other than printing classroom rules and etc. Any suggestion is appreciated. Thank you! submitted by /u/depressedapplepie [link]”

“Every semester I would have at least one student spend six hours at my desk trying to write pseudocode for a two line assignment (printing numbers from 1 to 10). There's a real paralysis of "what if I mess up". The professors required they write the code themselves. My only condition for helping was that they had to put something (literally anything) on the page before I could start to tell them how to improve it. My [re: Intro to Python at a community college: what did I do to mys”

“Not a rant. Just wondering what I can do differently. I wanted students to work in groups of 3-4 on 4 question and write down their own answers after discussing each question as a group. I was explicit that the group worked on the same question at the same time and then moved on to the next question when all were done with that question. After instructions, they break into groups and all just work individually on the 4 questions. So individual work, but sitting together. I asked why they weren’t”

“High school science, year 11 teaching. I can get students to copy almost anything. Cornell format, guided notes, two column notes, vocabulary boxes. Compliance is not the issue. Two weeks later a large chunk of them look at the same page like someone else wrote it. Meanwhile a few students who barely write half a page can explain the concept cold because they actually stop and retrieve it. I am less interested in prettier notes and more interested in a routine that makes the notes do something a”

“I mean - students are taught the content but not taught how to study alone. But not sure if this is a concern or not. When a student isn’t doing well in school the first thing they say is “I’ll get a tutor.” But that’s more worrying for us teachers and we feel like they are going to rely on them rather than become more independent [re: Tuition - finding a gap]”

“I saw a post asking the same, and at first I thought it was a shitpost, but people in the comments seemed too serious for that so is this real?? submitted by /u/avamich11 [link] [comments]”

“I’m not sure what to do anymore. Students can’t handle simple tasks, either by themselves or with a partner. It could be a simple jigsaw document analysis with one or two questions where they teach each other. I use a timer, model, and let them know the expectations. They just put it off and/or talk through it. Gallery walks are now turning into opportunities for them to be out of their seat and mess around. Lately I have been resorting to whole group instruction. It’s exhausting but seems to be”

“thanks for trying it, that's useful. the row opening the breakdown needs a clearer cue. i've noted it so we can review that part. were you on mobile or desktop? [re: students who take practice tests: can you try vithi's mock score history?]”

? submitted by /u/xtremexavier15 [link] [comments]

“I think I royally messed up a presentation that was supposed to explain a paper’s research and findings to the class (they did not read it). Every time I have to do a presentation, it just goes horribly awry and never like I practiced. It doesn’t matter if it's about my own research or I am explaining findings from a paper. As I read the paper or am making the presentation things make sense, and it feels like everything is going to flow well. I make scripts and practice, and I always feel li”

“They’re informing me on this post that they didn’t do class discussions of books past middle school. In high school they pick a book from a list and report on it, but they don’t all discuss the same book as a class. My mind was blown. [re: I don’t care if they are bored]”

“I'm a 12G student and I have to write an essay in my finals so can anybody give me tips to enhance my writing this is an example of what i usually write like: Although it is a hot topic, one must admit that whether making school uniform compulsory is beneficial, schools around the world are increasingly choosing to make it compulsory, which is reasonable. For example, according to a new scientific report, students in schools with a compulsory uniform are more confident and can express themse”

“I typically teach a spread of both lower and upper division writing composition courses. Last year, I did not teach the GE writing course, but this fall I am (3 sections) Here’s my problem: For 5 years (not including last year) I’ve used the same prompt for one of my units in this GE course and I’ve kept it because students in the past have really enjoyed the prompt. The students and I look over the prompt together, read student samples and do a vast majority of pre-writing (thesis + outlining +”

submitted by /u/Due_Donut7567 [link] [comments]

“What’s up w students expecting a “study guide” prior to a test or “practice test”. I provide ample structure to my course materials, quizzes, homeworks, etc. At some point, they have to take ownership of their studying and preparation. It’s as if the responsibility of them be ready for an exam is on the instructor, instead of the student. I have caved in some of my courses and provided a practice test, but then the students expect a clone of that for the test itself. How are you all handling the”

“another thing i've known teachers to do to preserve some degree of grading integrity is simply not actually grade the work until revisions/retakes/etc. have brought the quality up to whatever minimum whoever has put in place. until it's a 70, it's missing. i know a district nearby that made minimum grades - in HIGH SCHOOL - a 60. nothing could be given less than a 60. ferpa rules say nothing is a grade until it's in the gradebook (eg you can have kids grade each others work/quizz”

“I made the mistake of giving my online students the benefit of the doubt (I know) by assigning a few discussions during the semester where they analyze an article that deals with the week's topic. As you can imagine, it is mostly AI slop. I caught one student because they left a line in their response which was obviously AI, and they admitted using AI when confronted. There is another student who used highly technical terms in their response that were not even in the article. One was an term”

“hey everyone greetings!! all the writers and anyone who are able to write good essays and have got excellent grades in English . plus, my native language is not English I am here for help so that one day I can be able to publish my own research paper related to my field one day over here how should I improve my English. I am good in all my academic subject except for English. I can fluently speak English, can understand and even communicate in English easily but when it comes to writing essays,”

“I’m required to use a text that was written by one the faculty members. The text is riddled with some stories and non-research-based practices that could be deemed as damaging if students acted on those practices. The overall message of the book is solid but the content leaves me raising an eyebrow on why we would use this text. As a first-year adjunct, is it worth saying something, just leave it alone, or is there a third option? Should I call out the poor practices within the text? My biggest”

“For an annotated bibliography, a student cited a Sparknotes page and listed the author as “Notes, Spark” I’ve spent 3 weeks with them on this stuff so it is abysmal But also so fucking funny, dude EDIT: It’s an intro research class, and a couple of popular sources are allowed. It’s not about citing Sparknotes. It’s about the way they cited the webpage as an author. submitted by /u/queer_aspasia [link] [comments]”

“Study the feedback guides to understand how you are graded, there is an easy pattern/template, memorize it. One sentence/word will take you from a pass to a fail in your case writing. Understand the layout of the handbook and how to search fast. MCQ's are standard and there is plenty of practice. [re: Core 1 advice]”

“I get these messages from students that translate into: "It's too hard to think. Just give me the answer." "I didn't remember that." I teach comp sci. My course material is me condensing the material into literally no more than a single paragraph and example per "page", and then, actually highlighting in blue the items that need to be committed to memory. I had a message from a student that said - I have been working on your programming assignment for hours”

“I did a search of the sub before asking and couldn't really find what I was looking for, so apologies if this was asked in the past. I teach a freshman seminar course, and the major project of the course is completion of a scaffolded research project. Students must first submit a topic and have it approved, followed by formation of research question, annotated bibliography, etc. etc. I'm reviewing student topics, and one student has proposed the topic of exploring Title IX in women's”

“What went wrong exactly? [re: I got tired of rereading my notes and calling it studying, so I made a little tutor that makes me explain them instead]”

submitted by /u/ExtremeAnalyst1405 [link] [comments]

“Document behavior, then send to the office once the documentation is sufficient to warrant administrative intervention. With regards to grades...fail him. [re: Death by a thousand paper cuts]”

“One of my classes is mostly discussion with a few tiny slides. The professor will explain a caveat, give an example, or say this is where the assumption breaks down, then move on before I have managed to write anything useful. The slides cover the headings, but the spoken bits are what show up in the short answer questions. I have started using AskSia’s live transcript, where recording is allowed, and writing down only the questions or moments I want to revisit instead of trying to type every se”

“Story Statement As a student I want the tutor to understand my working so that it can find where my reasoning went wrong rather than only marking the final answer. Metadata | Field | Value | | : | : | | Epic | E1 (Guided practice and Socratic tutoring) | | Priority | P0 (MVP Must) | | Linked Requirements | FR 03, FR 04 | | Dependencies | TECH 04, TECH 06 | | Out of Scope | Handwritten or image based working | | Success Metric | At least 99% alignment between tutor feedback and verifier result fo”

submitted by /u/Separate_Loan_1726 [link] [comments]

“I feel like some of his examples of supplementals are quite generic and nowadays could get a student rejected. Am I wrong for thinking that? submitted by /u/mati79355 [link] [comments]”

“Basically they are not even bothering to read what they turn in. 😑 I think going forward we would have presentations with every assignment of any size. Everyone has to get up and share what they did for their project and why. Tell us the basic idea and what/ how you researched it. Tell us what you struggled with, and whether you’re happy with how it turned out. What would you do if you had more time? Etc. Make a big part of the grade being able to discuss their thinking. Because the artifact th”

“Just wanted to share a nice thing. I've been teaching creative writing, and pushing students pretty hard on both the writing and analysis sides of things, and I always worry that stuff is going over their heads or that I'm too abstract. Well, I've been seeing more connections, and today two really delightful students, who often don't speak that much in class, came and visited my office hours "just to hang out." We had a wide-ranging discussion about the arts, their goal”

“So many students now when they upload an assignment to the LMS include the comment in the dialogue box, “I’m not sure I did this right.” What is the point of that comment, especially if you’ve never asked me a question about the assignment? What is the goal here? submitted by /u/Bulky-Meringue-1193 [link] [comments]”

“I just need to rant for a second. I teach Marine Science to high school seniors. For their 9 weeks project, they needed choose from one of the following types of projects: a 1500 word essay, a community service project, a book report, or an art project. They had about 2 weeks to work on the project in class and they knew about it since the beginning of the year because of our syllabus. A good few of the students chose the art project because it was probably the easiest choice. However, those tha”

submitted by /u/palomofernando123 [link] [comments]

“I’m a first time TA grading a quiz and my head is just spinning. The students had access to notes during the quiz (including ones I wrote myself for them with explicit step by step explanations of the biological mechanism), but their responses are jumbled up strings of key words. It’s like asking someone to explain how to make a PB&J sandwich and their response was to put the peanut butter on the jelly and then the peanut butter on the bread. Add in a bunch of misplaced modifiers and I’m won”

“I often have students from other classes coming to me for help. Not so much on the actual assignments, but usually to help them brainstorm topics for research papers and the like. I'm not sure what to think about it. On the one hand I'm flattered that I apparently have a reputation for being helpful. On the other hand, it's sometimes a little annoying that other Professors aren't doing this for their students. And I sometimes suspect they send them to me. submitted by”

“Thanks, glad it helped. "Staring at nonsense during a review session" is exactly what I wanted to avoid. What do you usually do with your notes between a lecture and a review, and what's the annoying part?”

“Grading is going to be dependent significantly on the content. Grading quizzes in math is quicker than essays for English. Don't think you need to grade everything or grade every day. You contract may specify how often you grade. Otherwise, it's up to you. Grade most or perhaps all assignments on completion or effort. As you score them, select a question or two that you can check to see if you need to cover a topic more or if clarification for the class may be needed. Stop thinking you c”

“This is a general ed freshman seminar class. They truly lack the basic skills of analysis. Sure, they know know what an intro, body paragraphs, and their conclusion does. But majority just seemed like they were throwing words together and hoping it makes a sentence. And this was an open book exam. They were supposed to quote from the chapters assigned. Some wrote on random stuff I never assigned. Obviously some forgot their books and just came up with something vague. Even if they wrote on what”

“This might seem like a dumb question, but do colleges want genuine, mundane answers for the short questions, or should you try to make your answer deeper then it actually is? I'm just a little confused on how ur supposed to answer the short questions. Any help is greatly apricated! submitted by /u/BirdInternational365 [link] [comments]”

“But I think that’s the controversy…. I don’t think anyone is pushing back on students because they write essays about how they prefer Edmund Burke’s traditionalism to Thomas paine’s rebuttal. The problem is when these little bastards start spouting online right wing groyper nonsense”

submitted by /u/Informal-Basket3555 [link] [comments]

“I score these blind to the name and just sort them into three piles as I go, low, mid, high, based on whether I’m fighting to understand the sentence or just noticing a few verb tense slips”

“Eh, depends on the context. If you're teaching a reading that you know is meant to be a little difficult, it's fine to define archaic words like "quaff" or "caitiff" or "bedlam" means. But then there's the kids who are just clearly being lazy or SHOULD know the definition of the word if they spent even 1 millijoule of brain power on context clues.”

“I watch the Modern MBA youtube channel. It has a lot of interesting stories. I learned more from those. If your goal is learning, why does it have to be a research paper? Seems like a local networking event would more suit your needs.”

“We are approaching pre-registration advising. Those of you who also teach undergrads and have lots of advisees, do you have any tricks/worksheets/apps you’d be willing to share? I have made a worksheet. It's ok but the process is still crazy time-consuming, especially with 20+ advisees every semester. I'm open to any and all suggestions. submitted by /u/SystemeD [link] [comments]”