In his book Small Teaching, James Lang (2021) discussed how to designing a course using his concept of “Practice” to break down and scaffold major course assessments with smaller formative activities can lead to better course outcomes for students. In my courses, as we revise our curriculum, I am moving toward breaking larger papers down into components for student to submit for feedback ahead of the larger final complete versions.

This goes beyond just submitting a proposal and an outline, which is the only scaffolding that many faculty include in their courses. Instead, I consider the major topics I expect to be covered and make them into optional drafts that students can submit for feedback as we cover similar course topics through the semester. This is in addition to other work that they are completing, not in exchange for it, and is truly optional. For example, in one undergraduate course, their major assessment is an analysis of a leader using the Kouzes and Posner Five Practices of Exemplary Leaders (2003; 2013) model as well as looking into other components of leadership. Since those other components each have a chapter dedicated in their text, as we cover that chapter, I put on the schedule a draft of that part of the leader analysis in addition to the activities for that lesson. These drafts are generally just a paragraph to a page and quick to “grade.” I can point out where the student is on the right track or not applying concepts correctly, where they forgot a citation or need more support, and give some writing skills notes, too.

This benefits students in multiple ways. They are practicing applying the concepts they are learning about as they learn about them—not just at the end of the semester. They are able to craft a better paper due to the feedback and editing notes, and this often leads to a more richly detailed discussion of the paper’s components. Last, they are less stressed at the end of term when it comes time to put the paper together in its entirety. Instead of having a 6-8 page paper to write in the last weeks of class, they simply pull together all of their drafts and smooth out the transitions between sections. Students note on my course evaluations that they love the way the class is set up and that the drafts are optional, so that weeks when they have more time, they can get ahead, and weeks when they don’t, they know they can put it off. They also like that it’s optional in that they can just do it on their own and not submit if they won’t be on time, with some saying that they did this to allow them to make progress and sought feedback from the campus Writing Center.

Does this add to my grading load? A bit, but consider three things. One, the feedback we’re giving is formative, and we don’t have to wrestle with giving a grade. Two, not all students take advantage of it. The most I’ve ever had is half of a class of 40 submitting some of the drafts—very few students submit all of them (and they are generally the students who need the least help!). And three, final grading goes more quickly for the students who did submit drafts (remember, up to half of the class usually does this!) as you’re marking fewer errors, and they’ve had the chance to correct missteps or develop discussions that you won’t have to note on the final copy.

I’ve also been asked, “But doesn’t this skew your grade distribution?” To those folks I ask, “Don’t you mean, ‘Don’t your students score better on the rubric because they are demonstrating that they learned the skills/achieved the outcomes that the assignment targeted?’” I, for one, don’t see that as a problem!

Resources:

Kouzes, J.M. and B.Z. Posner. (2003). The Leadership Challenge. Jossey-Bass, 3rd ed. Kouzes, J. M., and Barry Z. Posner. (2013): "The Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership: How Ordinary People Make Extraordinary Things Happen" in Encyclopedia of Management Theory, Kessler, E.H. (ed.). Los Angeles: Sage. Lang, J. (2021). Small Teaching: Everyday Lessons from the Science of Learning. Jossey-Bass, 2nd ed.

Contributor:
Wren Mills, Ph.D.
Pedagogical Assistant Professor
Western Kentucky University