In a previous teaching tip you learned about postponing grading, to improve active blended learning. This week we’re expanding on this by showing students examples of finished assignments.
Show students examples of high quality finished assignments
For the bigger type of assignments - like physics problem-solving, a research study, a project, or a presentation - you can save time by showing students good examples of a finished assignment on forehand. Preferably, these are examples where you elaborate on your feedback with comments (either written or video) and explain what exactly you consider good or bad, and why (so-called worked examples). For example:
- these example papers that explain what APA formatted documents look like;
- this website with fully worked out physics problems;
- or this website with examples of academic phrases.
This approach is an effective way of giving so-called feed up: you make it clear beforehand what the students should strive for.
The example that you give should contain a different case example than the one you’re asking your students to make in their assignment. This way, your example shows mainly the structure of the end product or the method for solving a problem. Showing good and bad examples will also save you time because you will have to explain less during feedback afterwards.
This tip is a bit different from didactic tip 7, where you ask students to formulate their answers first and do not give them access to other examples on forehand.
Digital support
Canvas makes it easy to provide sample materials.