Purpose Statement
If I had to sum up the philosophy of student success
initiatives in one brief oversimplification (which I don't have to do, but feel
compelled to anyway!), I would say that they involve articulating, or making
explicit, the myriad habits, skills, and ways of thinking that make for
effective learning. Many of our students just do not know how to be good
students: no one has ever showed them. (Some may have told them, but telling
isn't enough.)
My Point System helps to foster study habits and task precision in two ways.
First, it reminds students of what they should and should not do in order to
earn the grade they want in my class. Second, it includes many small assignments,
ones that lead up to the larger projects. These smaller assignments teach good
study habits: for example, before a student turns in a paper, they must write
an outline and a rough draft, steps we might take for granted, but ones they
might not take if they were not assigned.
Description of
Activity
For every class I break down the required work into a range
of assignments, each with a certain number of points attached, for a total of
1,000 points. I also have a category of minus points: for excused and unexcused
absences and for being tardy. (I have been ambivalent about this category--it
seems a little too controlling--but continue to include it.) In the next
section I include two examples of point systems, with explanatory annotations
in brackets (in bold, Geneva type so that they will clearly stand out).
(Whoops--font differences, including bold face and underlining, have not
translated into this format. Therefore, my comments in brackets do not stand
out as clearly as I would like, and my sample handouts are missing some
highlighting.)
Materials Needed
You could create a single handout with the list of all your
class assignments, and their point values. Smashed into this little box, please
find two samples of such handouts.
Example 1
Name: English 100
Dr. Monda
English 100 Tally Sheet
(Total Possible Points: 1,000)
Note: You must earn at least 730/1,000 points in order for me to submit your
portfolio to be read. Conversely, you may not lose any more than 270 points.
Also, you must write all seven papers (2 in-class and 5 out-of-class) and make
an oral presentation to the class in order to earn credit.
Student Presentation ( / ): _____ /100
[Students fill in the dates in parentheses,
which forces them to really read the
syllabus!]
SA #1 ( / ): _____ /10
[These short assignments help them prepare for
the larger assignment: in this case, they
involve, first, annotating the text the in-
class essay is based on, and, second, writing
an outline.]
SA #2 ( / ): _____ /10
In-class essay 1 ( / ): _____ /50
SA #3 ( / ): _____ /10
Rough draft paper 1 ( / ): ____ /25
typed(?): +5
[Because English 100 is a credit/ no credit
class I give extra points for typing their
drafts. I think a typed draft is easier for
them to analyze and revise, but I don't want
to require it to be typed. In my graded
courses I do not give these extra points
because I do not want to inflate their final
grades.]
SA #4 ( / ): _____ /10
Final draft paper 1 ( / ): _____ /100 Revision(?): +_____
[English 100 uses a portfolio system: students
revise their papers as many times as they wish
before submitting a final portfolio of their
best work. I can therefore use the
assigning of points as a way to ensure
revision: their first "final" draft rarely
earns more than 70 out of 100 points, so
students must do revisions.]
SA #5 ( / ): _____ /10
SA #6 ( / ): _____ /10
SA #7 ( / ): _____ /10
Rough draft paper 2 ( / ): _____ /25
typed(?): +5
SA #8 ( / ): _____ /10
Final draft paper 2 ( / ): _____ /100
Revision(?): +_____
SA #9 ( / ): _____ /10
SA #10 ( / ): _____ /10
SA #11 ( / ): _____ /10
Rough draft paper 3 ( / ): _____ /25
typed(?): +5
SA #12 ( / ): _____ /10
Final draft paper 3 ( / ): _____ /100
Revision(?): +_____
SA #13 ( / ): _____ /10
SA #14 ( / ): _____ /10
Rough draft paper 4 ( / ): _____ /25
typed(?): +5
SA #15 ( / ): _____ /10
In-class essay 2 ( / ): _____ /50
Final draft paper 4 ( / ): _____ /100
Revision(?): +_____
SA #16 ( / ): _____ /10
SA #17 ( / ): _____ /10
SA #18 ( / ): _____ /10
Final draft paper 5 ( / ): _____ /100
SA #19 ( / ): _____ /10
SA #20 ( / ): _____ /10
Total plus points: ____
Minus points:
Excused absences (-5 each):
[Because this is a credit/no credit class, and
because they can lose up to 270 points and
still earn credit, I take more points off than
I do in my other classes for absences,
tardies, and not bringing the text. Indeed, I
do not always include this last category,
because it is such a hassle to keep track of,
but in English 100 we really focus on teaching
students how to be students, and bringing
one's text is one of those habits.]
Unexcused absences (-10 each):
Tardies (2 free; then -5 each):
Failure to bring text (1 free; then -5 each):
Total minus points: ____
TOTAL POINTS EARNED: _____ / 1,000
Example 2
[In this second version of a point tally, for an English 111 class, I list the
short assignments in their own category, violating chronology. While staying
with chronology, as I do in the point tally example for English 100 above,
reminds students that each small assignment leads up to the larger assignments,
I also like to group assignments by type. In this example I also give the date
and type of short assignment. Sometimes I don't label the short assignments,
however, because I want to surprise them with pop quizzes. When I do this, I
leave space for them to write in the date and the activity.]
Name: Dr. Monda
English 111 Tally Sheet
(Total Possible Points: 1,000)
Paper #1 (two poems): ____ / 100
Paper #2 (in-class: Oedipus): ____ /100
Paper #3 (Hamlet): ____ /125
Paper #4 (in-class: stories): ____ /125
Research Project
3 Summaries: _____ /75
Paper: _____ /125
Final Exam: ____ /150
Short assignments (23--drop your lowest 3 scores--20 @ 10 pts. each--200 total
pts.)
SA 1 (1/27-favorite poem): ___ /10
SA 2 (1/29-"For My Daughter"): ___ /10
SA 3 (2/5-the war poems): ___ /10
SA 4 (imagery; or Hamlet): ___ /10
SA 5 (2/10-on the 6 poetry topics): ___ /10
SA 6 (2/12-Student Voices): ___ /10
SA 7 (2/17-rough draft P1): ___ /10
SA 8 (2/19-Oedipus quiz): ___ /10
SA 9 (2/24-Oedipus quiz): ___ /10
SA 10 (3/5-Act I Hamlet): ___ /10
SA 11 (3/10-Act II Hamlet quiz): ___ /10
SA 12 (3/17-Act IV and V Hamlet quiz): ___ /10
SA 13 (3/10-rough draft P2): ___ /10
SA 14 (4/6-Tan quiz): ___ /10
SA 15 (4/8-Baldwin, Gilman quiz): ___ /10
SA 16 (4/16-research proposal): ___ /10
SA 17 (4/16-Walker, Hemingway quiz): ___ /10
SA 18 (week 13-3 sources): ___ /10
SA 19 (4/21-Chopin, London quiz): ___ /10
SA 20 (4/23-Faulkner quiz): ___ /10
SA 21 (5/17-Beloved Part One quiz): ___ /10
SA 22 (5/14-Beloved Part Two quiz): ___ /10
SA 23 (5/19-Beloved quiz): ___ /10
TOTAL SA points: ____ /200
Extra credit (optional):
first activity: ___ /10 second activity: ___ /5
Total plus points: ____
Minus points:
Excused absences (- 1 each):
Unexcused absences (- 3 each):
Tardies (1 free; then -1 each):
Total minus points: ____
TOTAL POINTS EARNED: _____
Application
I usually hand out a photocopy of this tally sheet around
the eighth week of classes, with all points recorded up to that date. They can
then fill in the rest of the information themselves. I don't like to hand it
out right at the beginning because I hate to make grades and numbers the focus
immediately. Of course, this is a little inconsistent on my part, since I also
think it is important for the students to see how their day to day work for a
course contributes to their grade. However, I go over the point distribution on
the syllabus, so they know what they need to do. I still feel more comfortable
waiting to hand out this tally. When they get it around the eighth week, it
motivates them to recommit to the class: they think about extra credit, and
about not being tardy, and about completing all their short assignments in a
new way. Occasionally a student sees this tally and realizes they should
withdraw from the class.
Major drawback: as you might imagine, it is time consuming to keep this
detailed a tally on each student. I have so many short assignments to collect
and score. Also, it takes a while to list every student's absences and tardies,
not to mention keeping track of which absences are excused or not. I often
regret it different times during the semester, but feel that this level of
attention to their work teaches them the importance of all the small tasks that
lead to the larger tasks. Of course, I also teach fundamental skills-based
courses: many of you could have just a few short assignments in order to
prepare students for the paper or midterms you require. Also, for a large
lecture course you may not want to keep track of absences and tardies so
carefully: my classes depend a lot on discussion, which means that students who
are absent or late take away from others' learning as well as their own.
this
web page was created on 6/9/99 at 4:07:43 PM
and modified on 6/9/99 at 4:07:43 PM