Joyful grading topic of Friday lunch
Mar. 29—Most educators may not think of the words joyful and grading in the same sentence, but Clark Moreland is hosting a lunch and learn to that effect on Friday.
It's the UT System Faculty Developers Lunch and Learn titled "Reclaiming the Joy of (No Foolin') Grading. It is scheduled for noon to 1 p.m. Friday at the Heimmermann Center for Engaged Teaching on the second floor of the Mesa Building.
Educators from around the UT System were talking about the needs faculty have presented at various institutions and the word joy came up again and again, said Moreland, lecturer and director of the Heimmermann Center for Engaged Teaching.
"We've gone through a dark period ... all of us in the entire world. The last couple of years have been a challenge, both in terms of our own mental health and that finding joy in our work. And also our students ... have been presented with innumerable challenges the last couple of years with remote learning and with adjusting to these new realities of the pandemic, not to mention the recent conflict in Eastern Europe. And so we got to talking about how can we find joy in our teaching; how can we find joy in our work? ..."
Moreland arrived at grading as his topic in the series.
"I can't tell you a single teacher I know who got into teaching, who chose this profession to grade, to assess student learning. That was not the reason I and most teachers chose this profession. I got back to thinking of my early days of my career. I had a dean, who was very instrumental in sort of a mentor for me and sort of showed me the ropes. And I remember a phrase which sticks out of my mind to this day, he said, grading is the work of this profession," Moreland said.
"At the time, I took that to me it's the drudgery. It's the required work that everyone must do in the profession, but it's not. It's not what you get up in the morning to do. It's just something you have to do. But over the years, I think I've come to see something more profound in what he meant, which is it is central to our work and it's central to student success. ...," he added.
Over the years, Moreland said he has learned that taking grading as a joyful act can be transformative for students.
"Grading is one of those areas of our work where we get to directly interact with students, where we get to know their names, get to know their stories; where we get to give individualized feedback. That is critical for student success," he added.
Moreland said there are strategies not to think of grading as drudgery, but to think of it as a core part of educators' work in terms of helping students grow and succeed in their various pursuits.
"So I'm going to be giving a presentation about how to do that. I'm also going to be talking about how we can grade equitably; how we can ensure that our assessment procedures are just and fair. I will be talking about ways to be efficient in grading and not fall behind, especially in certain disciplines. Faculty often struggle with just keeping up with grading. With all of our other responsibilities, grading sometimes tends to fall behind, so I'll be speaking about strategies for providing prompt feedback. ... There's a plethora of research out there which says that effective feedback is promptly given. And conversely, if students don't hear in a relatively quick amount of time from their faculty about how they're doing in a course, then it has a detrimental impact on their success," Moreland said.
"But above all, beyond efficiency, beyond even the issues of justice and fairness and grading, I want to talk about how we can truly come to enjoy it and think of it as core to our work. How we can make it personal and even fun," he added.
He noted that the talks are interactive and he'll be using Mentimeter where attendees can provide feedback. Faculty and staff are going to be involved.
"They're going to be sharing their strategies and I hope to learn just as much in giving this talk as I hope they learn from me," Moreland said.
