Providing feedback on homework tasks
As we all know, one of the biggest issues in education currently is marking and workload. Having to mark homework tasks frequently is obviously only going to exacerbate this stressed situation. This is again why ensuring the quality in design of the tasks is imperative.
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As noted here, and here and here, homework is often categorised by 3 types: consolidation and practice, retrieval practice, and independent thinking tasks. In terms of the first 2, there are many ways to reduce the burden of marking on the teacher.
- put answers on board and get students to self-mark, then ask for scores of who got above the threshold you believe is strong work. This will not embarrass those who don't have their hands up. Alternatively, gather scores as you wander the room during the next activity. If it's the majority of the class, you need to teach the sequence again.
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- use an online quiz maker that marks the work for you. This is perfect for retrieval practice. See here
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As we have discussed, the nature of independent tasks will require a normal feedback process. There are many useful blogs to read about reducing feedback time:
- Kristian
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