It’s pretty good but a bit long. I’d recommend Siddhartha if you’re unfamiliar with Hesse’s style. It’s much shorter and shares many themes with The Glass Bead Game.

Thanks for your comment Dr. Nelson. i’ll definitely be looking more into Audrey Watter’s blog!

Thank you for your post. I agree that meaningful feedback works best, but I’ve also had so many students requests for grading rubrics (especially if they get wind that there is one). I am very hesitant about handing over the rubrics – there a varied number of reasons for this.

I have often used grading rubrics as a general guideline – I first assign a preliminary grade based on the rubric and go back and adjust the grade based on how I felt about the quality of the overall assignment (i.e. creativity and originality).

Don’t you think poor grades will help you identify knowledge gaps, that can be addressed in future lectures? Poor grades have never discouraged me from learning on the contrary it has made me put in more effort.

Surprisingly, I’ve enjoyed my grad school take home exams more. Mostly, because they have been far more challenging. I agree that the tests maybe hyper-specialized, but there is so much fun in tackling a new problem/puzzle with new found knowledge. On the other hand, undergrad take home tests were rather bland and numerical based where the bigger picture was often missing.

Yeah, that’s what I found best about repeated testing. It always kept me on my toes, otherwise I would just procrastinate till the test.

Thanks for your comment, yes, low-stakes (possibly non-graded) tests with lots of feedback from the instructor would be ideal whenever the format of the class allows for it. I’m glad that the repeated testing format has been studied extensively in pedagogical literature, I thought I was the only one advocating for more tests!

Wow. I am going to steal that metaphor. Thinking about the education system since the industrial revolution I wonder how many moons we have missed because we are only looking for the sixpence. Unfortunately according to the readings it is problem that is only getting worse in our current system. Thanks for a great post.

Can you link to some studies showing the efficacy of writing reflections? Last time I had to write one (really long time ago), I absolutely hated the idea and thought it was more work. Not sure if the teachers got anything out of it. Additionally, since I know that the teacher will be reading it I think there was an inherent bias in my responses to what I thought the teacher would want me to say rather than how I truly felt. For a lot of students first year courses are required classes and I’ve gotten the vibe that many of them wouldn’t want to be there if they had a choice. Maybe a reflection on what they expected out of the course and what they wish to get out of it maybe more appropriate?

That’s really a thought provoking idea and I think is a good balance point to the readings. Assessments do have some value. In the humanities there are a balance too. Early on in the semester I test my students on factual information, like the arguments a particular theorist makes. However, I am always looking for “value added” in their work, and if simply have them repeat to me the information which I gave to them with accuracy, the student has not added any value to the subject. I agree with the early comment that different types of assessments have different values and it is simply finding the right balance for the learner, the class, and the subject.