This list of common comments on mathematics papers, with comment codes, can be used to avoid rewriting the same comment on several papers. The codes are useful for de-emphasizing less important comments so students will focus on more important written-out comments. Tex and doc files are included both so the list can be modified and to enable copy/paste of comments onto student papers. This list is intended for short papers; a list for longer papers would need more comments focused on structure. The “grader” versions are designed to help educators quickly skim to find the code for a desired comment.
Read more →Posts Tagged Giving feedback
This 18-page resource for math instructors addresses questions of how to teach communication in an undergraduate math seminar. Most of the document focuses on questions of grading and providing feedback to students on their writing. It was written for a workshop with M.I.T. math instructors preparing to teach communication-intensive undergraduate math seminars.
Read more →This assignment asks students to assess their participation in class over the course of the semester, supplying themselves with both a grade and comments. The self assessment is guided with five questions. Written by Mia Minnes for her Undergraduate Seminar in Logic at M.I.T.
Read more →Educators who find themselves writing the same comments on multiple students’ papers may find it to be helpful to use comment codes to simplify giving feedback and to de-emphasize less important comments so more important comments will receive more attention from students. This two-page pdf presents an example of such coded comments from a course on Micro/Nano Processing Technology. Some students also appreciate having the code list to use as an editing checklist.
Read more →This form for critiquing and grading presentations is based on a student-generated list of criteria of effective math presentations. One instructor who used this form for grading commented that content should receive a heavier weighting in the grade so weaker students are encouraged to challenge themselves.
Read more →This two-page note provides guidance for commenting on mathematics papers. Suggestions are given for instructors who feel that most or all errors should be marked, and for instructors who comment primarily on small-scale errors such as wording. Suggestions include directing the student to develop a personalized editing checklist, encouraging the student to identify his or her own solutions to writing problems whenever possible, and using a commenting checklist as a reminder to consider larger-scale issues such as structure and to look for possible honest praise to provide.
Read more →This one-page note raises questions about how to comment effectively on student writing. The note describes various issues to consider when writing comments, such as the focus of the comment (the paper vs the student), whether the comment indicates problems or solutions, whether the comment describes the form of the writing or the effect of the writing, the level of detail of the comment, the quantity of comments, and whether some comments are given greater emphasis than others. Based in part on an article by Kerry Walk.
Read more →