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This excerpt from Dee Fink's book "Creating Significant Learning Experiences" argues for using both "scoreboards" - clear and reliable grading criteria - and "applause" - praise for accomplishments - to motivate students. I was particularly taken with the exercise at the end of the section in which students and a professor collaborate on a letter to thank the student's previous teacher for contributing to the student's development.

This course redesign "formula" may not work for all courses, but perhaps it can work for you. The article describes what amounts to a course redesign that results in a blended classroom, using the technology available through the text publisher as the source of outside data. The six guidelines they propose can be boiled down to: (1) guide students in active learning; (2) enforce deadlines to keep students on task; (3) reward students for real effort, which translates into real learning; (4) provide regular assessment (immediate feedback via technology, if possible); (5) accommodate varied learning styles; and (6) keep on students to do their work (again, technology can help with this).

What are your opinions on grading group work? How do you balance formative and summative comments, group and individual grades, your grading and intra-group feedback?

One issue in discussions of college writing is how to incorporate writing practice into STEM courses. Some Kenyon professors in STEM subjects include journal assignments and process descriptions into their courses. Here are some suggestions on similar metacognitive "writing to learn" approaches, including guidelines for feedback to students.

Writing is a major component of many academic disciplines, but how can professors give feedback that will allow students of different backgrounds the opportunity to grow? Laurie McMillin, Professor of Rhetoric and Composition at Oberlin College, give some tips on getting the best writing from ESL and multilingual writers in the college classroom.

I like the idea of having students set goals for themselves, which could create a stronger sense of agency and lead to clearer feedback from instructors about what the student should be trying to accomplish in the course. But the authors note that this approach assumes a level of executive function on the part of the student that may be detrimental to some.

How would your Moodle page if you thought of it as acting as the students' organizer, or a space for frequent feedback and interleaved practice?