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GTP Handbook / The Tutor / National Teaching and Learning Forum
The Tutor - Vol. 9, No. 2, 1998
Oral and Written Grades are Highly Correlated
by Ken Battle, University of Colorado at Boulder
A trait common to instructors recognized for their superior teaching ability is that they have cultivated a concept of fairness. Professor Ed Gac of CU-Boulder seeks to teach business law via a "fair" Socratic method.
Gac's grading of recitations is based on the student's level of preparation and on their overall contribution to the class discussion. A student who demonstrates that he or she knows the facts of the case, the laws applicable to it, and the resolution of the case as it appears in the test will receive a grade of "C."
A "B", however, is warranted when a student can deal with the dimensions of the case other than what is offered in the text. For example, what are some of the legal implications of a given case?
An "A" is awarded when a student brings something to the class beyond what the instructor has offered. Professor Gac recalls, for example, a recent discussion of a case involving a person brought to court by U.S. Customs for attempting to enter the country with an herbal medicine in violation of federal health codes. During the court proceedings, the defendant defended himself. One of the issues of the case centered on the question: "Should a defendant have to use a lawyer to represent himself in court? Or, can a defendant (adequately) argue his own case?" Technically, a defendant has the right to represent himself or herself in a court of law, but, according to Professor Gac, the question of whether or not it it advisable is a completely different matter. The student he called upon to discuss this issue supported a defendant's right to self-defense by citing an occasion when he had represented himself in court on an alleged speeding violation. In the ensuing dialogue with the student, Professor Gac thought the student's line of reasoning was superior and thus had affirmed that in some limited cases, self-defense can be justified, notwithstanding the obvious need for legal representation by this defendant.
When querying students, Gac emphasizes that instructors must ask articulate and well orchestrated questions. Ideally, questions posed by instructors will always show some sequential relationship, as if they were leading a witness. In other words, effective questions build cumulatively to the point. Yet the final learning comes from "within" the student, because the instructor only acts as a "catalyst" for the learning experience.
Gac attempts to remain consistent in his concern for fairness when evaluating students' overall performance. He states: "Students' grades are based on recitations and written exams. The recitation accounts for 20 percent of the final grade. This instills enough incentive for them to constructively engage in discussion but not enough to cause undue anxiety about their final grade. With a class of approximately 50 students, each of them can expect three to five recitations during the term.
The other 80 percent of the grade is based on written exams. There are two mid-term exams (60 percent essay, 40 objective questions per exam) which constitute 50 percent of the grade for the course and the final exam makes up the other 30 percent. Written tests are patterned after the recitations so that the latter provide practice for the exams, maintaining maximum continuity between lecture-and-discussion and examination material.
Gac notes with some surprise that (T)here is a very high correlation between the students' grades on their oral recitations and their written examination grades. Approximately 85 percent are within two points of each other."
Gac not only attempts to evaluate students fairly, he also sees the "collateral benefits" of the lecture-and-discussion format. In recitation, students cannot "sit back and punt." Because they are called on at random, students must confront a certain pressure to "perform" before the instructor and their peers. Internally, the pressure has to do with each student's self-image. None of the students wants to appear incompetent before others; consequently, they all try hard to "look sharp."
Because students hear each other defend their cases during recitations, students have an "on-going barometer" of whether or not they recognize and understand the issues at hand. They do not have to wait until after an exam to discover what adjustments may be required in their assessment or interpretation of the material. The cases can act as an "early warning system" of deficiencies which the student may need to work on.
In addition, essay writing and recitation promote self-confidence in students' ability to articulate their own view points. Students benefit by developing problem-solving skills, achieving or improving unity and coherence in oral and written communications, cultivating argumentative skills and so on. this is essential, Gac reflects, because too often students are allowed or encouraged to remain "passive" in the educational process. Consequently, after four or five years of college, many recent graduates find it difficult to adjust to the demands of the "real" world. Gac stresses that "whether graduates pursue a career in business or otherwise, self-confidence and the ability to communicate their ideas are indispensable.
(Reprinted from The Tutor, 1987)
