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User:Benjamin Mako Hill/Assessment
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== Case Discussion == Many of my courses rely heavily on the case study method. In these courses, your primary form of homework will be '''preparation for case discussion''' each day of class. A standard "case" usually involves reading an example—perhaps up to 20-35 pages of background about an organization or group facing an ambiguous or difficult challenge. I will mark certain readings as "[Cases]" in the syllabus and expect you to read these particularly closely. It is important to realize that '''I will not summarize case material in class, and I will not cover it in the lecture'''. I expect everyone in class to have read it, and we will jump in and start discussing it. Cases ask students to put themselves in the positions of individuals facing difficult situations to tease out the tensions and forces at play in the case and to construct — through group discussion — the broader lessons and takeaways. Cases are a wonderful way to connect the sometimes abstract concepts taught in many academic courses to real examples of the type of ambiguous situations you will likely encounter in your career. Generally speaking, there are no right or wrong answers. === Cold calling in cases === Cases rely roughly on the [[:wikipedia:Socratic method|Socratic method]] where instructors teaching cases cold call on students—i.e., instructors call on people ''without'' asking for volunteers first. I will be doing this in each class. Because I understand that cold calling can be terrifying for some students, I will circulate a list of questions similar to those I will ask alongside the weekly announcements (i.e., at least six days in advance). Although it is a good idea to write out answers to these questions in advance, I will not be collecting these answers. You are welcome to work with other students to brainstorm possible answers. Although I may also ask questions that I do not distribute beforehand, they will typically be in the same vein as these questions. I have written a computer program that will generate a random list of students each day. I will use this list to '''randomly''' cold call students in the class. To maintain balance in discussions, the program will try to ensure that everybody is cold-called a similar number of times during the quarter by ''weighting'' in favor of people who have been called upon fewer times in the past. Although there is always some chance that you will called upon next, you will become less likely to be called upon relative to your classmates each time you are called upon. === Rubric for case discussion answers === Each time you are called upon randomly, I will assess your preparedness based on how you answer. I tend to do these assessments generously, but I don't treat this as a "gimme" either. The rubric I will use for evaluating each answer you give is as follows: * '''Engagement:''' Do you respond in a way that demonstrates that you have been following and engaged with the case discussion? * '''Preparedness:''' Does your answer demonstrate that you have prepared for the case? Have you done the reading? * '''Fluency:''' Are you able to refer to relevant course concepts from the lecture and the non-case material in framing your answers or opinions? Can you engage in synthesis using the material we've covered? For every question answered during the year, I will assess readiness and participation as "GOOD", "SATISFACTORY", or "POOR", "NO MEANINGFUL ANSWER". These correspond to a 4.0, a 3.0, 2.0, and a 0.0 on the UW 4.0 undergraduate grade scale. I am generous and, in the past, the large majority of answers (~90%) have been assessed as GOOD. === Opting out of case discussions === If you don't want to be included in the cold call list for any reason (e.g., you cannot attend a class), you '''must tell a member of the teaching team in advance''' by filling out a simple Google form that asks for two things: (1) your UW student number and (2) the date you would like to be removed from the cold call list. You must fill this out '''by a specified time before class begins''' or I will not be able to incorporate it into the program that selects names. The lead time will typically be 1-2 hours and will depend on my schedule. I will also record whether you were not present in class when your name was called. If you fail to use the form and are called upon but are not around to answer, your case discussion grade will be lowered. If you need to step out briefly during a remote class, just let the teaching team know in some ways so that we can call on you only when you're back. As described below, the amount that you participate in case discussions will affect your case grade. Of course, being present will directly affect whether or not you are available to participate at a level similar to your classmates. As per UW policy, no part of your grade will be determined by attendance. In other words, attending class while opting out or not answering when called will have the same effect on your grade---regardless of whether you are absent or present. Of course, if you do not attend class often, it will be difficult or impossible for you to engage in case discussions at the same level as your classmates. <!-- My cold calling algorithm will do everything it can to balance the number of questions asked of each student, even if some folks are in class more often than others, by calling on folks more when they are present. In the past, every student who attended the large majority of classes was able to participate on the same level as their classmates and had full credit for their case discussion assessment. --> === Overall case discussion assessment === Final grades are computed at the end of the final case using the following algorithm: # First, I will compute a case grade that is the average of all the questions they have answered using the rubric described above. # Next, I will subtract 0.2 points on the UW grade scale for every day that a person did not answer a question when called upon (i.e., presumably because people were absent from class without having used the opt-out form). This is the ''baseline case grade''. # Finally, I ensure that students are never penalized for a relative lack of participation in cold call discussions simply because they were "unlucky." I do this by computing the median number of questions students were asked and then sorting students into three groups: ## First, I identify students who were asked at least the median number of questions. Their course grade is simply their ''baseline case grade.'' ## Second, I identify the subset of remaining students who were asked fewer than the median number of questions simply because they were "unlucky" (i.e., were they asked fewer questions ''not'' because they had opted out of participation using the class form more often than their classmates). All these students' grades are also the ''baseline case grade''. ## For the remaining students who participated less than their classmates because they had opted out of doing so, I assess students with no credit (0 points) for the difference between the median and the number of questions the student was asked. For example, if the class median were 3 questions and a student asked only two questions despite being "luckier" than their classmates (i.e., they opted out so much that even my weighting algorithm couldn't make up for things), I would assess students as a zero for 1/3 of their case participation grade and provide them with the ''baseline case grade'' for the two questions they did answer. In the past, the only students in this category have opted out of many case discussions. <!-- In the past, I have needed to modify the design of case discussions. For example, I have had to move synchronous case discussions into asynchronous online conversations. In these cases, I will communicate an alternate system for discussion and assessment and use it to apply a proportional amount of individual case discussion grades in the course. -->
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