110 Lab Reports in the Queue

This year I am teaching an overload. That means I’m currently teaching 4 out out 4 blocks each day. With all of this work, my blogging has had to take a backseat. Luckily, they are all the same class. That means that I don’t have to set-up different labs for different classes without a break to do this. The downside to having all the same class is that when students do turn in a lab report for me to grade, I have 110 to grade. In a week where we do 2 labs (not unusual in the block), the amount of work to correct can become quite daunting. I can’t just leave these labs sit in the cloud ungraded because they will pile up quickly. Also, I am all about timely feedback. I want to have labs corrected within 2 days of them being turned in. This post in not monumental, but I wanted to share out how I’ve streamlined my practice to become efficient at grading and feedback by leveraging Google Slides and Canvas LMS.

At the start of this school year, I had the intention of incorporating 1 point rubrics into my classroom. I created these nice clear documents for all of our classroom science practices. Then, I realized that since I do all of my grading digitally, having a Google Doc version to provide feedback in wasn’t very useful.

Last school year, I switched from creating lab report templates in Google Docs to Google Slides. One of the big upsides to this was being able to put prompts and directions in the presenter notes for each slide. Looked at from a certain point of view completing the tasks in the speaker notes correctly would be demonstrating mastery on the single point rubric. So rather than having a separate document to communicate what mastery looked like, it is being communicated in detail in the speaker notes.





This means that the scoring rubric itself doesn’t need to have to be in such great detail. It can simply list the areas of focus and a simple rating scale.


But how has this made me more efficient in grading? When I grade labs, I am looking at the live version of the slide show in edit view. This means that I am able to see the speaker notes. When I need to comment, it is usually aligned to something from a part of the speaker notes. I can quickly copy and paste to create a comment on that slide for what needs to be addressed.




I realize that this is not the most descriptive feedback possible, but it will help students identify the issues they need to fix. For those that are unsure of what needs to be addressed, this can at least help start the conversation digitally and they can follow up face to face.

Canvas LMS has made me even more efficient because of their SpeedGrader App. This app allows me to easily access submitted assignments for each student as they are submitted. The Speedgrader window allows me to view the live document and the rubric without switching windows.



Since I’m viewing the live document and not a screen capture of the file, I am able to copy potential feedback comments right from the speaker notes and paste them into my comments. While it is not essential to the feedback process, Speedgrader allows me to easily work through the files I have submitted. 

The feedback I am providing is not intended to be the endpoint of the process. It is really the first step of a revision process. I want students to work towards mastery by looking at the feedback and acting on it. Sometimes, they may have to ask questions for clarification or relearning. Other times, it may be a quick fix such as adding units or communicating ideas more clearly to a general audience. Regardless, the digital feedback loop we can create is a learning cycle that needs to be rapid. That is why being more efficient is important. There is a balance between actionable and timely feedback. I’m still working on it, but I feel that the use of Slides and Canvas have helped me get closer to that goal.