Copyright © 2017 by Linda Schofield

Maaany years ago, when Procom was known as “The Department of Business and Technical Communication,” we created an information sheet that described the criteria for assigning various letter grades to professional communication assignments in our courses, primarily CMN 432 and CMN 124.  Working from a draft, as a group we painstakingly revised the wording in a departmental meeting until we were able to agree on common standards.  I still use this document to help students understand what assumptions are behind the assigning of a “C,” “B” etc.

Not everyone was comfortable with this approach, of course, but if you think the document might be helpful, you’re welcome to use or revise it: gradingstandards-1

As mentioned before the break, I’d like to add a category to the blog that archives teaching tips from our group. This could be a sample assignment, rubric or exercise that worked well, a document you created that clarifies a teaching principle, or an approach you take that you believe others can follow that increases efficiency or facilitates student learning.

Each submission will be posted separately, with a copyright notice, and categorized under “Teaching Tips,” for ease of reference. I’ll start the ball rolling with two of my own—a new idea and an old one.

Additionally, if you’re comfortable sending me any publication (interpreted loosely) that you don’t mind being included on the ProCUPE publication page, then please email the file or link. Michael, Catherine, Rob and John have already allowed access to their great material.

In the hope it will help coax any reluctant members to send something, I’ll post an old article from my pre-Ryerson days. Though there is some discussion of rhetoric, I have to confess the subject appeals to a rather small audience and is best tackled when battling insomnia.

I trust you all had time to decompress. My apologies for breaking into that calm. However, I assume if I didn’t ask for material before the oncoming work storm, we’d have to wait another four months….

Andre Duret-Lutz

At this time of year, we all have our own ways of balancing the volume of assignments, our standards, and time.  Advice on how to manage this process is everywhere.  Here is one example, written by Brian Martin, an Australian university professor, that is both practical and amusing.

By the way, though I didn’t seek out an image with Santa watching over a pile of work, I managed to find one…