One of the fun things about Jeopardy is the instant feedback on whether the contestant (or audience member) has the answer right or wrong. Students need timely feedback on class assignments. This can be very difficult if the teacher grades each and every assignment. I noticed that when I handed back graded assignments even a few days after they were completed, some students only looked at the grade. The best way to give them feedback is to go over the answers with them.
This can be a planned part of the lesson. It is important in the early assignments in a unit of learning to emphasize to the students that they need to know if they are understanding the concepts. These types of assignments can vary, such as bell-ringers, worksheets, video questions, or anything you are assigning for the purpose of checking for understanding.
Here are some important factors to consider:
Which assignments are more suited for this kind of activity? Consider these things:
The ability of your students to check and correct answers in a timely manner.
The weight or importance of the assignment.
You must decide if you are going to go over the assignment before students turn it in or after it is returned to them.
Option 1: Give the students time to complete the assignment, (Circulate around to keep them on task and give them a reasonable time limit.) When time is up, students will check their work as a class.
Option 2: Students turn in their finished assignments. The teacher can have a brief look-over and record the assignment as completed. The next class period the students will check their work as a planned part of the lesson.
How do you want to “go over” the assignment? Some suggestions are:
Call on students to answer the questions. Redirect to another student as needed and always confirm the correct answer. Briefly explain/discuss as needed.
Display the answers and set a time limit for students to check their answers. When time is up, ask students if they have questions and/or point out important information.
Do you want to encourage them to change their original answers if incorrect? This could help the student to focus on the correct answers. This would also make the assignment more useful as a study tool.
It is very tempting to use this activity to get papers graded/scored by students exchanging papers. Be very careful. This can lead to embarrassment for students and cheating among friends. Some students will just sit there and do nothing to the paper, which doesn’t benefit the teacher or the owner of the paper. School districts may also discourage this practice.
Going over assignments as a class can be a useful instructional tool. In my opinion, assignments that are used to teach are more suited to this method than assessments. If a teacher gives a lot of assignments,, some may be designated as “completion” assignments which may or may not have a lower weight than others. Going over such assignments together can relieve the teacher of some grading duties. Lastly, consider how you are going to handle the cases of absent students when you go over assignments they missed.
I hope this was helpful for you. Happy Teaching!
Jane
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