I think you're right on about breaking the mindset that the
teacher/student relationship is the only one that matters in the
classroom. While it may not be appropriate for all types of projects or
for large classes, I've had students post essays dealing with a class
problem or topic to a class email alias, and have required them to read
and respond to a certain number of their classmates' essays. This does
several things, including the following:
*Since it's a "public" forum, students have more at stake than a grade.
Some students actually care more about their reputations than their
grades, and will put more into the assignment.
*Students get to see examples of others' work, and can often figure out for
themselves what might need improvement in their own.
*Introverted students, who often don't offer much to oral class
discussion, often open up in this format
*The discussion can really take off. I've had students ask if they're
"allowed" to respond to the the responses, or if they can respond to more
essays than assigned
*Students get feedback (one kind of "assessment") from more than one
perspective.
Char A. Bezanson (bezanson at stolaf.edu)
School Nature Area Project
St. Olaf College
Northfield, MN 55057
