Rubrics, Alternative Assessment, and Learning Styles

Hi

I've been using rubrics for some time. It is an indispensable tool. I find that it helps me to stay objective of what the student had achieved. In addition, it ensures that all lecturers in LPB mark consistently and marks are awarded fairly, irrespective of the marker. In addition, I found some great examples of rubrics;
http://www.ncsu.edu/midlink/rub.pres.html - an easy to use rubric for presentations.
A great student friendly- Student Friendly Writing Rubric- that will help the student to edit its work before submission, www.middleweb.com
Nilufar also created a good presentation rubric, Begibaeva_rubric.doc.
If you are stuck with creating rubrics, visit, TeacherVision.com, they will even help you to create your own rubric.RubiStar is a very user friendly tool; http://www.rubistar.4teachers.org/

This week I was reminded of the importance of knowing how my students learn, Learning Styles. I must admit, I did not pay much attention to this. Now I have the opportunity to properly provide for my students learning styles when drafting our new course workbook.The article on technology and Multiple Intelligences, presented good explanations on the various [9] different intelligences and the bonus was what to use to help the different type of students learning style. If you wish to test your student's learning style let use this link, http://www.engr.ncsu.edu/learningstyles/ilsweb.html. here you'll find a questionnaire with 40 questions. The student completes, submit and learns about its learning style. If you are still in the dark about Learning Styles, read Sailing the 5C's with Learning, http://www.nclrc.org/sailing/ It's a bit long, 5 chapters BUT believe me it was worth the read. The best part of it was the tables used to illustrate the various styles and how to teach them.Lots of useful strategies and examples.That was just Chapter 2!
According to Rick Finnan and Donna Show, a teacher must have knowledge how the student learn to transform the student into an active learner. The workshop handout, Teaching Large Classes II, Enhancing Learning by Engaging Students, Oregon University, was very helpful.The best part was the practical tips to help enhance learning in large classes and conduct alternative assessments. I was challenged to use different assessment methods other than the traditional test. I was reminded that students are part of assessment. I don't have to be solely responsible for my student's learning. If we, student and teacher, assess student's work, we share the load. The student would be motivated to work harder. However, I must confess, I enjoyed the article by Rick Finnan and Donna Shaw, very useful, http://oregonstate.edu/dept/eli/osu-hedp/large_classes_enaging_students.html
Here you'll find some very practical ways to rejuvenate your large classes. I particularly liked the small group informal learning activities, Think-Pair-Share, Concept Test, Quick-thinks, Minute paper and Concept Maps, simply because I can use them immediately in my class.
Well it was an interesting time.
Regards
Jules