Dan Melzer – författare

This book examines the impacts of grading in higher education through comparative institutional ethnographies of two universities with radically different approaches to assessment.The Harms of Grading reports the results of institutional ethnographies at University of the Bay, which has an assessment culture that emphasizes harsh grading and difficult exams, and Forest College, which does not give grades and emphasizes student self-assessment. Through the voices and perspectives of students and faculty, it explores the many harmful impacts of grading, such as the devastating effects grading has on learning and on student–teacher relationships, the culture of competition that grading creates, and the climate of stress created by high-stakes exams and “weeder” courses. The book introduces an innovative theoretical framework termed the “Grade Frame”—a series of misguided but ingrained beliefs about grading that provide the rationale for current assessment practices. Using Forest College's grade-free model as a compelling case, the book demonstrates that alternative assessment practices beyond the Grade Frame are not only possible but transformative.Combining rigorous ethnographic research with practical guidance, this volume offers essential insights for higher education faculty, administrators, and researchers interested in assessment reform.

Use your course's big ideas to accelerate students’ growth as writers and critical thinkersThe newly revised third edition of Engaging Ideas delivers a step-by-step guide for designing writing assignments and critical thinking activities that engage students with important subject-matter questions. This new edition of the celebrated book (now written by the co-author team of Bean and Melzer) uses leading and current research and theory to help you link active learning pedagogy to your courses' subject matter. You'll learn how to: Design formal and informal writing assignments that guide students toward thinking like experts in your disciplineUse time-saving strategies for coaching the writing process and handling the paper load including alternatives to traditional grading such as portfolio assessment and contract gradingHelp students use self-assessment and peer response to improve their workDevelop better ways than the traditional research paper to teach undergraduate reading and researchIntegrate social media, multimodal genres, and digital technology into the classroom to promote active learningThis book demonstrates how writing can easily be integrated with other critical thinking activities such as inquiry discussions, simulation games, classroom debates, and interactive lectures. The reward of this book is watching students come to class better prepared, more vested in the questions your course investigates, more apt to study purposefully, and more likely to submit high-quality work. Perfect for higher education faculty and curriculum designers across all disciplines, Engaging Ideas will also earn a place in the libraries of graduate students in higher education.

In Reconstructing Response to Student Writing Dan Melzer makes the argument that writing instructors should shift the construct so that peer response and student self-assessment are more central than teacher response.  Presenting the results of a national study of teacher and peer response and student self-assessment at institutions of higher education across the United States, Melzer analyzes teacher and peer response to over 1,000 pieces of student writing as well as 128 student portfolio reflection essays. He draws on his analysis and on a comprehensive review of the literature on response to introduce a constructivist heuristic for response aimed at both composition instructors and instructors across disciplines. Melzer argues that teachers and researchers should focus less on teacher response to individual pieces of student writing and more on engaging in dialogue with student self-assessment and peer response, focusing on growth and transfer rather than products and grades.  Reconstructing Response to Student Writing, especially when taken together with Melzer’s previous book Assignments across the Curriculum, provides a comprehensive and large-scale view of college writing and responding across the curriculum in the United States.

In Reconstructing Response to Student Writing Dan Melzer makes the argument that writing instructors should shift the construct so that peer response and student self-assessment are more central than teacher response.  Presenting the results of a national study of teacher and peer response and student self-assessment at institutions of higher education across the United States, Melzer analyzes teacher and peer response to over 1,000 pieces of student writing as well as 128 student portfolio reflection essays. He draws on his analysis and on a comprehensive review of the literature on response to introduce a constructivist heuristic for response aimed at both composition instructors and instructors across disciplines. Melzer argues that teachers and researchers should focus less on teacher response to individual pieces of student writing and more on engaging in dialogue with student self-assessment and peer response, focusing on growth and transfer rather than products and grades.  Reconstructing Response to Student Writing, especially when taken together with Melzer’s previous book Assignments across the Curriculum, provides a comprehensive and large-scale view of college writing and responding across the curriculum in the United States.