WohlfarthQH Journal of Teaching and Learning with Technology, Vol. 1, No. 1, June 2012, pp. 59 – 60. Record Your Way to Shorter Grading DeDe Wohlfarth1 and Nathanael Mitchell2 Keywords: assessment, skills-focused teaching, grading Framework One of the most effective strategies we found for teaching novice clinicians new, specific, skills is through observation of student role play and timely formative assessment of student practice. Many subjects require students to demonstrate competence in concrete behavioral skills, including nursing, teaching, physical and occupational therapy, psychology, and social work. When direct observation of such student skill development is not a viable option, the use of an inexpensive video camera can be a valuable tool for students to create video role plays and post them on the internet for instructor review. Students can post their videos on You Tube and make the link to the video accessible only to the professor, or, if desired, students in the class providing peer review. Because the video is now on the web available for review, the student no longer needs to turn in the video on expensive media (e.g., flash drive) or inexpensive media (DVD). Furthermore, instructors can use their own camera to record video formative feedback while watching student videos, allowing for copious amounts of useful feedback created in about half of the time it would take to write the same feedback. Making in Work This teaching strategy could be highly effective for any clinical disciplines where specific clinical skills need to be evaluated and mastered. We have used this technique in clinical psychology courses and in teaching courses; colleagues have utilized this technique in occupational therapy with great success. With changing technology, there are many inexpensive cameras that could be used to record videos. While this could be seen as financial hardship for some students, we help manage this cost by: 1) explaining the need for a video recording device before entering our program; 2) using the device across several skills building courses; and 3) reminding students they can also use the device for fun, such as recording themselves doing super human tricks. Additionally, many students opt to utilize their smart phones as recording devices and have found that the most sophisticated of these phones allows them to record and post digital videos. And we have had no 1 Professor and Director of Child, Adolescent, and Family Emphasis Area, Spalding University, dwohlfarth@spalding.edu 2 Assistant Professor and Director of Health Psychology Emphasis Area, Spalding University, nmitchell01@spalding.edu Wohlfarth, D. and Mitchell, N. Journal of Teaching and Learning with Technology, Vol. 1, No. 1, June 2012. jotlt.indiana.edu 60 difficulty convincing students that they might want to purchase top-of-the-line cell phones with remarkable technological advances! The majority of students who own video cameras have found them to be very user friendly. Individuals with just a modicum of technological savvy (the authors of this tip fall into this category; one of us just barely so) will be able to record, save, upload, and share videos. The advantage of video recording student feedback when grading is that, in addition to reducing feedback time for professors, students can understand the nuances and context of our comments when the comments are “live” compared to in writing. The major disadvantage, ironically, is also an advantage. If you grade at home, as we do, students may see a glimpse of you outside of the “ivory tower” as rambunctious children scream for you or pets run into the video frame. Students say they love this feedback because it makes their professors seem more human. Future Implications Students consistently provide feedback that creating video role plays improves their learning, especially in learning specific behavioral skills that are foundational to learn for success in their chosen field and difficult to learn via traditional pen-and-paper assessment measures. On course evaluations, students have also noted that receiving timely, specific, constructive feedback on their developing skills is the single most helpful aspect of the course. Additionally, rubrics are helpful and can be used in conjunction with the video feedback to provide written feedback on specific microskills (e.g. good eye contact—present or absent; open body language—yes or no). Finally, having students post their videos online instead of turning in several forms of media has decreased instructor stress about being responsible for possibly expensive student property (e.g., flash drives). While the use of the video camera is an easy tool for creating and sharing videos, it is not required for the creation of student video role play or instructor video feedback. If a student turns in the video on a media source that is able to be modified or has the capacity for an additional video files to be added (e.g., flash drive, DVD-RW), the instructor can provide video feedback while observing the student video and then save the video feedback file to the student’s media.