A 3Cs Discussion on “Assessment in the Multimodal Composition Classroom”

Kaitlin Clinnin, Michelle Cohen, Erin Cahill

Opening Questions

Given that our standards for grading were largely formed for assessing alphabetic print texts, how do we develop criteria for evaluating multimodal/digital compositions?

What factors MUST be present, and to what degree, in order for a text to be successful?

Your questions?

Developing Criteria for Evaluating Multimodal Texts

Student-generated grading criteria (Adsanatham)

Statement of Goals and Choices/SOGC (Shipka)

Metaphor and metonymy (Sorapure)

Coherence (Yancey)

Developing Criteria for Evaluating Multimodal

TextsCriteria must address the following categories (Adsanatham)

Images

Sounds

Transitions (screen transitions)

Alphabetic texts

Clarity

Persuasiveness

Arrangement (sequence)

Our Rubric

Rhetorical Viewing Questions

How are the images arranged? In what order do they appear? Is there any logic to them?

What makes the clip memorable and why?

What sounds do you hear first, next, and afterward? Why do you think they are put in that order?

How are quotations used; why?

What do you like about this clip that you might try to emulate in your own work?

Is there anything that you dislike? Identify them and provide your reasons.

(Adsanatham 171)

Dan Anderson Video “I’m a Map, I’m a Green

Tree”[http://vimeo.com/13829897]

Evaluation of “I’m a Map”

Our rubric:

Elements to Consider (Adsanatham):

Images

Sounds

Transitions (screen transitions)

Alphabetic texts

Clarity

Persuasiveness

Arrangement (sequence)

Dan Anderson Video “Sun Returning”

[http://vimeo.com/60834156]

Evaluation of “Sun Returning”

Our rubric:

Elements to Consider (Adsanatham):

Images

Sounds

Transitions (screen transitions)

Alphabetic texts

Clarity

Persuasiveness

Arrangement (sequence)

Statement of Goals and Choices (SOGC)

“In some ways, I’d like to think the video is readable: it scrolls through two main texts—the essay draft, and the email thread from techrhet. I’d like to think you could read some of that text and come away with a message, though it might ask for multiple sittings.”

“The videos are variations on composing aloud exercises and process narratives. For instance, capturing the draft text of the essay in the video might invite readers to consider the earlier version of the essay– important to me since the experiment with using timestamps is likely to go away. Eventually it should prove impossibly difficult to tell where or what the text actually is, providing a reader ventures beyond the pages of the book.”

Our Rubric Revisited

How effective is our rubric (at least in these two examples)?

What are our rubrics’ shortcomings?

What would we continue to build upon?

What would we change?

Final Thoughts

How do we put these criteria into practice at our home universities and in our own classrooms?

Suggestions for classroom practice…What has been useful for you in the past?

What would you recommend avoiding?

Challenges

Concerns

Thanks for your attention!

Video Sources:Daniel Anderson, “I’m a Map I’m a Green Tree”: http://vimeo.com/10160246

Daniel Anderson, “Sun Returning Before Rain”: http://vimeo.com/60831540

Image Sources:http://shayes08.blogspot.com/2011/09/harry-potter-according-to-me-part-2.html

http://coolspotters.com/characters/hermione-granger/and/movies/harry-potter-and-the-philosophers-stone/media/1068759#medium-1068759