Upholding Grading Rigor During the Pandemic
To fail or not to fail? That is the question haunting many professors as they grade during the pandemic.
In a recent Inside Higher Ed post, Prof. Deborah Cohan answers the question, Should we uphold pre-pandemic assessment standards? with a resounding yes. Students may fail even in a pandemic, she notes, but more important, we must reward those who work hard and turn in excellent work.
She explains that blanketing all students with As, not penalizing late work, and being available for endless revisions is self-sacrificial teaching, leading to no winners at the finish line. Cohan says she has noticed an uptick in the number of students claiming to be “confused” and “stressed” and argues these are the same students who ask peers where and from whom the easy As come.
Cohan says instructors need to “put the monkey on the students’ backs” and force them to find the answers while not handing out good grades as a matter of course. Otherwise teaching becomes an empty charade.
Cohan, D. (2021, Aug. 25.) Upholding rigor at pandemic U. Inside Higher Ed. Retrieved from https://www.insidehighered.com
Microsoft Updates and Expands Emoji
Emojis have evolved since they entered into the language in the late 1990s: The characters have morphed from ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ to 🤷 to help electronic communications better employ subtleties while not losing professionalism. Or so says Microsoft, which recently refreshed its emoji offerings to “support the new landscape of work.”
A recent article in Medium spells out the differences in Microsoft’s new emoji collection, which includes 3D designs and animation, partly in response to remote work. These enhanced emoji offerings evolved to better telegraph thoughts and feelings, especially important when in-person work is impossible.
According to emoji publisher Microsoft, the characters can help workers express humanity by softening or intensifying tone and by adding playfulness. The emoji library now includes 1,888 images designed to enhance communication.
Anderson, C. (2021, July 15.) An emoji for your thoughts. Medium.com. Retrieved from https://medium.com/
#CareerTok Funnels Video Résumés
A new program has enabled college students and grads to use TikTok to both find work and network. Using the hashtag #TikTokResumes, the program works much like a personal essay, but instead of writing, users submit videos.
While a small sub-section of job searchers are employing the medium, the majority of employers are not biting for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that the videos may have negative implications. After all, the video puts a face to a name, which might lead to unconscious bias based on appearance, age, or race.
Nevertheless, the phenomenon is part of a trend according to which some recruiters are moving away from cover letters and résumés to other formats, especially when seeking to fill public-facing positions requiring charisma.
Lorenz, T. (2021, July 19.) Job-hunters, have you posted your résumés on TikTok? The New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com
