14
- Give students an opportunity to use feedback to improve their performance (e.g.,
on large assignments, allow them to submit drafts before a final product is due)
(Flash et al. 1995 ). - Give clear, specific feedback that offers guidance on how to improve.
- Remind students to address all aspects of the assignment. We spell out each part
of an assignment and state the maximum number of points that can be obtained
for each section. - Although the emphasis of this book is basic helping skills, you will simultane-
ously need to evaluate and correct technical or content errors regarding genetic
conditions, information, etc. Emphasize to students that on more objective tasks
(e.g., calculating a risk rate), accuracy is important. For assignments requiring
self-reflection (e.g., personal values, philosophy of genetic counseling, etc.),
look for evidence that the student has personalized her or his response and is not
merely quoting others’ ideas. Encourage students to provide specific examples
from their own experience. - Suggest to students that they read their answers aloud in exercises requiring them
to formulate actual counselor responses. We don’t speak the way we write.
Saying them aloud will help students formulate more natural responses. - Evaluate frequently. Frequent feedback provides multiple pieces of data,
increases student comfort with the process, allows you and your students to
assess how they are doing, stimulates ideas for rectifying problems, and prompts
students to keep up with the material. - Give students periodic opportunities to tell you what they believe they are learn-
ing. For instance, use journaling [written or audio recorded (see Parikh et al.
( 2012 ) for an example of recorded journaling)], self-reflection papers, and
1-minute papers (Davis et al. 1983 ). For a 1-minute paper, at the end of a class
session, ask students to spend 1 min anonymously writing about one or two of
the most important things they learned that day and one or two things about
which they have further questions. Collect and review their papers and clarify
any questions/confusion in a subsequent class period. - Try to get a feel for the overall quality of an assignment when determining the
final grade. - As you get to know students, grade with their backgrounds in mind. For instance,
we expect more mature and complete products from students who are older and
have previous experience in a human service profession; we recognize that stu-
dents for whom English is a second language may have some grammatical and
spelling difficulties; etc.
1.3.2 Evaluating Role-Plays
Methods for evaluating helping skills are highly subjective. Nevertheless, it is
important to be as clear and consistent as you can in evaluating student performance.
1 Guidelines forfiBook Users: Instructors, Supervisors, andfiStudents