Video Assignments: More Reflection (and Less Grading)

The Experiential Entrepreneurship Curriculum we produce uses video reflections extensively to help students document the evolution of their business models. For example, in the first iteration of their business model canvas, they hypothesize their:

1. Customer segment
2. Value proposition and
3. Channels

They also demonstrate how they developed those hypotheses, and reflect on why they are important entrepreneurial steps to take. Below is a sample video reflection submission.

Demo of Grading in Canvas

Below you can see how efficient it is to grade a submission in Canvas. With just a few clicks you are already providing feedback, both quantitative and qualitative. Our professors appreciate how quickly they can digest and assess students’ work. Students appreciate getting feedback quickly, so they can move forward before they lose momentum.

Tips for Successful Reflection Videos

Video reflections will save you a lot of time in the long run, but they require some prep work upfront:

Provide a lot of structure.

You’ll want to tell students exactly the questions you want them to answer in their reflections, and how much time you’d recommend they spend answering each question. Here’s an example of some of the guidance we give to ExEC students on the submission above:

• • “You have a time limit of 2 minutes for this video presentation.
  • It is recommended that you use your time roughly as follows:
    • About 15 seconds to summarize your Customer Segment and Problem (i.e. Value Proposition) hypotheses.
    • About 45 seconds (or less) to describe how you believe your Early Adopters behave and the Channels where you assume you can find them. You can present using this mental model:

    “I think our Early Adopters (describe their behaviors), and as a result, I should be able to see them (describe their Externally Observable Behaviors), so I assume I can find and interview them (describe your channels).”

    • About 30 seconds to share your thoughts and learnings about the entrepreneurial steps you’ve taken so far.
    • About 30 seconds to explain why an entrepreneur would/should take the following steps.”

Provide examples.

Your students likely won’t have done this kind of assignment before so you’ll want to show them an example video of precisely what they should be shooting for.

Teach them how to use Loom.

Loom is an amazing tool, a Google Chrome extension that is super simple to use. Thousands of ExEC students have used it on Mac and PC to present their process, and hundreds of faculty use it to quickly provide feedback to those students (because it allows you to play videos back at double speed!). Loom offers an expanded educational version that allows for longer feedback videos for those times when you want to go really deep with your feedback.

Keep them short.

As mentioned before, you want to keep them short (1 – 3 minutes). Short videos require students to practice presenting concisely (an extremely important skill for entrepreneurs), and it means you’ll spend less time grading.

Create an objective rubric.

Let students know ahead of time exactly how you will grade them. If you provide students a subjective rubric, it causes anxiety because they don’t know what you expect, and aren’t sure they are delivering the “right” elements or answers. Instead, provide an objective rubric so students know what you expect and focus on the details that will help them make progress in their process. Click here for an example rubric like the one below:

Allow students to share additional materials.

When students submit a video reflection, they should include a link to any written work that provides more details on their experiences. For instance, as they are iterating on their business model canvas, they provide a link to slides of their multiple canvases in addition to their video link.

Video Reflection Bonuses

In addition to the time savings, there are several added benefits to using video reflections:

• Students generally prefer them. Students naturally consume and create video content and we often get comments from students asking why they can’t do this in all of their classes. Offering them the opportunity to explain their process by talking to their phone will result in happier (i.e., more engaged) students.
• Students get to practice speaking concisely. Communicating efficiently is an incredibly important skill, no matter whether students become entrepreneurs or not. These 1 -3 minute videos help students develop more effective communication skills.
• Students can’t get a “free-ride” on video assignments. Students share quiz questions and written assignments can be “inspired” by other students, but it’s nearly impossible for a student to fake their way through a video recording. Just the act of speaking their reflections out loud helps them internalize their experiences and lesson learned along the way.