Lori,
Yep! Sometimes it takes a "trial and error" effort to find the right mix. Acurately measuring learning is what I use to guide any grading system. I don't care what the components are as much as being satisfied that the grade a student receives is truely reflective of their learning.
Barry Westling
The first time I used excel to set a grading system, the math was incorrect, and the calculations would not push through. It took several tries to get the grading system to work, but was worth it in the end. As students finished assignments, I could quickly and confidently advise them of their class performance to date. The students greatly appreciated the efforts and felt more engaged by the fact they could identify where they were in the class.
Other challenges I faced were getting the point spreads correct. While I used several teaching methods, I quickly identified that students were slipping through the holes in my grading scale, getting A's when the deserved C's. I adjusted the point categories and found the grades leveled out and were representative of the performance of each student.
Thank you,
Lori
Sandhya,
For me, it seems that instruction should involve lots of variety, delivered in interesting and engaging methods. In that setting, the grading is similarly based on a variety of components, with the most important information assessed at a higher point value. For instance, although busy work in class or homework can be helpful, that has a very low overall weight in the final grade. Daily quizzes and tests may have a larger weight, but not so much larger that it overshadows graded activities that reflect an accurate measure of learning. Setting up a grading system intially involves some trial and error, past history, and institutional policies. And a good grading system will involve tweaking over time to insure accuracy.
Barry Westling
I would have to say the biggest challenge is to objectively assess whether our grading system is a fair and accurate way of evaluating student learning. The grading system must fall within guidelines of the college as well as give an accurate indication of student performance. I have used the both the formative and summative evaluation processes in my past teaching position. This has worked well for me in the past. Part of the problem is that some students do well on certain kinds of tests ( such as multiple choice), whereas others may do well on essay or hands-on skill demonstration, where they can apply what they have learned. Ideally, I would like to used both, but in the past I have been where I was encouraged to use multiple choice due to the quickness in grading.
Adrienne,
I begin by looking at the course objective, and student learning outcomes (if they're present). For me, I want to make sure I am acuurately measuring learning. Therefore, the more important content elements in a course should have more weight. But I also realize people learn in different ways so I try to have as much variety in the grading system that still allows accurate measurement. Also, I think trial and error, past history, and institutional policies have a place. Needless to say, it has to be fair to all (one reason I avoid extra credit).
Barry Westling
I find weighting difficult, maybe because I am not a math person :) It is tough to know how much credit to assign to each piece of work in a course.
Vanessa,
In settings such as these, instructors need to be creative with the criteria they do have control over. For instance, the quizing component may be fixed by the institution, but there's no limit on the amount of verbal "quizzing" that could occur that never gets recorded but contributes to stronger student outcomes. Test or exam reviews are another area, as is discussion during a lecture. All of these (and many more) are examples where the instructor is constantly checking for understanding in a non-graded fashion, while still complying with their institutional requirements.
Barry Westling
My biggest challenge is the school that I work for does not let you have the freedom to put together a grading system as you would like. Because of our accredidation system the program sylaabus, test, handouts and quizes need to be identical. Also the upper management decides how the syllabus grading is broken down so I really don't have any say how they are evaluated even though I know what is more imprtant as a test assesment then the upper management who has no clue on what is expected in my career field that is taught.
Gleb,
For me, the best grading systems are those that prove to be accurate in actually measuring student learning. This seems like an obvious statement at firsty glance, but it's possible tha a great looking system could be developed and yet it would miss the goal. Careful planning, trial and error, and post course analysis are among the requirements that are involved in establishing an effective grading system.
Barry Westling
This will not only help students maintain a satisfactory grade but will also show them that you care about their success.
Ron,
I believe whenever students are involved in their instructional process they're going to benefit more than if everything is just handed to them or dished out without regard for their participation. So, I would put selecting assessment criteria into that category.
Barry Westling
Your reply brought to mind another approach to assessment. Over the last couple of years I have given a couple of presentations on Student Centered Learning and Integrating Technology. One of my slides discusses involving students in selecting and setting assessment criteria.
Ron,
You're right, grading systems ideally should do what they're designed for - to measure learning. Unfortunately, sometimes formulas or templates from past classes are used, sometimes only because they look good. We want to measure learning. However we can best do that, that is the way we should set up the components. And it may have to vary from class to class, just as the mix of diversity, learning styles, and past preparation all factor into what an accurate grading scale should be comprised of, so should the grading scale.
Barry Westling
The most difficult challenge to setting up a grading system is giving weight to all the assessments. With what we are discovering about learning it is extremely important to have a balance between different types of assessments, how many formative, what is the value of a summative, etc. Assessments and grading scales should consider differentiated education and varying learning styles.
Patricia,
In the end, however it's done and by whom, we should be measuring the degree of learning that has (or has not) occured. So as long as that happens, there are many varieties of ways to get accurate results of learning successfulness.
Barry Westling
Our college already has a grading system in place and I'm thankful for that! One of the biggest challenges, I think, would be to ascertain that it is not a linear system, but one which includes all aspects of the learning curve? Especially important now at a time when soft skills are generally quite poor. Perhaps I'm too old fashioned? Time to retire? I also come from another culture that was much stricter in the educational field and I hope I have learned to glean the best from both cultures!
Nancy,
However the grading system is constructed, I think we want to make sure we are accurate in measuring student learning. Some sophisticated systems may look good on paper but actually miss the "measure of learning", and that's what really matters, more than grades. So having a system that puts the most emphasis on the most important components or learning segment should be a priority.
Barry Westling
Our grading system has been set for us. It is in every syllabus that we go over at the beginning of each course. It is based on 1000 point with some academic freedom when we give quizzes and the points for our labs. We also have attendance policies that allow the students to take the test is they were absent but they receive 10 points off. Also, if they are absent on lab days they will receive 0 points, however, we still teach them the labs they missed.
In our school the grading system is not set by the instructors, although we did have some say in the points given to each section. We started a new curriculum in 2010 and we were able to have some imput as the program progressed and were able to change some points.
Kelsey,
When teachers have restrictions, they can make up for it in the delivery component. Providing interest and informative lessons will help your students. How they're measured is something different. But for sure, your students will have received a full complement of instruction!
Barry Westling
