I personally wish we would get away from the A-B-C-D-F grading. I would prefer Pass or Fail (Satisfactory or Unsatisfactory). If you do C work in business, you are put on a performance improvement plan. Average "C" or satisfactory is no longer tolerable.
For example, a Pilot needs to do an "A" for every landing. When you land a jet, there is 10 critical steps. If a pilot does 9 correctly, in the classroom he or she gets an B. In the real life scenario, the jet crashes if one step was missed.
Again, you either know the learning material or you don't. Passing means learned material and you can do the job. Failing is you did not learn the material and are unable to effectively to a job.
Hi Diana:
Great point - rubrics can be a handy way of preventing misunderstandings in grades, or by giving the idea that the instructor is playing favorites.
Regards, Barry
Hi Lina:
That's very true. It can be a challenge for the instructor to decide what assignments are worth.
Some institutions remove this issue by deciding what things will be worth for the instructor. But those that don't, should examinations carry the most weight (like they usually do)?
Regards, Barry
Hi Benny:
One consideration may be to use a rubric that describes the expectations for the grade. Using these can help to avoid misunderstandings or create a "biased" picture to anyone.
Regards, Barry
i have no choice as my school has one system for all classes and it does not always work in certain areas
I don't know if it's a "challenge," but we first have to take into consideration the desires of the institution. Having done that, one must create a system where the student understands what they are being assessed on, and how that assessment is going to be made. Once you tell a student the "rules of the game," you must assess them on those rules. In general, the grading system should have no surprises for the student.
Hi Bee:
Rubrics are an excellent method of defining expectations for grading, and serves as a final resource for the instructor should they ever have the need to discuss a grade with the student.
Regards, Barry
Hi Catherine:
Rubrics are definitely a strong idea to remove all miscommunication from the student expectation on grades.
Also, they allow the instructor a reference to point to if the student has any issues with the grade.
Regards, Barry
Hi Terry:
If you don't already use one, grading rubrics are a great method of removing all dowubt about what's expected of a student's efforts on a particular assignment.
Regards, Barry
I agree rubrics and point systems do work. What I think is very difficult to assess is class participation. Yes, attendance is easily documented, but asking a student to "speak up" or suffer a lower grade is not a good practice. In college, I always worried about the syllabus that had a category called class participation. Students will probably participate if they enjoy the learning environment and are not intimidated, but trying to actually give a grade for this can lead to some precarious and debatable territory. The teacher should avoid any situation where there could be any hint of favoritism.
There isn't really a challenge for me with the grading system, I just use what the school gives us
When possible grading systems should be based on objective exams/assignment. Grading methods are discussed on the first day of class and examples are given to students so they may calculate their grade throughout the term.
The same can be said for essays/ There is a certain level of subjectivity inkerent with grading writing. Rubrics try to eliminate this subjectivity, but reduce the grading process to counting errors. Judging quality writing is essentially subjective, no matter how we try to fit it into a rubric.
The biggest challenge I had was learning how to keep the grading system in line with subjective grading points of a project. My students do a lot of metal fabrication and the final product from student to student is going to be different. Being able to judge the 'finish' from project to project may be difficult. I may give a grade and explain to the student what they did incorrectly but they may not be able to see what I am seeing. Getting students to develope an eye for detail can be hard when they get frustrated with the work.
Hi Deborah:
The best grading systems can vary from class to class, but the common thread is that they should acurately measure the degree to which a student did or did not meet achieve the course objectives or student learning outcomes. Component weights, rubrics, written essays - ther's a gazillion methods. The key is to choose how best to measure succesful performance.
Regards, Barry
I usually have 30+ students in my class. I always use a detailed Rubric but I find that my assessment of a particular point of an assignment usually becomes more lax. I am harsher as I start to grade and then I become less harsh in my grading as I progress.
Hi Ronald:
I think generally true. More basic, we want to make sure that we measure acuarately what the student learned. I think more categories and variety of learning methods works best.
Regards, Barry
Making sure that the categories are weighted appropriately. Exams and projects should hold more weight individually or collectively than homework and quizzes etc. Students should see what the priorities in the class are.
I find that at times I struggle within a project grading rubric with placing enough value on each stage of the project so students won't skip a stage.
Berry, I just started using rubrics in my courses. As a first time user the have made my grade of term papers fairer and faster, i am all for them!
