Fair point values for specific projects
I always try to assign fair point values for a specific project. For a culinary example: If a student assignment is to create a plate of food containing a protein, a starch, a vegetable and a sauce, and each of those are to be evaluated. I try to assign a resonable point value for each, so, the plate total might be only 20 points - 5 points for each component. 5 points is realistic as the instructor may evaluate 5 areas like taste, temperature, consistency, cooking technique and appearance.
Some instructors inflate point values to 100 or even 200 points in order to build high point values for the course.
But how is a sauce on a plate worth 50 points. What could make that sauce earn 47 points instead of 48. too confusing for the student.
Hi Bill:
I understand your point, and I agree it's valid. My attempt was to amplify a bit about component weights in general as 60 or 70 participants are probably going to read these posts, so I used your great example to enlarge the scope of the discussion.
Albert Einstien is quoted as saying "keep everything as simple as possible, but not simpler". Simpler (fewer points) will generally always work better except in some rare instances involving complex equations, concepts, or mutidisciplined models.
The bottom line is measuring if a student has mastered the skill.
Regards, Barry
I'm saying that I don't understand the purpose of needlessly inflating point totals for a class. why make a course work 1000 points if only 100 are sufficient.
Say for example I need to grade a student's tray of 15 chocolate chip cookies. If the assignment is worth 30 points and a few things are wrong with a couple cookies (one is misshaped, another is burnt, etc.) then I can simply deduct 1 or 2 points for those errors.
But inflating the value to 100 points or even 150 points for the sole purpose of trying to meet 1000 points makes grading the cookie tray much more complicated. Should that same burnt cookie be minus 1 point or 5 points or all 10 points?
Hi Bill:
Sometimes industry standards can help set reasonable, or at least realistic standards for assessing student performance.
Some schools "borrow" similar standards for their classes from other schools. That doesnn't make them accurate, it just staves off having to come up with original assessment standards.
In my opinion, component weights should be varied, weighted according to relative value or importance, and directly measure student learning and performance. So, there are probably many ways to go about this - as long as these criteria are met, it will probably serve the pupose.
Regards, Barry
