Reply to Vikas Sharma's post: I agree. sometimes the extra credit is more trouble to the instructor than it benefits the student.
while the transition to electronic gradebooks is long in effect, the ideas governing paper gradebooks apply to electronic gradebooks and help consider the best methods.
Evaluating student progress helps the student see how well they are doing and the instructor to see where improvements made be needed.
Be clear about your grading policies and everything will be okay.
It is important to have a good balance in the grades between assignmnets, exams and quizzes. Teaching style should also fit the needs of the institution.
Grades should be set up so that students can easily see how they were calculated.
When to give extra credit assignments. For example, when giving special projects.
Make sure to use both summative and formative assessments. Just like in planning, if a grading scheme is not working, it can and should be adjusted. Be consistent in grading practices. Be clear, consistent and fair on your policies, procedures dealing with turning in assignments and make-up work. Be careful with extra credit. Check the school’s policy, and make sure the extra credit is not excessive and does not take the place of required credit.
It's important to include policies on late work, attendance and grading policies. Deciding how many points formative and summative assessments are worth is also important to determine at the beginning of the semester and in the syllabus.
Letting the student know what our expectations and goals are for each course being taught
Seth Soronnadi
Learned that; "..... need to make sure when granting extra credit that the extra credit does not exceed the regular credit that can be earned. If the value of the extra credit is too high it can be used by students to replace regular credit assignments that are essential to their learning."
Clear grading policy makes it easy for students to understand why their grade is at X. I use an LMS that does most grading automatically and easy to understand rubrics for all lessones and tests removes most arbitrary questions. Studenst and parents have near real-time grade book views from a smart device.
Instead of giving a student a zero for a missed assignment, it is more beneficial for the student to take time to discuss the reasons in which it had been missed.
Being fair to all and having straight forward policis.
Grading strategies and being prompt on scoring assignsment, quizes, and exams. Maintaing proper grading, while keeping is safe and private.
My students seem to be obsessed with their grades even though they see what I see. My institutio does not have extra credit which I agree with as students can bump up a grade.
Having sound and current policy to guide instructors is of the utmost importance in an effort to be fair with all students. Reviewing these policies with students at the beginning of the term provides the students with the necessary information to succeed.
plan to fail if you fail to plan.it is important to keep good open communication with students. Be honest, open and up to date as regards to grading. always have a concrete policy to fallback on as I've seen students try to contest their grades because the instructor was not organized in their grading and had to redo allthe grades. Need to be updated daily. It works and saves headaches at the end.
I like the Formative approach in evaluating a students progress. It allows us to see how the class as a whole is learning the course and if adjusments are necessary we may be able to change direction.
Setting a fair and even grading sytem is not easy every class is a little different at what they may be good at, but if you set it up right everyone will benefit.
