Fair and Appropriate Grading

1. Fair and Appropriate Grading Carol Van Zile-Tamsen, Ph.D. Associate Director, Office of Educational Innovation and Assessment Adjunct Instructor, Counseling, School, and Educational Psychology

2. Session Agenda: Establishing and Communicating Grading Policy Grading Guidelines for Assignments and Exams Grading Documentation Questions

3. Grading is one of the most important things you'll do as an instructor! Has a permanent impact for the student: Will be on the on the student's transcript forever. Has an immediate impact on student motivation. Grading policies and procedures influence motivation.

4. Part 1: Establishing and Communicating grading policy

5. Grades:A Definition A concise, universally understood, summative evaluation of performance. An overall indicator of someone’s performance on an assignment, a test, or in the class as a whole.

6. Types of Grading: Normative Grading Criterion-Referenced Grading Grades are assigned to students based on how their performance compares to an absolute standard. • Grades are assigned to individual students based on how they compare to other students in the class.

7. http://www.mathsisfun.com/data/standard-normal-distribution.htmlhttp://www.mathsisfun.com/data/standard-normal-distribution.html Types of Grading:A Visual Representation C B D F A In norm-referenced grading, the score is determined by the distance the student is from the class average. In criterion-referenced grading, the student’s grade is determined by the percentage of content they have mastered.

8. Grading Policy: Rules for determining a summative grade based on an individual’s performance. Indicates the level of work necessary to earn each grade. The grading policy should be clearly communicated on the syllabus.

9. Example:Norm Referenced Grading Policy

10. Example:Criterion Referenced Grading Policy

11. Weighting: • Refers to how grades from distinct requirements will be combined to inform the final grade. • Assignments that take more effort should be given more weight in the final grade than assignments that require less effort. • Participation and the potential for extra credit should also be explicitly addressed.

12. A Weighting Comparison: Method 1 Method 2

13. Incomplete Policy: • The syllabus is required to contain the policy for taking an incomplete. • This is available in the undergraduate catalog: • The student must request an incomplete. • The student must have completed enough course work at sufficient quality that it will be possible to earn a higher grade by completing the remainingcoursework.

14. Final Thought: Teach what you plan to grade, and grade what you teach!

15. Part 2: Guidelines for grading assignments and exams

16. Written Work and Open-Ended Assignments: • Clear guidelines should be presented when work is assigned: • Required components; • Weighting of components; and • Criteria for evaluating work. • A grading rubric has many benefits.

17. Benefits of grading rubrics: • Increase consistency in grading across different students. • Clearly communicates to students what is expected. • Provides more informative feedback to the student. • Makes the grading process more efficient.

18. Rubrics can also be used for: • Homework problems and/or homework as a whole • Constructed response items on exams • Oral presentations • Performance in group projects • Class participation

19. Grading Objective Tests and Exams: • Include the content that is most important for students to know. • Make sure that the test is well-designed and that each item has a clearly defensible correct answer. • Include in the instructions the number of points each item is worth. • Make sure the items correspond to material covered in class.

20. After the test/exam completed: • Complete an item analysis to identify items that may have caused problems for the class as a whole. • Review the results in class, in particular items that caused problems. • It is ok to adjust scores for items that were confusing or not well-written. • Review and/or reteach problematic content.

21. Part 3: Grading documentation

22. Grading Challenges: • Sometimes grading decisions are challenged by students. • To help prevent challenges, it is important to: • Establish and communicate a defensible grading policy; • Establish clear criteria for assigning final grades; • Develop guidelines and grading criteria for all requirements; and • Make sure there are clear criteria for participation grades and extra credit.

23. Grading Documentation: • To prepare for a grading challenge, keep good records: • a copy of the syllabus; • Assignment guidelines and rubrics; • Copies of the quizzes/tests/exams; and • Your completed "grade book" including columns for participation and extra credit if used in grading.

24. Additional Resources • Books: • Gentile, J. R., & Lalley, J. P. (2006). Educational psychology (3rd edition). Kendall Hunt Publishing. • Suskie, L. (2009). Assessing student learning: A common sense guide (2nd edition). Jossey-Bass. • Walvoord, B., & Anderson, V. J. (2009). Effective grading (2nd edition). Jossey-Bass. • Web Sites: • Academic Policies • http://undergrad-catalog.buffalo.edu/policies/course/index.shtml • http://undergrad-catalog.buffalo.edu/policies/grading/index.shtml • Test Construction • http://prezi.com/rxmzqg6i203x/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy&rc=ex0share • Using Rubrics • http://prezi.com/rxmzqg6i203x/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy&rc=ex0share These books and web sites provide additional detail about various aspects of grading and syllabus requirements.

25. Questions? What other details do you need to know?