Volumes I-IX and Volume X, Numbers 1-4 were originally written and posted for CU Denver, where they are currently archived at: <http://www.cudenver.edu//OTE/nn/index.htm>.
 

NUTSHELL NOTES

"Teaching tips in a nutshell" - The University of Colorado
at Denver's One-page Newsletter for Teaching Excellence
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Volume 5 Number 1 

Assessment of Our Students I?Grading in General

In this year's theme, assessment, we have covered quite a bit on assessment of ourselves and of our programs. We'll next focus on assessment of our students' learning, which drives us willing or not, into the issue of grades and grading. We have a conventional letter grading system at UCD. While there are alternatives to this convention, we won't get into comparisons here. Rather, we'll try to work well with what we have. It is good to understand that conventional grading, stripped of all embellishments, can be practiced under two conflicting agendas.
    Grading as a means to express a measure of students' achievement of mastery of a defined set of skills or a body of knowledge based upon an absolute standard

    Grading as a means to classify students into categories of relative status based on a relative standard

Disparity between such agendas creates great difficulty when "good teaching" is evaluated for summative purposes. In the first case, "success" should ideally result in nearly all students mastering the material at a very high level, and thus class grades should be very high. In the second case, "success" should result in class grades with a bell-curve distribution, so that a few may fail and only a few will receive "A's." Case 2 is often called "grading on the curve." Most authorities advise against this, yet some units mandate it and choice is not an option for faculty in those units.

Each practice can be perverted, which leads to a need to justify what we claim to be success. High grades can result from good teaching; they can also result from low standards for achievement with little learning. A bell-curve distribution may arise from rigorous teaching; it can also be created by manipulations that range from poor teaching to mathematical forcing. Fair exams and grading is known to be an essential facet of successful teachers. To be sure that we are evaluating students fairly, we need some supplemental assessment that helps us explain the meaning of the grades we give.

Good practices in grading include the following:

    The syllabus is the cornerstone. Divulge the true agenda and the kinds of evaluations that will be the basis for the grade. Give the definitions for each letter grade. The clearest definitions are numerical.

    Continue with the syllabus by being very clear about any consequences to grades that will result from absences, missed tests and quizzes, late assignments, or violations of ethical conduct.

    Keep students informed of their progress throughout the course. If a discrepancy exists between the grade a student thinks he or she has and the number in a grade book, resolve that discrepancy immediately. Spreadsheets can save lots of labor.

    Once a policy is set, apply it equally to all students. Subjective adjustments during or after a course are likely to prove dangerous.

    Validate grades with an alternative assessment of learning such as a pre-post test or knowledge survey.

    We're likely getting into danger if we find ourselves

    Testing on other than what we teach;

    Grading on other than what we stated in our syllabi.;

    Finding class grades to be unusually low and assuming no responsibility for this outcome;

    Finding class grades are unusually high when our students don't do well on other measures of competency (i.e. - success in succeeding classes, results on standardized exams, results on departmental exams).

    Grading is communication to both students and to those who later review students. Grading has permanent consequences. Realize that later reviewers will not know what grading agenda was used, and opportunity to explain the meaning of a grade will rarely occur. 


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