Effective and Efficient Grading

1. Physics TA Workshop February 8, 2008 Effective and Efficient Grading

2. When TAs Grade Stoned

3. Reflection on Zing Grading • Grade distributions and grading schemes • Was your grading fair? • What would you have done differently? • With 100, how can you be more efficient? • How do you decide whether to give students detailed feedback • What form could the feedback have taken?

4. Goals for Today • Understand functions of grading • Learn methods of providing feedback to students • Discuss how to improve fairness and reduce student complaint • Develop techniques for efficient grading

5. Why we grade • It’s our job • Describe value of work • Motivate • Encourage • Inform teacher about student knowledge • Improve student ability to identify good work

6. Student Feedback: Small Classes • Write constructive comments • Praise students • Point out logic gaps and assumptions • Allow students the opportunity to do revisions • Have a clearly defined rubric or grading scale and grade according to that rubric

7. Student Feedback: Large Classes • Avoid making unnecessary comments • Discuss common problems • Interactive discussion • Unique solutions • Have a solution set available • Have a clearly defined rubric or grading scale and grade according to that rubric Discussion: What methods of feedback have you seen or tried?

8. Fair Grading: Interacting w/ Students • Clearly state grading procedures and late policies • Stick to policy (even when you realize flaws) • Encourage students who are performing poorly • Deal directly with students who are angry or up set about their grade • Ask students about your grading at the end of the semester

9. Fair Grading: The Grading Process • Work through it all first • Read through a set number first • Cover students names • Grade all of one problem • Give partial credit • After grading half, go back Discussion: How do you deal with the “my partner did better” complaint?

10. Efficient Grading Techniques • Figure out a grading scale and stick to it • Skim through several responses • Grade all of one problem first • Divide students’ work into piles based on quality • Take breaks, but limit distraction • Alphabetize the assignments before recording grades

11. Grading Checklist • Develop a grading policy, announce it to the students, and stick to it. • Emphasize learning over grades • Look over several and grade one question at a time • Focus on strength of student work; provide positive feedback to help students learn • Discuss common problems • Get feedback at the end of semester