The Guide to Teaching

Grading Policies

Subject: Re: teaching guide file on grading
Date: Wed, 30 Sep 1998 15:00:44 -0400 (EDT)
From: Joel J Schwartz <jjschwar@email.unc.edu>

SUMMARY AND MESSAGES REGARDING GRADING POLICIES, PART 1

Perhaps the most challenging and frustrating task confronting teachers is the issue of testing and grading. As the following responses indicate, this is a perennial issue in many disciplines and especially so in political science where the goal is not to test an agreed-upon body of knowledge which has correct and incorrect answers. If we were testing knowledge of definitions of terms or political institutions the question of what to test would be an easy one to answer. However the letters herewith address the use and grading of the essay exam in political science classes. The pedagogical goals such as mastery of the material as well as the development of discipline and critical thinking are easily articulated, but achieving these goals with one's students is a far more difficult task.

The teachers writing provide examples and rationale for choosing to give their kind of exams and for their grading policies. Although, as faculty, we probably agree more than we disagree on our goals, it is quite clear that we have very diverse methods and policies for achieving these goals.

At 12:14 PM 4/25/97 -0700, Michael Parkhurst wrote:
mailto:d1mp@ODIN.CC.PDX.EDU

Part of me is reluctant to drag something this 'mundane' and vulgar onto the list, while another part of me believes this involves potentially deep issues that are precisely the kind this list could fruitfully address.

I am curious how people approach grading, particularly in less strictly "content-based" courses (particularly theory).

I am deeply ambivalent about the whole project of grading, but so long as I work in institutions where I have to do this, I try to do it "right" -- with as much consistency, clarity and fairness as possible.

There are a lot of knotty issues in here: what counts as fairness when you are grading papers in political theory? Do you hold seventeen year-old first-year students to the same standard as upper-class polsci majors when they appear in the same class? How do you cope with grade inflation?

How do you balance a fair assessment of quality with pedagogical aims of encouraging students who could do better but need to be nurtured rather than bludgeoned to do so? (this assumes that the purpose of grading students is not the same as grading lumber)

How about deadlines? If one of the key parts of enforcing deadlines is fairness... Is it fair to hold single parents to the same deadlines as unencumbered teenagers? If you ruthlessly enforce paper deadlines, some students will either fail or turn in hopelessly shoddy work; is that better than unfairly cutting students slack who have the initiative to ask for it?

Personally, I know what I am looking for in papers, and make that explicit to the students as the criteria for success -- a demonstration that they've read the assigned texts and understand the key issues involved (& what's at stake); a coherent, argument such that the reader can quickly ascertain what the problem is, and the author's position.

To get worse than a C from me, you basically have to insult me -- turn in a patently inadequate effort, miss the basic point of the readings, write a paper 2/3 of the assigned length etc. C's are usually the fruit of honest effort by students who are in one way or another out of their depth in the class. 'A' papers fulfill all the requirements above AND demonstrate some actual thought on the part of the student, AND come clothed in competent if not actually artful English sentences AND some attempt to anticipate and answer the most obvious objections to the author's interpretation.

Not surprisingly, I am not terribly free with A's. Still, I'm sure there are folks who'd consider me far too 'soft' -- and I wonder about this myself. A lot hinges on the purpose and psychology one assumes to be behind grading students' work in courses. I'm very interested in hearing from others.

--Michael Parkhurst Willamette University

Mailto:hcline@warrior.mgc.peachnet.edu (Harold Cline)

As the commercial says, "If everybody does something just 'good enough,' will anything ever be 'good enough'?

I never did like professors who appeared to have "favorite" students. So when a student asks me to bend or modify my requirements for him alone, I ask him if that would be fair to all the students in the class. The answers have been "No"--for the last 19 years.

Students know what is required of them-- it is stated in the syllabus. In my judgment, all students in the same class should be held to the same standards be they freshman or seniors, married or single, disabled or not disabled. Deadlines should be enforced; employers will require our students to meet deadlines. If they do not meet deadlines, they will lose their jobs--that is the harsh reality.

If a professor believes that freshman or sophomores can not do the work then he or she should limit the enrollment to juniors and seniors or permission of instructor.

One of the many problems with K through college is that too much emphasis is placed on increasing a student's self-esteem without requiring the student to meet performance standards. Students must earn self-esteem by performing up to the standards set by the professor. For better or worse, the professor must set the standards, as he or she sees fit. I have found that students will jump as high as the bar is set--if we set it low, they will do just enough to clear it.

For those students who can not make passing grades, I have advised them to consider technical schools or the military. If they are successful, most come out with a trade that pays well and may be more enjoyable and fulfilling than a college degree.

A "C" paper should meet the minimum performance standards set by the professor for a C grade. Giving students a C for "effort" is unfair to the student and to all students in the class. Using that standard, the Battle of Gettysburg was won by the Confederates.

---Harold Cline

At 03:32 PM 4/28/97 -0400, Barry Daniel wrote:
mailto:fac_daniel@WESTERN.EDU

> > I then develop a study guide from the
> questions usually having, for an exam with 2 essays and 4 short answers,
> about 8 essay and 12 short answer questions. The students study from that.
> Rarely are the questions not good. This does two things. It virtually
> eliminates any whining about the content of the exam and it forces the
> students to study the whole of the study guide because they are not sure
> what questions will be on the exam.
> > Barry Daniel

Mike Avey Lander University Division of History and Political Science mavey@Greenwood.net

Mike Avey writes:

I have been using a similar study sheet with short answers and essays (about 20 each) and have been satisfied that virtually all students in the class learn the basic points I want to convey in the course. However, the students in each class study together before the test and I have been getting increasingly disconcerting results when I sit to grade the exams. Since the class forms into three or four study groups on their own outside class I get back only three or four different answers to each question, depending on which study group the students are in. This makes grading appear to me to separate itself from the amount of studying done throughout the semester. Even the students who would have gotten 'd's or 'f's without the study guide and help from their cohorts can write down 'b' answers under these conditions. And I am not convinced that students actually learn more since they develop the habit of waiting for the studysheet before applying themselves. (There are only a few faculty in our program, so our majors take me for several courses and talk to each other of the best way to minimize their work.) I am about to discontinue the studyguide and I was wondering whether anyone has a solution to these problems that would allow me to continue the studyguide with less negative consequences.

Mailto:mwetstein@sjdccd.cc.ca.us (Matt Wetstein)

Regarding the recent flurry on grading & late papers:

I must say that my deadlines for papers are FIRM and I expect students to meet them. I do so on the argument that deadlines "in the real world" are in fact firm, and I see their education as partial training for real world demands.

Faculty who do not hold students to deadlines do them a disservice, and in some way punish students who do meet the deadline. The argument that deadlines are not firm in the real world is not persuasive to me. Should a student use that argument in a meeting with me, I simply tell them that the IRS does not extend deadlines (unless requested). Nor did my editor extend deadlines for me when I was a reporter. Nor do judges take kindly to requests from attornies for continuances. Nor do bill collectors.

I punish late papers 1/3 a letter grade for each working day late. This is prominently displayed in my syllabus. Very few students violate the policy, and they know they receive the penalty. At any rate, I have found that papers handed in late are often no better than the pool of papers handed in on time.

Matt Wetstein Delta College Stockton, CA

From: "Michael Malbin m.malbin@albany.edu" mm658@cnsvax.albany.edu
Subject: Re: grading, late policies, etc.

Several people have said they have mentioned the problem of maintaining internal grading consistency when it can take several days to grade a set of papers, some are graded when we are tired, etc. I like to make my comments in ink (sometimes I'll use pencil for the first few papers) but put the grade in pencil, lightly. I then sort all the papers in rank order piles, by grade. I always find some that strike me later as being inconsistent -- especially among the ones graded first. I adjust the grades and enter them in ink. The extra step does not take very long and lets me avoid conscience pangs. I also helps me make clearer and more pertinent comments.

This is especially useful because I am never sure what the most common mis-statements will be until I see them. After I have read the same off-the-wall misreading from ten students, I am less likely to be taken aback by it and can judge the comment fairly, instead of by my initial reaction to it. But it helps sort out adjacent grades at all levels, except the clear As, Ds and Fs.

-------------------------------------------------------------------- Michael Malbin Director for Legislative and Political Studies Rockefeller Institute, SUNY 411 State Street Albany NY 12203-1003 (518) 443-5256 FAX: (518) 443-5788 e-mail: m.malbin@albany.edu ------------------------------------------------------------------- > >

At 08:45 AM 4/30/97 -0700,
mark rush wrote:
mailto:mrush@LIBERTY.UC.WLU.EDU

I'm entering this fray a bit late and therefore may have overlooked previous comments to this effect.

I hold the students to deadlines and seldom cut them any slack unless they have an "official" university commitment--e.g., the tennis team is leaving town and the student can't be here for an exam. Regarding papers, I put the paper topics and due dates in the syllabus--that way, students can plan well in advance of the due date to prepare a paper and organize his or her time--so, no excuses.

My reasons for holding firm to deadlines fit into two broad categories. The first echoes the comments that I have read in the psrt discussion. I want to promote responsibility, treat the students as adults (hell, they can shoot guns, drive, be drafted, vote...). As well, I reject the argument that college prepares the students for the real world. As far as I am concerned, college *is* part of the real world. My deadline is as important to me (and should be as important to the students) as that set by the landlord, tax collector, American Express, or school tuition office.

This raises the second point--one which I seldom hear. By my lights, *professors* have an interest in maintaining legitimate, respected deadlines and other class requirements. This is not simply "because we have lives" and therefore get to be parents and spouses instead of being on call 7/365 for the student who can't convince him or herself to meet a deadline.

Instead, it is because we (or some of us) actually have an interest in maintaining a certain level of integrity and wish to do our jobs commendably. We would not respect a lawyer or judge or doctor or indian chief who did a sloppy job and had virtually no professional standards. The same applies to the way a professor does his or her job.

The students seem to forget that faculty may actually take pride in their work. Sadly, I seldom hear folks discussing the professor's interest as such.

--just my 2 bits...

-- Mark E. Rush Department of Politics Washington and Lee University Lexington, VA 24450 (540) 463-8904 Fax: 463-8639

Date: Wed, 30 Apr 1997 14:30:32 -0500 (EST)
From: LONG@SSCL.UWO.CA
mailto:LONG@SSCL.UWO.CA

Dear Michael: Just a quick thought about the grading problem. One technique I have used for about 15 years with consistent positive results is splitting the grade into four aspects. I use a 'grading sheet' to organize my comments, and each student gets a copy of this sheet when she receives her course outline and/or instructions for any essay assignment. The sheet allows for a 'letter grade' and comments on style, the same for organization, the same again for proper acquaintance with and use of sources, and the same again for quality of evaluative, strategic and/or comparative judgment. The basic value of this sheet seems to lie in the fact that it allows me to tell each student something relatively positive while also focussing in on problem areas: "You write like the wind (A) ... how about cracking a book?" or "I really appreciate the strong research foundation here, but you struggle to define your approach and the real focus of your paper." I don't promise that the over all grade will be an arithmetic average of the four grades given in the four areas singled out [if you do no reading for the paper you're going to fail big-time no matter what!]. I just promise to use the four aspects to recognize their strengths and point out where they most need to bear down.

I teach the intro. History of Political Thought course [2nd year honours] at a very conservative Canadian University, with classes of up to 130. Since I began using the grading sheet, the number of students coming in to ask me to go through the whole thing again has plummeted, and stayed down.

Hope this might be of some interest.

Doug Long, Dep. of Pol. Sci, U. of Western Ontario, London Ont. Canada

{ Top of Page }

Copyright for the messages in this section belongs to their author.

Teaching Politics is published by William J. Ball (ball@tcnj.edu)