Grade assignments

Use these strategies for assessing assignments in ways that are fair, efficient, and provide meaningful feedback to students.

In this article:

1. Define your expectations for student learning

First, determine what you want students to learn (the desired learning outcome(s)). Then, decide what evidence you need to gather to know students have achieved the learning. This evidence will vary greatly depending on the course context (e.g., course content, students’ background knowledge, class size), but a clear sense of desired outcomes and assessment criteria are the foundation of meaningful assessment.

Ideas: 

• Talk about your expectations for student learning with a colleague – even better if this colleague is outside your discipline and asks you questions that help you make explicit what you are looking for.

• Think about specific actions you can observe to know that learning has occurred. For example, will students provide definitions, synthesize multiple perspectives, reflect on an unexpected result? Observable actions can be integrated into grading tools. See 3. Choose grading tools that match the given task.

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2. Clarify your expectations to students

Ideas:

• Share your rubric with students when distributing assignment instructions so they are aware of your expectations before they submit their work.

• Provide exemplars of various levels of work (“A,” “B,” and “C” papers) from former students (with permission) and have current students identify the ways in which each one addresses the criteria in your rubric. Alternatively, you could provide examples of published work and lead a similar discussion.
  To create a bank of exemplars, consider sending a request like the following to your former students: email_request_for_model_assignments.pdf

• Have students work in groups to rank 4-5 former student assignments, similar to the one currently assigned. After student groups have “graded” the papers, lead a class discussion to clarify your own criteria and explain the grades you would give.

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3. Choose grading tools that match the given task

Grading tools help to clarify expectations in advance and ensure consistent marking, whether you are grading alone, with co-instructors, or with teaching assistants. It’s important to match the level of sophistication of the tool to the type of assignment. For example, in-class writing assignments may require a quick and simple approach, while essays and research projects may require a more in-depth and complex grading scheme.

Ideas:    

• Use the plus/check/minus system for simple tasks that are not weighted heavily. This strategy allows you to quickly assess whether students have accomplished the task or not. There are no criteria – just ask yourself, “Has the student completed the task?” The answer is yes—very well (plus), yes—adequately (check), or no (minus).
  See “3-Part Media Assignment” on this page for an example of an assignment graded this way.

• Use a checklist when you want to quickly determine whether a set of given criteria has been met (i.e., student provided a clear thesis statement or student correctly cited five appropriate sources). See an example checklist: carolyn_samuel-checklist.pdf

• Use a rubric to provide students with feedback about where their work is on a spectrum of unacceptable to excellent. Existing rubrics are available; however, instructors generally need to develop rubrics for each assignment that reflect their own priorities and concerns. Developing a rubric with clear criteria takes time but is an investment that can streamline the grading process and make it more transparent to students. See a sample_rubric.pdf.

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4. Provide written comments

Writing for an audience is an important concept for students to learn, and your comments can help them understand how their work is received by a reader. Comments should be constructive and applicable to future work, either in your course or other courses with the same grading criteria.

Ideas:

• Focus comments on ideas, organization, development, and clarity rather than marking every mechanical error. Asking students to clarify ideas usually requires them to address their thinking rather than the mechanics of writing.

• Comment on only a portion of a paper, such as a selected paragraph or page, and require students to apply your feedback to the remainder of the assignment. Your comments should indicate for students their strengths as well as areas to improve.

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5. Set up a manageable and efficient grading system

Ideas:

• Tell students in advance what form your feedback will take. Clarify whether you will use a rubric or a checklist, or provide written comments so that students are prepared for the results.

• Address only one main strength and one main area for improvement. Address other aspects of the paper with two statements:
  1. “The most effective aspect of this paper is __________,”
  2. “One thing that will significantly improve this paper or ones like it in the future is __________.”

• Have students write a cover memo to describe what they perceive as their writing’s strengths and weaknesses, and request feedback on specific aspects of their work. The more time and effort students put into thinking about their writing, the more useful your feedback is likely to be. See examples of interactive cover sheets.

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