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Grading and Effective Feedback
in the American System
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Sabrina Kramer
Assistant Director,
University of Maryland
Welcome to Teaching in the US
In what types of classes or labs will you be expected to grade
US students?Respond below by using the textbox tool (the 4th icon down on the vertical toolbar to the left)
Lijuan Shi
CIRTL Coordinator,
University of Maryland
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Teaching in the US Events
November 12: Grading and Effective Feedback in the American System
Featuring Sabrina Kramer and Lijuan Shi, University of Maryland
February 11: Recognizing and Handling Acceptable and Unacceptable Student Behavior
Featuring a student panel of international TAs
March 10: Using Your International Background to Your Advantage in the Classroom
Featuring Kimberly Kenyon, Cornell University
April 14: Developing Your Own Teaching Philosophy by Incorporating Your Cultural Background
Featuring Khara Schonfeld-Karan, University of Maryland
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Myths, Reality, and Implications of Grades in the American Grading System
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Myth #1: “C is Average”
F D C B
A
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Shift in Grades from 1960-2009
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Grade Inflation
• Grade inflation refers to the increase in average grades over time
• Influential factors– Student evaluations– Department– Part-time teachers
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How should graduate students respond to grade inflation?
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Introduction to BiologySample Grade Distribution
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Sample US Grading Scale
Grade Interpretation
A+, A, A-
Excellent mastery of subject
B+, B, B-
Good mastery of subject
C+, C, C-
Acceptable mastery of subject
D+, D, D-
Borderline understanding of subject
F Failure
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A non-American Grading System
A
C
B
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• Have you ever been a student (or teaching) in a grading system different than the US? Where?
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Myth #2: An “A” is an “A” is an “A”
Introduction to Biology
Introduction to Human
Development
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Myth #3: High Schools prepare students for College-level grading
• Advanced coursework and GPAs• Participation (showing up) vs. demonstrating
knowledge• Timeliness and grades
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Implications: Do grades matter?
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Implications: Do grades matter?
• Fairness and consistency• University standards• Course placement• Jobs & Internships
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MAKING GRADING MORE EFFICIENT
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What are some problems that you have encountered in grading for your
course(s)?
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How do you reduce student complaints and help them learn?
• Give feedback in a timely manner
• Give feedback that students can use to improve (constructive criticism)
• Be consistent in feedback and in grading (rubrics)
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Making grading timely
• Schedule time to sit and grade when you know assignments are due.
• Go to a coffeeshop or someplace away from lab so you can just get your grading done without being tempted to do another experiment.
• Grade in a group with fellow TAs.• Remember that you’re getting paid to grade, so don’t
worry about time away from your research.
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Providing additional feedback
• Constructive Criticism– type of criticism that focuses on the ways to improve an issue, problem or other piece of work that typically involves both positive and negative feedback.
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Rubrics are a great way to provide consistent feedback
How many people have used rubrics before (raise your hand)?
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What are rubrics?
At its most basic a rubric is a scoring tool that divides an assignment into its component parts and objectives, and provides a detailed description of what constitutes acceptable and unacceptable levels of performance for each part.
Stevens, D and Levi, A., Introduction to Rubrics. An Assessment Tool to Save Grading Time, Convey Effective Feedback and Promote Student Learning. 200. Stylus Publishing. Sterling, VA.
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Why use rubrics?
• Saves time grading• Gives consistency to grading, even with assignments that can
have subjective components.• Helps the student understand what is expected of him or her• Helps the student understand what the important parts of the
assignment or task are• Gives feedback to the student where they are doing well and
where they need to improve
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What does a rubric look like?
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What makes a bad rubric?
• Too many Columns (levels)
• Too wordy (not succinct)
• Mixing criteria• Isn’t aligned with
learning outcomes• Not a logical
progression of proficiency in levels
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How would you create your own?
• Start by dividing up the grading criteria. For example, with a lab report:– Hypothesis– Methodology– Results – Figures and legends– Citations– Writing Style– Conciseness
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For each criteria, decide what would be exemplary and what would be unacceptable
• For example:– Methodology: Exemplary
• Methods are explained clearly using correct language and are sufficient for someone else to repeat the experiment
– Unacceptable:• Methods section is missing or if present, does not describe
experiment.
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Decide what would constitute needing more work
• Methodology: Needs Work– Methods present and describe experiment, but not
sufficient for someone to repeat experiment. Terminology and language used is not correct or sufficient to convey information about experimental conditions.
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Resources for Rubrics (including good example used)
• Rubric templates: http://www.introductiontorubrics.com/frameworks.html
• Sample:http://www.introductiontorubrics.com/samples.html
• Rubric template maker: http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php
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How to deal with students’ complaints of grading
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Be relaxed, but prepared
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Why do we need to be relaxed
• GPA, GPA, GPA• Argument=engagement• Complaining is a good opportunity for both parties
to understand each other
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How to be prepared
• Use rubric • Keep rules transparent（ deadline, handwriting)• Clarify your responsibility
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Be firm, but empathetic
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Why we need to be firm
• Maintain fairness• Level the playing field
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A real example:
An International TA F gave his students an assignment for a Math lab class:
On the same graph (3 subplots)• Plot x(t) versus t with a blue solid line and line width 1.5.• Plot y(t) versus t with a red solid line and line width 1.5.• Plot z(t) versus t with A green solid line and line width 2.0.
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A student challenged F’s grading in the following Email:
Hi F, I just looked at my Lab2 grade, and I feel that I lost points for reasons that were not made clear in the assignment document. First, the assignment said to plot the 3 curves on the same graph. The subplot command plots multiple curves in the same figure but on separate graphs, so the subplot command would not be appropriate based on the assignment. Second, it wasn't clear that our plots needed to be labeled based on the assignment. Assuming all 3 curves were intended to be on the same graph (which I know now was not the intention), there isn't an obvious title to describe the entire graph.
Please let me know if you can adjust my grade. Thanks.
Student
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As an international TA, how would you respond to this
student at this point?
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The TA F responded this following Email:
Hi Student,• I am certain that you had the potential required to complete the
assignment. I have used the same rubric to grade everyone; it will be unfair to make special adjustments.
• 1) Graph and figure could have been misleading in the assignment, but subplot is a clear term, you completely ignored it, though we went through examples during the lab.
• 2) By know, (I also emphasized it during the lab) you should know better than turning figures, plots or graphs without labels. How will someone interpret them? In this case, how to distinguish x(t), y(t) and z(t) on those plots.
• 3) When you have multiple subplots you can label each one of them as well.
Complete the assignment with more care.
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See problems?
Hi Student,• I am certain that you had the potential required to complete the
assignment. I have used the same rubric to grade everyone; it will be unfair to make special adjustments.
• 1) Graph and figure could have been misleading in the assignment, but subplot is a clear term, you completely ignored it, though we went through examples during the lab.
• 2) By know, (I also emphasized it during the lab) you should know better than turning figures, plots or graphs without labels. How will someone interpret them? In this case, how to distinguish x(t), y(t) and z(t) on those plots.
• 3) When you have multiple subplots you can label each one of them as well.
Complete the assignment with more care.
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Solutions:
• In person meeting • Avoid using strong words in your Email• require written complaint• Utilize sample answers
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What if you made a mistake?
• Take responsibility• Talk to your instructor
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Thank you for joining Teaching in the US!
What did you think of today’s session?
Please take a minute right now to fill out a
one-question survey on today’s experience:
We very much appreciate your feedback.
go.wisc.edu/lddrxj
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Teaching in the US Events
November 12: Grading and Effective Feedback in the American System
Featuring Sabrina Kramer and Lijuan Shi, University of Maryland
February 11: Recognizing and Handling Acceptable and Unacceptable Student Behavior
Featuring a student panel of international TAs
March 10: Using Your International Background to Your Advantage in the Classroom
Featuring Kimberly Kenyon, Cornell University
April 14: Developing Your Own Teaching Philosophy by Incorporating Your Cultural Background
Featuring Khara Schonfeld-Karan, University of Maryland
