Grading Exams And Assignments

print

Quick Jump To:

• Grading

Grading Exams

There are many factors to consider when preparing to grade an exam. They range from the type of exam (Scantron, written, etc), content, level of student, etc. This section will give you examples and ideas for several exam types.

+ show more

Scantron

Student Responsibility:

• Markings must be clear.
• No erroneous markings should be on the Scantron.
• Answers must be placed on the Scantron AND exam paper to prevent cheating.

TA Responsibility:

• Read through the Scantron output and evaluate questions consistently missed.
• Reevaluate the quality of any question missed by a majority of students.
• Note any questions that should be thrown out.
• Discuss with your senior professor for further input.

Short Answer

• How many points are appropriate for the answer?
• Determine a rubric.

Multiple Choice

• Questions must be written clearly with only one appropriate/correct answer.
• ….unless the question makes it clear that more than one answer may be correct.
• Correct answers should be clearly marked on the paper or Scantron by the student.

Essay

Evaluate:

• Content
• Grammar
• Creativity
• Accuracy
• References

Grading Papers

Of all the things that you have to grade, papers can take up the most time. These tips will equip you with the skills and confidence you need to grade papers effectively and efficiently.

+ show more

When Giving Out The Assignment

• Make paper standards clear to yourself and your students.
• Communicate criteria for various paper grades ("An 'A' paper is one that…").
• Tell students what you expect, in terms of content and format (font size, margins, page length, etc.).

Before You Start Grading

• Limit the amount of time you will spend grading each paper (aim for less than 30 minutes per paper).
• Use the criteria for paper grades, and the assignment requirements, to construct a rubric for grading.

Grading Papers Effectively and Efficiently

• Start by reading through several papers to get a sense of class performance, then skim through each paper before you start grading or commenting on it.
• Don't try to comment on everything that is wrong; select two or three key problems and focus on those.
• Avoid "problem solving"; if an argument needs to be improved, refrain from explaining how to fix it.
• Save time by using abbreviated editing marks for common problems. You can provide students with a key at the beginning of the semester — saves you time and teaches them what to avoid.
• Use the margins to comment on ideas, organization, and recurring typographical errors.
• Conclude with final comments that support the grade given to the paper. Focus on the big picture here — overall argument, organization, writing problems, etc.
• Comments tend to take a critical tone. Remember to be positive and constructive as well.

Grading Lab Reports

Lab reports can be very simple assignments or written analysis. The general principles are covered here.

+ show more

• Completeness of the assignment.
  • Are all the required elements presented? (references, format, length,)
• Appropriate subject matter and topic.
  • Does the presented material address the assignment topic?
• Reader Comprehension
  • Assignments should be turned in by students in a legible fashion. This will avoid incorrect grading and difficulty interpreting the response.

Grading Oral Presentations

Even experienced instructors find it challenging to grade oral presentations. These guidelines will help you to grade speeches and oral of projects more objectively.

+ show more

Establishing Criteria

Students tend to view the evaluation of speeches or oral presentations as more subjective than written assignments or exams. So it is very important to establish and communicate your criteria for evaluation before the presentations take place.

Here are a few things you should consider when setting up your grading rubric:

• How much of the assignment grade will the oral presentation be worth? This component will be worth more in a public speaking course than in a course where students are expected to give a presentation on their research projects at the end of the semester.

• How do you define effective public speaking? In other words, what will you be looking at when evaluating the oral presentation? While it is fairly easy to intuitively distinguish between good and bad public speaking, it is difficult to assign grades without breaking effective public speaking down into its individual elements. For example, if you expect students to present in a conversational manner (instead of reading), maintain eye contact with their audience, speak at a certain pace, and use gestures or facial expressions for emphasis, then you should add these items to your rubric, and tell students that you will be evaluating their dependence on notes, eye contact, pace, and non-verbals.

• What does an "A" oral presentation look like? You should provide students with the criteria for various presentation grades. Tell them what an "A" presentation involves, what a "B" presentation involves, what a "C" presentation involves, etc. Better yet, use video, media clips, and your own improvisational skills to show students what "A," "B," and "C" presentations actually look like.

Grading the Oral Presentation

• Before the first day of speeches, review your grading rubric and criteria.

• Don't try to focus on every element at once; work your way down the rubric as the student speaks.

• Provide summary comments on what the student did well and what needs improvement.

• Don't try to comment on everything that is wrong; select two or three key problems and focus on those.

• If the oral presentation is worth a significant portion of the final grade, you may want to arrange for the presentations to be recorded. This will allow you to view the presentation more than once, and can serve as evidence in the event of a grade complaint.

Grading Group Work

Although group projects provide a great learning opportunity, there are many concerns about group testing strategy, most of them having to do with grading. Here are some suggestions.

+ show more

• Establish how the grade will be determined. Both verbally and in writing specify and discuss the grading criteria you will use based on your course objectives.

• Many group conflicts stem from students’ perceptions that the workload is not evenly distributed. Require a brief, written division of labor report from each group or assign (or have students select) group roles for each member (e.g., convener, scribe, presenter…).

• Give students an opportunity to evaluate the effectiveness of their group. At the end of the project, ask students to complete a brief evaluation form on the effectiveness of the group and its members.

• Make it clear that each group must find its own way to handle unproductive group behavior. Provide mechanisms for groups to deal with uncooperative members if unable to do so on their own.

• Consider basing each student’s group grade on a combination of the group grade and an assessment of their individual work or effort (you can use the division of labor report or peer ratings to determine the individual grade portion).

• Consider whether you want to grade the group work. It may make more sense to keep the project as an ungraded group work for credit only.

Grading Participation

It doesn't seem to be as objective as grading a paper… But you know what? It is!

+ show more

Good news—grading participation will be a fast task compared to grading papers! Yet it can be a delicate task because it seems less "objective". So here are a few tips to make the grading fair to everyone and easy on you:
Evaluate quality and quantity (decide before you teach the class so you can announce it to students).
Ex: in a language class, quality= 50%/ quantity=50%
You may want to incorporate other elements: behavior in class (in group activities, towards peers and instructor), amount of effort and attention in class (yes, again, this may sound subjective, so click here for more info!). [No link]
Define what you mean by participation: several elements may be taken into account, especially to avoid penalizing the shy students.
Ex: Blackboard discussions, writing things on the classroom board (in a language class).

---