Grading & Evaluating Policies
Grading Policies
Having a clear grading policy explains to students how course grades are calculated and can minimize potential disputes. A clear grading policy should not only provide point values but also the percentages and weights of each graded component. Lastly, the relationship(s) between points, percentages, weights, and letter grades should be explained.
Let's look at an example:
In the above example, we have not only the point values for each area of assessment but also the percentages. We can improve upon this grading scale though by identifying what individual assessments make up these various categories; this can help the student better track their individual progress. Consider including a Grading Record, Links to an external site. which can specifically list individual assessments, their point value, and how they contribute to the overall course percentage.
Remember to double-check your math with the course gradebook and syllabus if you decide to add assessments that were not part of your original grading policy/scale.
Late Policies
If you plan on deducting points for late submission, be sure to include a clear late policy statement on your course syllabus and the syllabus page in Canvas. You may also want to reiterate this policy on assessment instructions. Learn how to apply a late policy in Canvas by reading the following help guide Links to an external site..
Evaluating & Providing Feedback
Grading is a teachable moment; ensuring students receive prompt feedback to their assessment submission is vital to their success in the course. When crafting a plan for providing feedback consider how long will it take for a student to receive feedback upon submission. Explicitly state how many days you will generally take (ex. 3 days, 5 days, etc.). If you plan to mute assignment columns while grading, be sure to communicate that to students as well.
Make sure you are providing learners with clear descriptive criteria that will be used to evaluate their work in the course. Ideally, this evaluation criteria should be provided prior to the beginning of a particular assessment. Descriptive criteria not only help you as an instructor grade and provide feedback but also provide students with clear guidance on your expectations and other required components of coursework and participation. For students, descriptive criteria provide the information they need to understand how a grade on an assessment is calculated.
Depending on the assessment, you may choose to provide descriptive criteria in the form of a detailed checklist, rubric, or another evaluation instrument.
Rubrics
Rubrics are both assessment tools for faculty and learning tools for students that can ease anxiety about the grading process for both parties. Rubrics increase transparency and consistency in grading and can normalize the work of multiple graders such as across multiple sections of a course or with TAs sharing grading tasks in large courses.
While creating a rubric requires a greater time investment upfront, this process can result in reduced time spent grading or explaining assignment criteria down the road. The Rubric Tool in Canvas Links to an external site. is an easy way to both share rubrics with your students and speed up your grading. Once you create the rubric for the assignment, that rubric will appear in SpeedGrader Links to an external site. where you can click on the rating the student earned for each category, adjust points within a points range for that rating, and make comments specifically to that criteria.