Well Almost James O Hammons amp Janice R Barnsley Presented by Sterling McLeod Contributions Overview of grading approaches History of grades Four generic approaches to grading Provide eight principles ID: 433276
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Slide1
Everything You Need to Know About Developing a Grading Plan for Your Course (Well, Almost)
James O. Hammons & Janice R.
Barnsley
Presented by
Sterling McLeodSlide2
Contributions
Overview of grading approaches
History of grades
Four generic approaches to grading
Provide eight principles
Regardless of course or grading approachSlide3
History of Grades
1783, Yale
Grades were first used in the U.S.
Honor men
Pass men
Charity passes
UnmentionablesSlide4
History of Grades
1783, Yale
Grades were first used in the U.S.
Honor men
Pass men
Charity passes
Unmentionables
1800, Yale
Titles replaced
by numbers on scale
0-4
L
ed to first
system of grade point averagesSlide5
History of Grades
1783, Yale
Grades were first used in the U.S.
Honor men
Pass men
Charity passes
Unmentionables
1800, Yale
Titles replaced
by numbers on scale
0-4
L
ed to first
system of grade point averages
1850
,
University of Michigan
Pass-fail
system
createdEventually requiring a minimum grade of 50 to passSlide6
History of Grades
1783, Yale
Grades were first used in the U.S.
Honor men
Pass men
Charity passes
Unmentionables
1800, Yale
Titles replaced
by numbers on scale
0-4
L
ed to first
system of grade point averages
1850
,
University of Michigan
Pass-fail
system
createdEventually requiring a minimum grade of 50 to pass
1883
, Harvard
System of letter
grades
implemented
Spread
rapidly around countrySlide7
History of Grades
1783, Yale
Grades were first used in the U.S.
Honor men
Pass men
Charity passes
Unmentionables
1800, Yale
Titles replaced
by numbers on scale
0-4
L
ed to first
system of grade point averages
1850
,
University of Michigan
Pass-fail
system
createdEventually requiring a minimum grade of 50 to pass
1883
, Harvard
System of letter
grades
implemented
Spread
rapidly around country
Early 1900s, University
of
Missouri
Professor failed
an entire
class
Overruled
by university’s governing
board
Max Meyers proposed grading classes based on a distribution curve
Top 3% “excellent”
Next 22% “superior”
Next 50% “medium”
Next 22% “inferior”
Bottom 3% “failure”Slide8
History of Grades
1783, Yale
Grades were first used in the U.S.
Honor men
Pass men
Charity passes
Unmentionables
1800, Yale
Titles replaced
by numbers on scale
0-4
L
ed to first
system of grade point averages
1850
,
University of Michigan
Pass-fail
system
createdEventually requiring a minimum grade of 50 to pass
1883
, Harvard
System of letter
grades
implemented
Spread
rapidly around country
Early 1900s, University
of
Missouri
Professor failed
an entire
class
Overruled
by university’s governing
board
Max Meyers proposed grading classes based on a distribution curve
Top 3% “excellent”
Next 22% “superior”
Next 50% “medium”
Next 22% “inferior”
Bottom 3% “failure”
1915
“Era of Objectivity”
Multiple choice and true-false
Spread quickly for objectivity, speed, and ease of gradingSlide9
History of Grades
1783, Yale
Grades were first used in the U.S.
Honor men
Pass men
Charity passes
Unmentionables
1800, Yale
Titles replaced
by numbers on scale
0-4
L
ed to first
system of grade point averages
1850
,
University of Michigan
Pass-fail
system
createdEventually requiring a minimum grade of 50 to pass
1883
, Harvard
System of letter
grades
implemented
Spread
rapidly around country
Early 1900s, University
of
Missouri
Professor failed
an entire
class
Overruled
by university’s governing
board
Max Meyers proposed grading classes based on a distribution curve
Top 3% “excellent”
Next 22% “superior”
Next 50% “medium”
Next 22% “inferior”
Bottom 3% “failure”
1915
“Era of Objectivity”
Multiple choice and true-false
Spread quickly for objectivity, speed, and ease of grading
Today
4 grading systems
Norm-Referenced
Criterion-Referenced
Pass-Fail
Mastery LearningSlide10
Norm-Referenced
Students’ grades are their relative position when compared to other
students
Grades
form a normal distribution (“The Curve
”)
Came about from
2 needs:
Ensures that some students pass
Predict
success of prospective
students
Pros:
Useful when discriminations are desired
Easy to form a specific distribution of grades (X% of A’s, B’s, etc.)
Cons:
Does not reflect a student’s mastery of material
Prior exposure of material is usually the determining factor, rather than performance during course
Normal distributions are result of random activity, but teaching should be purposeful
Encourages competitionSlide11
Criterion-Referenced
Students are graded relative to a specific
standard
Grades are assigned independent of other students’
performances
Pros:
Measures students performance during the class to set preset standard
Good for fields that require formal qualifications (anything considering public safety)
With cumulatively sequenced content, this method can determine when it’s best to move on
Cons:
Can result in majority (or all) of students scoring very high or low
Hard to specify thresholds for A, B, C,D, and F
Standards for passing may be different between instructors
Encourages cooperationSlide12
Pass-Fail GradingGrading is binary – pass or fail
If students worry less about GPA, they will be motivated to explore other areas
Pros:
Reduces anxiety about grades
May motivate students
Students may perform better on graded activities
Cons:
Does not distinguish between students
Faculty have different standards for pass/fail
Students may develop habit of doing just enough to pass and no more
Encourages cooperationSlide13
Mastery LearningProposed by Benjamin Bloom in 1971
Most complex problems could be solved if they were broken into simpler pieces are understood piece by piece
Success is the result of quality instruction and sufficient time -> students have access to both
In-class time, one-on-one tutoring, self-paced learning, classmate cooperation, etc.
Pros:
Criteria for specific learning levels are clear
Any number of students may succeed
Students work at (mostly) their own pace
Cons:
Requires extensive recordkeeping to work well for all students
May result in faculty “teaching the test”
If not implemented well, a significant number of students finish with grades of
incomplete
Encourages cooperationSlide14
Contributions
Overview of grading approaches
History of grades
Four generic approaches to grading
Provide eight principles
Regardless of course or grading approachSlide15
Principles
1)
Communicate the grading system in writing
Include what is measured, attached weight, and a timetable
2
)
Measure a variety of behaviors
When students are graded on only one dimension, their grade may not reflect “real performance”
Deadlines Assignments Points
mm/
dd
Programming 1 15mm/dd
Programming 2 25mm/dd
Test 1
25
etc…Slide16
Principles
3)
Provide prompt feedback
Majority of teachers from a variety of areas agree: prompt = before students perform another similarly graded activity
4)
Evaluate on different levels
Bloom’s taxonomy
The attention given to assessing a certain level of learning should reflect how much time is devoted to teaching at that level
5)
Weight types of performance by importance
After deciding how to evaluate, decide which activities are more important
Different disciplines place emphasis on different activitiesSlide17
Principles
Be creative in evaluating student performance
Easy to develop a routine
Grading should be custom tailored to each course
Review grading plan periodically
7)
Match evaluation measurements to course activities and objectives
Define learning objectives clearly so that students can adequately prepare for testsSlide18
Principles
8)
Decide on retest possibilities
In criterion-referenced or mastery learning grading, students may be doomed if they perform poorly on a heavily weighted activity
Most faculty give another chance to perform the activity
How to treat students that performed adequately the first time?
How many chances given to pass?
What grade should be assigned to those retesting?
Will students use less effort on the first attempt?Slide19
QuestionsSlide20
What is better in a group of students – cooperation or competition?Slide21
How is today’s technology changing the viability of Mastery Learning?