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I grade exams together with a colleague but disagree with their grading. What should I do?
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Recently, I have graded exams (50 pcs.) together with a colleague from another department. I felt like my colleague was awarding too much points for wrong/uncomplete answers. There was a grading template available but it was of mediocre quality and personal interpretation was needed. During the grading of the exams I have discussed this with my colleague and decided to mostly follow his 'point awarding system' to not create a unfair grading between sub-groups of the total population. Afterwards, I have discussed this again, but I feel like my colleague is not keen to change his grading style.
What are the next steps that I could take? Is it necessary that the whole university should have the same grading style?
ps: The course is given by their department and I have helped since this year because it overlaps with my expertise. It has a pass rate of ~50%.
ps2: It's not that his point awarding system is so loose that students with a 3/10 will suddenly be awarded a 6/10 but it will certainly change the outcome of passing the course for some students.
ethics exams grading colleagues
edited 10 mins ago
Laurel
433410
asked yesterday
Bollehenk
13627
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up vote
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Recently, I have graded exams (50 pcs.) together with a colleague from another department. I felt like my colleague was awarding too much points for wrong/uncomplete answers. There was a grading template available but it was of mediocre quality and personal interpretation was needed. During the grading of the exams I have discussed this with my colleague and decided to mostly follow his 'point awarding system' to not create a unfair grading between sub-groups of the total population. Afterwards, I have discussed this again, but I feel like my colleague is not keen to change his grading style.
What are the next steps that I could take? Is it necessary that the whole university should have the same grading style?
ps: The course is given by their department and I have helped since this year because it overlaps with my expertise. It has a pass rate of ~50%.
ps2: It's not that his point awarding system is so loose that students with a 3/10 will suddenly be awarded a 6/10 but it will certainly change the outcome of passing the course for some students.
ethics exams grading colleagues
edited 10 mins ago
Laurel
433410
asked yesterday
Bollehenk
13627
New contributor
Bollehenk is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
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Why do you feel like your colleague is giving too much points? People will dissagree, that is just a fact in life, and unless you can provide sound, objective arguments for him being too 'lose' (which I imagine is impossible when grading since different people value different parts in an answer differently), it sounds like you will just have to agree to disagree
– Joren Vaes
yesterday
Examples are: Awarding points for just writing information of the question (value and units of parameters) on the answer sheet. Or awarding points for copying one of the formulas on the formula sheet to the answer sheet while not specifically described in the grading template.
– Bollehenk
yesterday
2
@Bollehenk - what level study is this taking place? Awarding partial marks for identifying the correct techniques (formulae) doesn't necessarily sound unreasonable, though extracting the values/units may be debatable depending on the amount of work that would be required to extract them and the level of study.
– kwah
21 hours ago
3
Is it just as valid for him to come on here and ask the same question but say that you are "awarding too few points for wrong/uncomplete answers" ?
– Lamar Latrell
8 hours ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
27
down vote
favorite
up vote
27
down vote
favorite
Recently, I have graded exams (50 pcs.) together with a colleague from another department. I felt like my colleague was awarding too much points for wrong/uncomplete answers. There was a grading template available but it was of mediocre quality and personal interpretation was needed. During the grading of the exams I have discussed this with my colleague and decided to mostly follow his 'point awarding system' to not create a unfair grading between sub-groups of the total population. Afterwards, I have discussed this again, but I feel like my colleague is not keen to change his grading style.
What are the next steps that I could take? Is it necessary that the whole university should have the same grading style?
ps: The course is given by their department and I have helped since this year because it overlaps with my expertise. It has a pass rate of ~50%.
ps2: It's not that his point awarding system is so loose that students with a 3/10 will suddenly be awarded a 6/10 but it will certainly change the outcome of passing the course for some students.
ethics exams grading colleagues
edited 10 mins ago
Laurel
433410
asked yesterday
Bollehenk
13627
New contributor
Bollehenk is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
Recently, I have graded exams (50 pcs.) together with a colleague from another department. I felt like my colleague was awarding too much points for wrong/uncomplete answers. There was a grading template available but it was of mediocre quality and personal interpretation was needed. During the grading of the exams I have discussed this with my colleague and decided to mostly follow his 'point awarding system' to not create a unfair grading between sub-groups of the total population. Afterwards, I have discussed this again, but I feel like my colleague is not keen to change his grading style.
What are the next steps that I could take? Is it necessary that the whole university should have the same grading style?
ps: The course is given by their department and I have helped since this year because it overlaps with my expertise. It has a pass rate of ~50%.
ps2: It's not that his point awarding system is so loose that students with a 3/10 will suddenly be awarded a 6/10 but it will certainly change the outcome of passing the course for some students.
ethics exams grading colleagues
ethics exams grading colleagues
edited 10 mins ago
Laurel
433410
asked yesterday
Bollehenk
13627
New contributor
Bollehenk is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
edited 10 mins ago
Laurel
433410
asked yesterday
Bollehenk
13627
New contributor
Bollehenk is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
edited 10 mins ago
Laurel
433410
edited 10 mins ago
Laurel
433410
edited 10 mins ago
Laurel
433410
433410
asked yesterday
Bollehenk
13627
New contributor
Bollehenk is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
asked yesterday
Bollehenk
13627
asked yesterday
Bollehenk
13627
13627
New contributor
Bollehenk is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
New contributor
Bollehenk is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
Bollehenk is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
Why do you feel like your colleague is giving too much points? People will dissagree, that is just a fact in life, and unless you can provide sound, objective arguments for him being too 'lose' (which I imagine is impossible when grading since different people value different parts in an answer differently), it sounds like you will just have to agree to disagree
– Joren Vaes
yesterday
Examples are: Awarding points for just writing information of the question (value and units of parameters) on the answer sheet. Or awarding points for copying one of the formulas on the formula sheet to the answer sheet while not specifically described in the grading template.
– Bollehenk
yesterday
2
@Bollehenk - what level study is this taking place? Awarding partial marks for identifying the correct techniques (formulae) doesn't necessarily sound unreasonable, though extracting the values/units may be debatable depending on the amount of work that would be required to extract them and the level of study.
– kwah
21 hours ago
3
Is it just as valid for him to come on here and ask the same question but say that you are "awarding too few points for wrong/uncomplete answers" ?
– Lamar Latrell
8 hours ago
add a comment |Â
Why do you feel like your colleague is giving too much points? People will dissagree, that is just a fact in life, and unless you can provide sound, objective arguments for him being too 'lose' (which I imagine is impossible when grading since different people value different parts in an answer differently), it sounds like you will just have to agree to disagree
– Joren Vaes
yesterday
Examples are: Awarding points for just writing information of the question (value and units of parameters) on the answer sheet. Or awarding points for copying one of the formulas on the formula sheet to the answer sheet while not specifically described in the grading template.
– Bollehenk
yesterday
2
@Bollehenk - what level study is this taking place? Awarding partial marks for identifying the correct techniques (formulae) doesn't necessarily sound unreasonable, though extracting the values/units may be debatable depending on the amount of work that would be required to extract them and the level of study.
– kwah
21 hours ago
3
Is it just as valid for him to come on here and ask the same question but say that you are "awarding too few points for wrong/uncomplete answers" ?
– Lamar Latrell
8 hours ago
Why do you feel like your colleague is giving too much points? People will dissagree, that is just a fact in life, and unless you can provide sound, objective arguments for him being too 'lose' (which I imagine is impossible when grading since different people value different parts in an answer differently), it sounds like you will just have to agree to disagree
– Joren Vaes
yesterday
Why do you feel like your colleague is giving too much points? People will dissagree, that is just a fact in life, and unless you can provide sound, objective arguments for him being too 'lose' (which I imagine is impossible when grading since different people value different parts in an answer differently), it sounds like you will just have to agree to disagree
– Joren Vaes
yesterday
Examples are: Awarding points for just writing information of the question (value and units of parameters) on the answer sheet. Or awarding points for copying one of the formulas on the formula sheet to the answer sheet while not specifically described in the grading template.
– Bollehenk
yesterday
Examples are: Awarding points for just writing information of the question (value and units of parameters) on the answer sheet. Or awarding points for copying one of the formulas on the formula sheet to the answer sheet while not specifically described in the grading template.
– Bollehenk
yesterday
2
2
@Bollehenk - what level study is this taking place? Awarding partial marks for identifying the correct techniques (formulae) doesn't necessarily sound unreasonable, though extracting the values/units may be debatable depending on the amount of work that would be required to extract them and the level of study.
– kwah
21 hours ago
@Bollehenk - what level study is this taking place? Awarding partial marks for identifying the correct techniques (formulae) doesn't necessarily sound unreasonable, though extracting the values/units may be debatable depending on the amount of work that would be required to extract them and the level of study.
– kwah
21 hours ago
3
3
Is it just as valid for him to come on here and ask the same question but say that you are "awarding too few points for wrong/uncomplete answers" ?
– Lamar Latrell
8 hours ago
Is it just as valid for him to come on here and ask the same question but say that you are "awarding too few points for wrong/uncomplete answers" ?
– Lamar Latrell
8 hours ago
add a comment |Â
5 Answers
5
active
oldest
votes
up vote
132
down vote
Have each person grade different questions, not different students.
Consistency in grading is important, and it is unfair to the students if their grades depend substantially on the allocation of their work to a grader. For this reason, if you must split grading duties with another colleague for a particular assessment item, it is best to split the grading duties for the questions rather than splitting the grading of the students. So, for example, one person grades Q1-3 on all papers and the other person grades Q4-6 on all papers. That way each student is graded by the same person for the same question. (Logistically, each of you should grade your questions on half the papers, then swap.)
It sounds like this ship has already sailed, and you have made the rookie mistake of splitting grading for the students, with different people marking different students. It also sounds like you have tried to discuss this with your colleague, but you have exhausted attempts to change his grading. In that case, even if your own grading style is superior to your colleague, adapting to his grading level for this assessment is probably a reasonable second-best option, simply to maintain consistency of the level of grades awarded. In future, try to avoid the problem all together by splitting grading over questions instead of over students.
edited 22 hours ago
einpoklum
21.6k134127
answered yesterday
Ben
9,10822347
32
Have to agree here, splitting questions is FAR better than splitting students, and tried both in the past.
– Solar Mike
yesterday
9
It is actually a wonder that this method is not mandatory/ enforced by the university
– David
yesterday
13
In the first math exam I wrote, grading was done in under 24 hours using an "assembly line", with each TA grading one question. Once the first TA has graded the first question of the first exam, the second TA can start working on the second question of the first exam, turnaround time is minimized and no exam slips through anywhere in the swapping process. The prof's personal assistant then only summed up the points, and the prof signed the exam.
– Alexander
yesterday
13
@damian Thank you for finally making me realise why I had to write my name/ID on every page of (some of) my exams.
– mbrig
23 hours ago
6
@mbrig it's not necessarily just because of many people marking separate pages, putting your name on each sheet ensures that if a page gets loose for any reason it can still be matched to the correct student.
– Dave Cousineau
20 hours ago
 |Â
show 3 more comments
up vote
13
down vote
It's the instructor of record who is ultimately responsible for the conduct of the course, including grading*. As it sounds like you're not the instructor of record, but rather just someone who is helping grade, it's not really your place to determine what is or is not appropriate grading.
If you have a disagreement with another grader on how to mark exams, and can't resolve it using the information already provided to you (you said the grading template was insufficient to do so), then it's appropriate to take it up with the person in charge of that course (the instructor of record), and see what they say about it.
Now certainly you don't want to bother them about every little grading detail, but if it's a case of large-scale differences, where philosophical differences on how to conduct grading would substantially change students' grades, that's exactly the sort of thing the person in charge of the course should mediate.
Note that things get a little more complex when it's a team-taught course, where there are a number of "primary" instructors. However, in these situations it's normally the case where each instructor takes the lead on a certain topic. As such, they should be considered the primary opinion on issues specific to their topic. (Concerns which cut across multiple topics should be decided by mutual consent of the "primary" instructors.)
*) With the proviso that certain courses have to meet department or accreditation standards. But even in those cases, it's the instructor of record who is responsible for making sure that those standards are followed.
answered yesterday
R.M.
4,16511322
This answer seems to confuse administrative notion of responsibility with the academic notion of responsibility. In simple terms, I don't like unfair assessments and poor academic practice in my modules even if I am not a formal module leader.
– Dmitry Savostyanov
14 hours ago
@DmitrySavostyanov I'm certainly not implying that you should put up with unfair practices or that you shouldn't take academic responsibility for your actions if you're not the instructor of record. I'm just saying that the person who is ultimately responsible for how the course is run is the person with their name on the course catalog. -- The OP's question is one of two people having honest philosophical differences about how to interpret an ambiguous rubric. I was just pointing out they should consult the person in charge of the rubric.
– R.M.
5 hours ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
6
down vote
At my institution it is typical to double-mark 20% of submissions for the purposes of standardisation / moderation.
This might mean 80% gets single-marked and 20% gets double-marked, or it might mean that two markers assess 60% each (2x an overlap of 10%). For low-weight assessments this is seen as a recommended best-practice, while being mandatory for high-weight assessments.
If such arrangements for standardising / moderating marks do not exist within your institution, perhaps it is worth suggesting that this (or something similar) is implemented.
Without knowing your department, it is difficult to say whether it is appropriate (or feasible) to suggest this be implemented for your current cohort of submissions, else be part of a push for implementing broader change.
A few notes about the process, for the curious:
Where there is a difference between multiple markers for any individual submission, then it is for the markers to settle upon an agreed mark. Where an agreed mark cannot be settled upon, then it gets escalated within the department for mediation.
Where a significant difference between multiple markers across multiple submissions is identified, then the entire cohort must be double marked (and any differences in mark reconciled as described above). Our benchmark for a "significant difference" is a mean deviation (correction) of >= 7%.
answered 21 hours ago
kwah
63447
add a comment |Â
up vote
2
down vote
If a significant number complete works have been graded by different people, you may consider adding a correction so that works done by each grader have the same mean grade (and, ideally, the same variance). This doesn't eliminate all the inconsistencies, but at least makes the grading statistically fair.
answered yesterday
Dmitry Grigoryev
3,515625
1
Sounds good in theory, but how do you achieve this?
– usr1234567
yesterday
2
Statistical fairness is only good for statistical reports. For students you have to explain why points are awarded/taken off, as well as provide useful feedback and suggestions for improvements.
– Dmitry Savostyanov
14 hours ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
2
down vote
First, Ben's suggestion to split grading vertically rather than horizontally - questions rather than students - is good and practical irrespective of anything else.
That being said, I suggest you consider the following:
- Give up the fantasy, or perhaps better put: the conceit, that grading is consistent. It isn't, due to a zillion factors: Exams not of consistent difficulty; student population distribution of capabilities not in sync with grading curve shaping; sense of severity of errors differs for the same person for the first encounters and for latter encounters; moods change; unconscious biases (for example: against people with sloppy handwriting); and so on.
- Try to schedule a grading policy discussion of all graders and the exam authors, before the next exam is given (next semester?). In that discussion, bring up some specific scenarios requiring finer judgement rather than simply "how many points for which question".
- Consider arguing for rougher-granularity grading in the course. I'm a fan of Pass/Fail (or Pass/Fail/Excellent), and dislike number scales, especially 0..100 or fractional grades. I can be confident about looking at someone and saying "Yeah, you understand what we've taught here, you pass." or "No, you don't get it - you fail." And if someone is borderline, then it's a matter of policy whether to pass or fail them (I would tend towards fail personally). But I really cannot justify why someone is a 63 while another person is a 64.7. I feel I'm only helping some arbitrary industrial mass-manipulation mechanism by assigning these kinds of numbers to people.
PS - These three suggestions are mostly orthogonal.
answered 22 hours ago
einpoklum
21.6k134127
"Give up the [fantasy/conceit] that grading is consistent. It isn't". Indeed. This is underrepresented, in this thread but also in universities. Grading can impact years of someone's life: not everyone is either a straight A or a complete failure, so for many students those variances have an impact. It usually went fine for me personally, but I've seen so many students work hard and then fail a course while their peers passed, even though those peers were equally likely to be better as they were to be worse. Not just the grading style/biases, even studying the right pages creates variance.
– Luc
1 hour ago
@Luc: I think you're explaining how grading is not always pertinent, rather than not consistent. I was talking about the grading of submitted work which one could argue is of the same quality and represents the same command of the material.
– einpoklum
54 mins ago
add a comment |Â
5 Answers
5
active
oldest
votes
5 Answers
5
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
up vote
132
down vote
Have each person grade different questions, not different students.
Consistency in grading is important, and it is unfair to the students if their grades depend substantially on the allocation of their work to a grader. For this reason, if you must split grading duties with another colleague for a particular assessment item, it is best to split the grading duties for the questions rather than splitting the grading of the students. So, for example, one person grades Q1-3 on all papers and the other person grades Q4-6 on all papers. That way each student is graded by the same person for the same question. (Logistically, each of you should grade your questions on half the papers, then swap.)
It sounds like this ship has already sailed, and you have made the rookie mistake of splitting grading for the students, with different people marking different students. It also sounds like you have tried to discuss this with your colleague, but you have exhausted attempts to change his grading. In that case, even if your own grading style is superior to your colleague, adapting to his grading level for this assessment is probably a reasonable second-best option, simply to maintain consistency of the level of grades awarded. In future, try to avoid the problem all together by splitting grading over questions instead of over students.
edited 22 hours ago
einpoklum
21.6k134127
answered yesterday
Ben
9,10822347
32
Have to agree here, splitting questions is FAR better than splitting students, and tried both in the past.
– Solar Mike
yesterday
9
It is actually a wonder that this method is not mandatory/ enforced by the university
– David
yesterday
13
In the first math exam I wrote, grading was done in under 24 hours using an "assembly line", with each TA grading one question. Once the first TA has graded the first question of the first exam, the second TA can start working on the second question of the first exam, turnaround time is minimized and no exam slips through anywhere in the swapping process. The prof's personal assistant then only summed up the points, and the prof signed the exam.
– Alexander
yesterday
13
@damian Thank you for finally making me realise why I had to write my name/ID on every page of (some of) my exams.
– mbrig
23 hours ago
6
@mbrig it's not necessarily just because of many people marking separate pages, putting your name on each sheet ensures that if a page gets loose for any reason it can still be matched to the correct student.
– Dave Cousineau
20 hours ago
 |Â
show 3 more comments
up vote
132
down vote
Have each person grade different questions, not different students.
Consistency in grading is important, and it is unfair to the students if their grades depend substantially on the allocation of their work to a grader. For this reason, if you must split grading duties with another colleague for a particular assessment item, it is best to split the grading duties for the questions rather than splitting the grading of the students. So, for example, one person grades Q1-3 on all papers and the other person grades Q4-6 on all papers. That way each student is graded by the same person for the same question. (Logistically, each of you should grade your questions on half the papers, then swap.)
It sounds like this ship has already sailed, and you have made the rookie mistake of splitting grading for the students, with different people marking different students. It also sounds like you have tried to discuss this with your colleague, but you have exhausted attempts to change his grading. In that case, even if your own grading style is superior to your colleague, adapting to his grading level for this assessment is probably a reasonable second-best option, simply to maintain consistency of the level of grades awarded. In future, try to avoid the problem all together by splitting grading over questions instead of over students.
edited 22 hours ago
einpoklum
21.6k134127
answered yesterday
Ben
9,10822347
32
Have to agree here, splitting questions is FAR better than splitting students, and tried both in the past.
– Solar Mike
yesterday
9
It is actually a wonder that this method is not mandatory/ enforced by the university
– David
yesterday
13
In the first math exam I wrote, grading was done in under 24 hours using an "assembly line", with each TA grading one question. Once the first TA has graded the first question of the first exam, the second TA can start working on the second question of the first exam, turnaround time is minimized and no exam slips through anywhere in the swapping process. The prof's personal assistant then only summed up the points, and the prof signed the exam.
– Alexander
yesterday
13
@damian Thank you for finally making me realise why I had to write my name/ID on every page of (some of) my exams.
– mbrig
23 hours ago
6
@mbrig it's not necessarily just because of many people marking separate pages, putting your name on each sheet ensures that if a page gets loose for any reason it can still be matched to the correct student.
– Dave Cousineau
20 hours ago
 |Â
show 3 more comments
up vote
132
down vote
up vote
132
down vote
Have each person grade different questions, not different students.
Consistency in grading is important, and it is unfair to the students if their grades depend substantially on the allocation of their work to a grader. For this reason, if you must split grading duties with another colleague for a particular assessment item, it is best to split the grading duties for the questions rather than splitting the grading of the students. So, for example, one person grades Q1-3 on all papers and the other person grades Q4-6 on all papers. That way each student is graded by the same person for the same question. (Logistically, each of you should grade your questions on half the papers, then swap.)
It sounds like this ship has already sailed, and you have made the rookie mistake of splitting grading for the students, with different people marking different students. It also sounds like you have tried to discuss this with your colleague, but you have exhausted attempts to change his grading. In that case, even if your own grading style is superior to your colleague, adapting to his grading level for this assessment is probably a reasonable second-best option, simply to maintain consistency of the level of grades awarded. In future, try to avoid the problem all together by splitting grading over questions instead of over students.
edited 22 hours ago
einpoklum
21.6k134127
answered yesterday
Ben
9,10822347
Have each person grade different questions, not different students.
Consistency in grading is important, and it is unfair to the students if their grades depend substantially on the allocation of their work to a grader. For this reason, if you must split grading duties with another colleague for a particular assessment item, it is best to split the grading duties for the questions rather than splitting the grading of the students. So, for example, one person grades Q1-3 on all papers and the other person grades Q4-6 on all papers. That way each student is graded by the same person for the same question. (Logistically, each of you should grade your questions on half the papers, then swap.)
It sounds like this ship has already sailed, and you have made the rookie mistake of splitting grading for the students, with different people marking different students. It also sounds like you have tried to discuss this with your colleague, but you have exhausted attempts to change his grading. In that case, even if your own grading style is superior to your colleague, adapting to his grading level for this assessment is probably a reasonable second-best option, simply to maintain consistency of the level of grades awarded. In future, try to avoid the problem all together by splitting grading over questions instead of over students.
edited 22 hours ago
einpoklum
21.6k134127
answered yesterday
Ben
9,10822347
edited 22 hours ago
einpoklum
21.6k134127
edited 22 hours ago
einpoklum
21.6k134127
edited 22 hours ago
einpoklum
21.6k134127
21.6k134127
answered yesterday
Ben
9,10822347
answered yesterday
Ben
9,10822347
answered yesterday
Ben
9,10822347
9,10822347
32
Have to agree here, splitting questions is FAR better than splitting students, and tried both in the past.
– Solar Mike
yesterday
9
It is actually a wonder that this method is not mandatory/ enforced by the university
– David
yesterday
13
In the first math exam I wrote, grading was done in under 24 hours using an "assembly line", with each TA grading one question. Once the first TA has graded the first question of the first exam, the second TA can start working on the second question of the first exam, turnaround time is minimized and no exam slips through anywhere in the swapping process. The prof's personal assistant then only summed up the points, and the prof signed the exam.
– Alexander
yesterday
13
@damian Thank you for finally making me realise why I had to write my name/ID on every page of (some of) my exams.
– mbrig
23 hours ago
6
@mbrig it's not necessarily just because of many people marking separate pages, putting your name on each sheet ensures that if a page gets loose for any reason it can still be matched to the correct student.
– Dave Cousineau
20 hours ago
 |Â
show 3 more comments
32
Have to agree here, splitting questions is FAR better than splitting students, and tried both in the past.
– Solar Mike
yesterday
9
It is actually a wonder that this method is not mandatory/ enforced by the university
– David
yesterday
13
In the first math exam I wrote, grading was done in under 24 hours using an "assembly line", with each TA grading one question. Once the first TA has graded the first question of the first exam, the second TA can start working on the second question of the first exam, turnaround time is minimized and no exam slips through anywhere in the swapping process. The prof's personal assistant then only summed up the points, and the prof signed the exam.
– Alexander
yesterday
13
@damian Thank you for finally making me realise why I had to write my name/ID on every page of (some of) my exams.
– mbrig
23 hours ago
6
@mbrig it's not necessarily just because of many people marking separate pages, putting your name on each sheet ensures that if a page gets loose for any reason it can still be matched to the correct student.
– Dave Cousineau
20 hours ago
32
32
Have to agree here, splitting questions is FAR better than splitting students, and tried both in the past.
– Solar Mike
yesterday
Have to agree here, splitting questions is FAR better than splitting students, and tried both in the past.
– Solar Mike
yesterday
9
9
It is actually a wonder that this method is not mandatory/ enforced by the university
– David
yesterday
It is actually a wonder that this method is not mandatory/ enforced by the university
– David
yesterday
13
13
In the first math exam I wrote, grading was done in under 24 hours using an "assembly line", with each TA grading one question. Once the first TA has graded the first question of the first exam, the second TA can start working on the second question of the first exam, turnaround time is minimized and no exam slips through anywhere in the swapping process. The prof's personal assistant then only summed up the points, and the prof signed the exam.
– Alexander
yesterday
In the first math exam I wrote, grading was done in under 24 hours using an "assembly line", with each TA grading one question. Once the first TA has graded the first question of the first exam, the second TA can start working on the second question of the first exam, turnaround time is minimized and no exam slips through anywhere in the swapping process. The prof's personal assistant then only summed up the points, and the prof signed the exam.
– Alexander
yesterday
13
13
@damian Thank you for finally making me realise why I had to write my name/ID on every page of (some of) my exams.
– mbrig
23 hours ago
@damian Thank you for finally making me realise why I had to write my name/ID on every page of (some of) my exams.
– mbrig
23 hours ago
6
6
@mbrig it's not necessarily just because of many people marking separate pages, putting your name on each sheet ensures that if a page gets loose for any reason it can still be matched to the correct student.
– Dave Cousineau
20 hours ago
@mbrig it's not necessarily just because of many people marking separate pages, putting your name on each sheet ensures that if a page gets loose for any reason it can still be matched to the correct student.
– Dave Cousineau
20 hours ago
 |Â
show 3 more comments
up vote
13
down vote
It's the instructor of record who is ultimately responsible for the conduct of the course, including grading*. As it sounds like you're not the instructor of record, but rather just someone who is helping grade, it's not really your place to determine what is or is not appropriate grading.
If you have a disagreement with another grader on how to mark exams, and can't resolve it using the information already provided to you (you said the grading template was insufficient to do so), then it's appropriate to take it up with the person in charge of that course (the instructor of record), and see what they say about it.
Now certainly you don't want to bother them about every little grading detail, but if it's a case of large-scale differences, where philosophical differences on how to conduct grading would substantially change students' grades, that's exactly the sort of thing the person in charge of the course should mediate.
Note that things get a little more complex when it's a team-taught course, where there are a number of "primary" instructors. However, in these situations it's normally the case where each instructor takes the lead on a certain topic. As such, they should be considered the primary opinion on issues specific to their topic. (Concerns which cut across multiple topics should be decided by mutual consent of the "primary" instructors.)
*) With the proviso that certain courses have to meet department or accreditation standards. But even in those cases, it's the instructor of record who is responsible for making sure that those standards are followed.
answered yesterday
R.M.
4,16511322
This answer seems to confuse administrative notion of responsibility with the academic notion of responsibility. In simple terms, I don't like unfair assessments and poor academic practice in my modules even if I am not a formal module leader.
– Dmitry Savostyanov
14 hours ago
@DmitrySavostyanov I'm certainly not implying that you should put up with unfair practices or that you shouldn't take academic responsibility for your actions if you're not the instructor of record. I'm just saying that the person who is ultimately responsible for how the course is run is the person with their name on the course catalog. -- The OP's question is one of two people having honest philosophical differences about how to interpret an ambiguous rubric. I was just pointing out they should consult the person in charge of the rubric.
– R.M.
5 hours ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
13
down vote
It's the instructor of record who is ultimately responsible for the conduct of the course, including grading*. As it sounds like you're not the instructor of record, but rather just someone who is helping grade, it's not really your place to determine what is or is not appropriate grading.
If you have a disagreement with another grader on how to mark exams, and can't resolve it using the information already provided to you (you said the grading template was insufficient to do so), then it's appropriate to take it up with the person in charge of that course (the instructor of record), and see what they say about it.
Now certainly you don't want to bother them about every little grading detail, but if it's a case of large-scale differences, where philosophical differences on how to conduct grading would substantially change students' grades, that's exactly the sort of thing the person in charge of the course should mediate.
Note that things get a little more complex when it's a team-taught course, where there are a number of "primary" instructors. However, in these situations it's normally the case where each instructor takes the lead on a certain topic. As such, they should be considered the primary opinion on issues specific to their topic. (Concerns which cut across multiple topics should be decided by mutual consent of the "primary" instructors.)
*) With the proviso that certain courses have to meet department or accreditation standards. But even in those cases, it's the instructor of record who is responsible for making sure that those standards are followed.
answered yesterday
R.M.
4,16511322
This answer seems to confuse administrative notion of responsibility with the academic notion of responsibility. In simple terms, I don't like unfair assessments and poor academic practice in my modules even if I am not a formal module leader.
– Dmitry Savostyanov
14 hours ago
@DmitrySavostyanov I'm certainly not implying that you should put up with unfair practices or that you shouldn't take academic responsibility for your actions if you're not the instructor of record. I'm just saying that the person who is ultimately responsible for how the course is run is the person with their name on the course catalog. -- The OP's question is one of two people having honest philosophical differences about how to interpret an ambiguous rubric. I was just pointing out they should consult the person in charge of the rubric.
– R.M.
5 hours ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
13
down vote
up vote
13
down vote
It's the instructor of record who is ultimately responsible for the conduct of the course, including grading*. As it sounds like you're not the instructor of record, but rather just someone who is helping grade, it's not really your place to determine what is or is not appropriate grading.
If you have a disagreement with another grader on how to mark exams, and can't resolve it using the information already provided to you (you said the grading template was insufficient to do so), then it's appropriate to take it up with the person in charge of that course (the instructor of record), and see what they say about it.
Now certainly you don't want to bother them about every little grading detail, but if it's a case of large-scale differences, where philosophical differences on how to conduct grading would substantially change students' grades, that's exactly the sort of thing the person in charge of the course should mediate.
Note that things get a little more complex when it's a team-taught course, where there are a number of "primary" instructors. However, in these situations it's normally the case where each instructor takes the lead on a certain topic. As such, they should be considered the primary opinion on issues specific to their topic. (Concerns which cut across multiple topics should be decided by mutual consent of the "primary" instructors.)
*) With the proviso that certain courses have to meet department or accreditation standards. But even in those cases, it's the instructor of record who is responsible for making sure that those standards are followed.
answered yesterday
R.M.
4,16511322
It's the instructor of record who is ultimately responsible for the conduct of the course, including grading*. As it sounds like you're not the instructor of record, but rather just someone who is helping grade, it's not really your place to determine what is or is not appropriate grading.
If you have a disagreement with another grader on how to mark exams, and can't resolve it using the information already provided to you (you said the grading template was insufficient to do so), then it's appropriate to take it up with the person in charge of that course (the instructor of record), and see what they say about it.
Now certainly you don't want to bother them about every little grading detail, but if it's a case of large-scale differences, where philosophical differences on how to conduct grading would substantially change students' grades, that's exactly the sort of thing the person in charge of the course should mediate.
Note that things get a little more complex when it's a team-taught course, where there are a number of "primary" instructors. However, in these situations it's normally the case where each instructor takes the lead on a certain topic. As such, they should be considered the primary opinion on issues specific to their topic. (Concerns which cut across multiple topics should be decided by mutual consent of the "primary" instructors.)
*) With the proviso that certain courses have to meet department or accreditation standards. But even in those cases, it's the instructor of record who is responsible for making sure that those standards are followed.
answered yesterday
R.M.
4,16511322
answered yesterday
R.M.
4,16511322
answered yesterday
R.M.
4,16511322
answered yesterday
R.M.
4,16511322
4,16511322
This answer seems to confuse administrative notion of responsibility with the academic notion of responsibility. In simple terms, I don't like unfair assessments and poor academic practice in my modules even if I am not a formal module leader.
– Dmitry Savostyanov
14 hours ago
@DmitrySavostyanov I'm certainly not implying that you should put up with unfair practices or that you shouldn't take academic responsibility for your actions if you're not the instructor of record. I'm just saying that the person who is ultimately responsible for how the course is run is the person with their name on the course catalog. -- The OP's question is one of two people having honest philosophical differences about how to interpret an ambiguous rubric. I was just pointing out they should consult the person in charge of the rubric.
– R.M.
5 hours ago
add a comment |Â
This answer seems to confuse administrative notion of responsibility with the academic notion of responsibility. In simple terms, I don't like unfair assessments and poor academic practice in my modules even if I am not a formal module leader.
– Dmitry Savostyanov
14 hours ago
@DmitrySavostyanov I'm certainly not implying that you should put up with unfair practices or that you shouldn't take academic responsibility for your actions if you're not the instructor of record. I'm just saying that the person who is ultimately responsible for how the course is run is the person with their name on the course catalog. -- The OP's question is one of two people having honest philosophical differences about how to interpret an ambiguous rubric. I was just pointing out they should consult the person in charge of the rubric.
– R.M.
5 hours ago
This answer seems to confuse administrative notion of responsibility with the academic notion of responsibility. In simple terms, I don't like unfair assessments and poor academic practice in my modules even if I am not a formal module leader.
– Dmitry Savostyanov
14 hours ago
This answer seems to confuse administrative notion of responsibility with the academic notion of responsibility. In simple terms, I don't like unfair assessments and poor academic practice in my modules even if I am not a formal module leader.
– Dmitry Savostyanov
14 hours ago
@DmitrySavostyanov I'm certainly not implying that you should put up with unfair practices or that you shouldn't take academic responsibility for your actions if you're not the instructor of record. I'm just saying that the person who is ultimately responsible for how the course is run is the person with their name on the course catalog. -- The OP's question is one of two people having honest philosophical differences about how to interpret an ambiguous rubric. I was just pointing out they should consult the person in charge of the rubric.
– R.M.
5 hours ago
@DmitrySavostyanov I'm certainly not implying that you should put up with unfair practices or that you shouldn't take academic responsibility for your actions if you're not the instructor of record. I'm just saying that the person who is ultimately responsible for how the course is run is the person with their name on the course catalog. -- The OP's question is one of two people having honest philosophical differences about how to interpret an ambiguous rubric. I was just pointing out they should consult the person in charge of the rubric.
– R.M.
5 hours ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
6
down vote
At my institution it is typical to double-mark 20% of submissions for the purposes of standardisation / moderation.
This might mean 80% gets single-marked and 20% gets double-marked, or it might mean that two markers assess 60% each (2x an overlap of 10%). For low-weight assessments this is seen as a recommended best-practice, while being mandatory for high-weight assessments.
If such arrangements for standardising / moderating marks do not exist within your institution, perhaps it is worth suggesting that this (or something similar) is implemented.
Without knowing your department, it is difficult to say whether it is appropriate (or feasible) to suggest this be implemented for your current cohort of submissions, else be part of a push for implementing broader change.
A few notes about the process, for the curious:
Where there is a difference between multiple markers for any individual submission, then it is for the markers to settle upon an agreed mark. Where an agreed mark cannot be settled upon, then it gets escalated within the department for mediation.
Where a significant difference between multiple markers across multiple submissions is identified, then the entire cohort must be double marked (and any differences in mark reconciled as described above). Our benchmark for a "significant difference" is a mean deviation (correction) of >= 7%.
answered 21 hours ago
kwah
63447
add a comment |Â
up vote
6
down vote
At my institution it is typical to double-mark 20% of submissions for the purposes of standardisation / moderation.
This might mean 80% gets single-marked and 20% gets double-marked, or it might mean that two markers assess 60% each (2x an overlap of 10%). For low-weight assessments this is seen as a recommended best-practice, while being mandatory for high-weight assessments.
If such arrangements for standardising / moderating marks do not exist within your institution, perhaps it is worth suggesting that this (or something similar) is implemented.
Without knowing your department, it is difficult to say whether it is appropriate (or feasible) to suggest this be implemented for your current cohort of submissions, else be part of a push for implementing broader change.
A few notes about the process, for the curious:
Where there is a difference between multiple markers for any individual submission, then it is for the markers to settle upon an agreed mark. Where an agreed mark cannot be settled upon, then it gets escalated within the department for mediation.
Where a significant difference between multiple markers across multiple submissions is identified, then the entire cohort must be double marked (and any differences in mark reconciled as described above). Our benchmark for a "significant difference" is a mean deviation (correction) of >= 7%.
answered 21 hours ago
kwah
63447
add a comment |Â
up vote
6
down vote
up vote
6
down vote
At my institution it is typical to double-mark 20% of submissions for the purposes of standardisation / moderation.
This might mean 80% gets single-marked and 20% gets double-marked, or it might mean that two markers assess 60% each (2x an overlap of 10%). For low-weight assessments this is seen as a recommended best-practice, while being mandatory for high-weight assessments.
If such arrangements for standardising / moderating marks do not exist within your institution, perhaps it is worth suggesting that this (or something similar) is implemented.
Without knowing your department, it is difficult to say whether it is appropriate (or feasible) to suggest this be implemented for your current cohort of submissions, else be part of a push for implementing broader change.
A few notes about the process, for the curious:
Where there is a difference between multiple markers for any individual submission, then it is for the markers to settle upon an agreed mark. Where an agreed mark cannot be settled upon, then it gets escalated within the department for mediation.
Where a significant difference between multiple markers across multiple submissions is identified, then the entire cohort must be double marked (and any differences in mark reconciled as described above). Our benchmark for a "significant difference" is a mean deviation (correction) of >= 7%.
answered 21 hours ago
kwah
63447
At my institution it is typical to double-mark 20% of submissions for the purposes of standardisation / moderation.
This might mean 80% gets single-marked and 20% gets double-marked, or it might mean that two markers assess 60% each (2x an overlap of 10%). For low-weight assessments this is seen as a recommended best-practice, while being mandatory for high-weight assessments.
If such arrangements for standardising / moderating marks do not exist within your institution, perhaps it is worth suggesting that this (or something similar) is implemented.
Without knowing your department, it is difficult to say whether it is appropriate (or feasible) to suggest this be implemented for your current cohort of submissions, else be part of a push for implementing broader change.
A few notes about the process, for the curious:
Where there is a difference between multiple markers for any individual submission, then it is for the markers to settle upon an agreed mark. Where an agreed mark cannot be settled upon, then it gets escalated within the department for mediation.
Where a significant difference between multiple markers across multiple submissions is identified, then the entire cohort must be double marked (and any differences in mark reconciled as described above). Our benchmark for a "significant difference" is a mean deviation (correction) of >= 7%.
answered 21 hours ago
kwah
63447
answered 21 hours ago
kwah
63447
answered 21 hours ago
kwah
63447
answered 21 hours ago
kwah
63447
63447
add a comment |Â
add a comment |Â
up vote
2
down vote
If a significant number complete works have been graded by different people, you may consider adding a correction so that works done by each grader have the same mean grade (and, ideally, the same variance). This doesn't eliminate all the inconsistencies, but at least makes the grading statistically fair.
answered yesterday
Dmitry Grigoryev
3,515625
1
Sounds good in theory, but how do you achieve this?
– usr1234567
yesterday
2
Statistical fairness is only good for statistical reports. For students you have to explain why points are awarded/taken off, as well as provide useful feedback and suggestions for improvements.
– Dmitry Savostyanov
14 hours ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
2
down vote
If a significant number complete works have been graded by different people, you may consider adding a correction so that works done by each grader have the same mean grade (and, ideally, the same variance). This doesn't eliminate all the inconsistencies, but at least makes the grading statistically fair.
answered yesterday
Dmitry Grigoryev
3,515625
1
Sounds good in theory, but how do you achieve this?
– usr1234567
yesterday
2
Statistical fairness is only good for statistical reports. For students you have to explain why points are awarded/taken off, as well as provide useful feedback and suggestions for improvements.
– Dmitry Savostyanov
14 hours ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
2
down vote
up vote
2
down vote
If a significant number complete works have been graded by different people, you may consider adding a correction so that works done by each grader have the same mean grade (and, ideally, the same variance). This doesn't eliminate all the inconsistencies, but at least makes the grading statistically fair.
answered yesterday
Dmitry Grigoryev
3,515625
If a significant number complete works have been graded by different people, you may consider adding a correction so that works done by each grader have the same mean grade (and, ideally, the same variance). This doesn't eliminate all the inconsistencies, but at least makes the grading statistically fair.
answered yesterday
Dmitry Grigoryev
3,515625
answered yesterday
Dmitry Grigoryev
3,515625
answered yesterday
Dmitry Grigoryev
3,515625
answered yesterday
Dmitry Grigoryev
3,515625
3,515625
1
Sounds good in theory, but how do you achieve this?
– usr1234567
yesterday
2
Statistical fairness is only good for statistical reports. For students you have to explain why points are awarded/taken off, as well as provide useful feedback and suggestions for improvements.
– Dmitry Savostyanov
14 hours ago
add a comment |Â
1
Sounds good in theory, but how do you achieve this?
– usr1234567
yesterday
2
Statistical fairness is only good for statistical reports. For students you have to explain why points are awarded/taken off, as well as provide useful feedback and suggestions for improvements.
– Dmitry Savostyanov
14 hours ago
1
1
Sounds good in theory, but how do you achieve this?
– usr1234567
yesterday
Sounds good in theory, but how do you achieve this?
– usr1234567
yesterday
2
2
Statistical fairness is only good for statistical reports. For students you have to explain why points are awarded/taken off, as well as provide useful feedback and suggestions for improvements.
– Dmitry Savostyanov
14 hours ago
Statistical fairness is only good for statistical reports. For students you have to explain why points are awarded/taken off, as well as provide useful feedback and suggestions for improvements.
– Dmitry Savostyanov
14 hours ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
2
down vote
First, Ben's suggestion to split grading vertically rather than horizontally - questions rather than students - is good and practical irrespective of anything else.
That being said, I suggest you consider the following:
- Give up the fantasy, or perhaps better put: the conceit, that grading is consistent. It isn't, due to a zillion factors: Exams not of consistent difficulty; student population distribution of capabilities not in sync with grading curve shaping; sense of severity of errors differs for the same person for the first encounters and for latter encounters; moods change; unconscious biases (for example: against people with sloppy handwriting); and so on.
- Try to schedule a grading policy discussion of all graders and the exam authors, before the next exam is given (next semester?). In that discussion, bring up some specific scenarios requiring finer judgement rather than simply "how many points for which question".
- Consider arguing for rougher-granularity grading in the course. I'm a fan of Pass/Fail (or Pass/Fail/Excellent), and dislike number scales, especially 0..100 or fractional grades. I can be confident about looking at someone and saying "Yeah, you understand what we've taught here, you pass." or "No, you don't get it - you fail." And if someone is borderline, then it's a matter of policy whether to pass or fail them (I would tend towards fail personally). But I really cannot justify why someone is a 63 while another person is a 64.7. I feel I'm only helping some arbitrary industrial mass-manipulation mechanism by assigning these kinds of numbers to people.
PS - These three suggestions are mostly orthogonal.
answered 22 hours ago
einpoklum
21.6k134127
"Give up the [fantasy/conceit] that grading is consistent. It isn't". Indeed. This is underrepresented, in this thread but also in universities. Grading can impact years of someone's life: not everyone is either a straight A or a complete failure, so for many students those variances have an impact. It usually went fine for me personally, but I've seen so many students work hard and then fail a course while their peers passed, even though those peers were equally likely to be better as they were to be worse. Not just the grading style/biases, even studying the right pages creates variance.
– Luc
1 hour ago
@Luc: I think you're explaining how grading is not always pertinent, rather than not consistent. I was talking about the grading of submitted work which one could argue is of the same quality and represents the same command of the material.
– einpoklum
54 mins ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
2
down vote
First, Ben's suggestion to split grading vertically rather than horizontally - questions rather than students - is good and practical irrespective of anything else.
That being said, I suggest you consider the following:
- Give up the fantasy, or perhaps better put: the conceit, that grading is consistent. It isn't, due to a zillion factors: Exams not of consistent difficulty; student population distribution of capabilities not in sync with grading curve shaping; sense of severity of errors differs for the same person for the first encounters and for latter encounters; moods change; unconscious biases (for example: against people with sloppy handwriting); and so on.
- Try to schedule a grading policy discussion of all graders and the exam authors, before the next exam is given (next semester?). In that discussion, bring up some specific scenarios requiring finer judgement rather than simply "how many points for which question".
- Consider arguing for rougher-granularity grading in the course. I'm a fan of Pass/Fail (or Pass/Fail/Excellent), and dislike number scales, especially 0..100 or fractional grades. I can be confident about looking at someone and saying "Yeah, you understand what we've taught here, you pass." or "No, you don't get it - you fail." And if someone is borderline, then it's a matter of policy whether to pass or fail them (I would tend towards fail personally). But I really cannot justify why someone is a 63 while another person is a 64.7. I feel I'm only helping some arbitrary industrial mass-manipulation mechanism by assigning these kinds of numbers to people.
PS - These three suggestions are mostly orthogonal.
answered 22 hours ago
einpoklum
21.6k134127
"Give up the [fantasy/conceit] that grading is consistent. It isn't". Indeed. This is underrepresented, in this thread but also in universities. Grading can impact years of someone's life: not everyone is either a straight A or a complete failure, so for many students those variances have an impact. It usually went fine for me personally, but I've seen so many students work hard and then fail a course while their peers passed, even though those peers were equally likely to be better as they were to be worse. Not just the grading style/biases, even studying the right pages creates variance.
– Luc
1 hour ago
@Luc: I think you're explaining how grading is not always pertinent, rather than not consistent. I was talking about the grading of submitted work which one could argue is of the same quality and represents the same command of the material.
– einpoklum
54 mins ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
2
down vote
up vote
2
down vote
First, Ben's suggestion to split grading vertically rather than horizontally - questions rather than students - is good and practical irrespective of anything else.
That being said, I suggest you consider the following:
- Give up the fantasy, or perhaps better put: the conceit, that grading is consistent. It isn't, due to a zillion factors: Exams not of consistent difficulty; student population distribution of capabilities not in sync with grading curve shaping; sense of severity of errors differs for the same person for the first encounters and for latter encounters; moods change; unconscious biases (for example: against people with sloppy handwriting); and so on.
- Try to schedule a grading policy discussion of all graders and the exam authors, before the next exam is given (next semester?). In that discussion, bring up some specific scenarios requiring finer judgement rather than simply "how many points for which question".
- Consider arguing for rougher-granularity grading in the course. I'm a fan of Pass/Fail (or Pass/Fail/Excellent), and dislike number scales, especially 0..100 or fractional grades. I can be confident about looking at someone and saying "Yeah, you understand what we've taught here, you pass." or "No, you don't get it - you fail." And if someone is borderline, then it's a matter of policy whether to pass or fail them (I would tend towards fail personally). But I really cannot justify why someone is a 63 while another person is a 64.7. I feel I'm only helping some arbitrary industrial mass-manipulation mechanism by assigning these kinds of numbers to people.
PS - These three suggestions are mostly orthogonal.
answered 22 hours ago
einpoklum
21.6k134127
First, Ben's suggestion to split grading vertically rather than horizontally - questions rather than students - is good and practical irrespective of anything else.
That being said, I suggest you consider the following:
- Give up the fantasy, or perhaps better put: the conceit, that grading is consistent. It isn't, due to a zillion factors: Exams not of consistent difficulty; student population distribution of capabilities not in sync with grading curve shaping; sense of severity of errors differs for the same person for the first encounters and for latter encounters; moods change; unconscious biases (for example: against people with sloppy handwriting); and so on.
- Try to schedule a grading policy discussion of all graders and the exam authors, before the next exam is given (next semester?). In that discussion, bring up some specific scenarios requiring finer judgement rather than simply "how many points for which question".
- Consider arguing for rougher-granularity grading in the course. I'm a fan of Pass/Fail (or Pass/Fail/Excellent), and dislike number scales, especially 0..100 or fractional grades. I can be confident about looking at someone and saying "Yeah, you understand what we've taught here, you pass." or "No, you don't get it - you fail." And if someone is borderline, then it's a matter of policy whether to pass or fail them (I would tend towards fail personally). But I really cannot justify why someone is a 63 while another person is a 64.7. I feel I'm only helping some arbitrary industrial mass-manipulation mechanism by assigning these kinds of numbers to people.
PS - These three suggestions are mostly orthogonal.
answered 22 hours ago
einpoklum
21.6k134127
edited 1 hour ago
answered 22 hours ago
einpoklum
21.6k134127
answered 22 hours ago
einpoklum
21.6k134127
answered 22 hours ago
einpoklum
21.6k134127
21.6k134127
"Give up the [fantasy/conceit] that grading is consistent. It isn't". Indeed. This is underrepresented, in this thread but also in universities. Grading can impact years of someone's life: not everyone is either a straight A or a complete failure, so for many students those variances have an impact. It usually went fine for me personally, but I've seen so many students work hard and then fail a course while their peers passed, even though those peers were equally likely to be better as they were to be worse. Not just the grading style/biases, even studying the right pages creates variance.
– Luc
1 hour ago
@Luc: I think you're explaining how grading is not always pertinent, rather than not consistent. I was talking about the grading of submitted work which one could argue is of the same quality and represents the same command of the material.
– einpoklum
54 mins ago
add a comment |Â
"Give up the [fantasy/conceit] that grading is consistent. It isn't". Indeed. This is underrepresented, in this thread but also in universities. Grading can impact years of someone's life: not everyone is either a straight A or a complete failure, so for many students those variances have an impact. It usually went fine for me personally, but I've seen so many students work hard and then fail a course while their peers passed, even though those peers were equally likely to be better as they were to be worse. Not just the grading style/biases, even studying the right pages creates variance.
– Luc
1 hour ago
@Luc: I think you're explaining how grading is not always pertinent, rather than not consistent. I was talking about the grading of submitted work which one could argue is of the same quality and represents the same command of the material.
– einpoklum
54 mins ago
"Give up the [fantasy/conceit] that grading is consistent. It isn't". Indeed. This is underrepresented, in this thread but also in universities. Grading can impact years of someone's life: not everyone is either a straight A or a complete failure, so for many students those variances have an impact. It usually went fine for me personally, but I've seen so many students work hard and then fail a course while their peers passed, even though those peers were equally likely to be better as they were to be worse. Not just the grading style/biases, even studying the right pages creates variance.
– Luc
1 hour ago
"Give up the [fantasy/conceit] that grading is consistent. It isn't". Indeed. This is underrepresented, in this thread but also in universities. Grading can impact years of someone's life: not everyone is either a straight A or a complete failure, so for many students those variances have an impact. It usually went fine for me personally, but I've seen so many students work hard and then fail a course while their peers passed, even though those peers were equally likely to be better as they were to be worse. Not just the grading style/biases, even studying the right pages creates variance.
– Luc
1 hour ago
@Luc: I think you're explaining how grading is not always pertinent, rather than not consistent. I was talking about the grading of submitted work which one could argue is of the same quality and represents the same command of the material.
– einpoklum
54 mins ago
@Luc: I think you're explaining how grading is not always pertinent, rather than not consistent. I was talking about the grading of submitted work which one could argue is of the same quality and represents the same command of the material.
– einpoklum
54 mins ago
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Why do you feel like your colleague is giving too much points? People will dissagree, that is just a fact in life, and unless you can provide sound, objective arguments for him being too 'lose' (which I imagine is impossible when grading since different people value different parts in an answer differently), it sounds like you will just have to agree to disagree
– Joren Vaes
yesterday
Examples are: Awarding points for just writing information of the question (value and units of parameters) on the answer sheet. Or awarding points for copying one of the formulas on the formula sheet to the answer sheet while not specifically described in the grading template.
– Bollehenk
yesterday
2
@Bollehenk - what level study is this taking place? Awarding partial marks for identifying the correct techniques (formulae) doesn't necessarily sound unreasonable, though extracting the values/units may be debatable depending on the amount of work that would be required to extract them and the level of study.
– kwah
21 hours ago
3
Is it just as valid for him to come on here and ask the same question but say that you are "awarding too few points for wrong/uncomplete answers" ?
– Lamar Latrell
8 hours ago