My philosophy
My grading policies are based on the notion that a student’s grade should measure learning, not compliance.
This philosophy has led me to reconsider a few things that I’ve done in the past — things that you may be used to, since it’s what many (possibly most) instructors do.
Grading
I use a 4-point scale for grading:
- A =4 points
- B = 3 points
- C = 2 points
- D = 1 point
- F = 0 points
(The mathematically astute among you may note that this is actually a 5-point scale, since “0” is indeed a grade. But most people call it a 4-point scale, so I’m going with that….)
Further, I only assign grades to a limited number of assignments — to essays, in most cases, though there are a couple other assignments that will also receive grades. I weight those assignments as follows:
- Essay 1 (Educational Autobiography) 15%
- Essay 2 (American Standard English) 25%
- Essay 3 (Equity) 35%
- Annotated Bibliographies 20%
- Reflection on the Course 5%
Calculated grades will almost certainly end up having a decimal point (3.27, for example). I’ll use the usual rules for rounding up at .5 — for example, 3.5 =A, 2.5 = B, and so on.
Some Thoughts on this Grading Policy
As I mentioned earlier, I know that aspects of this policy may be different from what you’re used to, so let me offer brief explanations for the two most significant differences. If you have any further questions or concerns, I’d be happy to talk in more detail. (At some point, I’ll make a video with a more detailed explanation, but I don’t have time to do that at this point.)
The 4-Point Scale
Many instructors use a-100 point system (A = 90+, B= 80+, etc.). I have a number of issues with that system — it puts way too much weight on failing (a “0” is almost impossible to recover from, for example); practically, it encourages too much subjectivity as I grade (for example, what is the difference between an 88 and an 86 in a research paper?). The 4-point system reduces both of those problems significantly.
Points (or the Lack Thereof)
Many instructors offer “points” for things like homework or discussion entries, etc. As you can tell from the breakdown above, I don’t do that.
If those points are meant to grade you — to tell you how well you’ve done — well, that’s just too soon. I want to grade you on what you know and/or can do at the end of a unit. I want the grade to let you know the answer to this question: how well have you achieved the learning outcomes?
With that focus, it doesn’t make sense to me to grade you while you’re still learning. In some cases, the information or skill will be new to you; in other cases, I’ll be encouraging you to unlearn things you’ve learned in the past. Either way, genuine learning involves risking mistakes, and grades discourage most students from taking risks.
And if these points are just meant to encourage you to do the work… well, that doesn’t tell us if you’ve learned anything; it just tells us that you did what you were told. If you’re going to pass the class, it should be because you’ve learned, not because you’ve managed to jump through hoops. And with a points system that simply records compliance, it’s often possible to pass the class without meeting the learning objectives.
Danger, Will Robinson
There are a couple dangers here, of course. I know many students only want to do the work that is graded. They look at Canvas’s Calendar or To-Do List, jump directly to an assignment that is due, and try to fulfill the assignment.
That is rarely — and I mean rarely — a successful strategy.
So please don’t misunderstand me. I do not assign busy work; everything I assign — whether it will be officially graded or not — is meant to support you as you learn to read and write college-level texts. Skipping the “ungraded” work — deciding not to read the modules, or to write Discussion Group Assignments, or to meet with me to discuss a working draft of an essay — almost never works out.
The second danger: people who study student success note that community — a sense of belonging — is a major indicator of success. Indeed, some of my (ungraded) assignments, such as Discussion Group Assignments, ask you to respond to each other. If you don’t do that work, you cut yourself off for the community. (And for those who think, “I don’t need other people’s help; I know what I’m doing”: consider that others might need your help…)
One Last Thought
The 4-point scale is not perfect. As far as I can tell, though, no scale is perfect — there are always trade-offs. And the 4-point has huge advantages over the 100-point scale.
If you’d like to talk through what these differences are — if you’re concerned (as many students are), or if you just want to understand better what’s going on here, I’m happy to meet with you to talk through it. I mean that: I welcome your insights, and I’ll consider them as I work on next semester’s courses.
As we get closer to the first graded assignment (Essay 1), I’ll post an announcement with some thoughts about Canvas’s Gradebook. There are some general issues that I’ve found with the Gradebook, but the 4-point scale has created some new ones for me. But I’ll do my best to make sure that it’s as understandable as possible. (That’s not easy; Canvas really, really wants a 100-poiont scale…)
Rewrites
As I said, I want my grades to reflect your learning. And if I want that grading to be consistent with my philosophy, it’s important that I offer you opportunities to redo graded work. After all, you’ll be learning how to write essays all semester, and you might learn things in the second essay that would help you improve your first essay.
Therefore, I will offer you the opportunity to rewrite any graded work, as you choose.
There will be some limitations. For one thing, the class does end, at some point, and I need time to be grade the rewrites. Further, I will require you to follow a process before turning it in. (This process will be relatively simple, but I want to be sure you’re not just wasting your time rewriting something without actually making it better.)
I hope you can see that this rewrite policy, especially when added to the 4-point grading scale, means that, even if you’re struggling at the beginning of the course, you don’t need to give up. You’ll have the entire semester to learn what you need to know and/or be able to to, and a single grade — even a “0” — doesn’t doom you.
Late Policy
As I’ve said a few times now, my grading philosophy emphasizes learning, not compliance. In a perfect world, that would mean that I’d have no late policy at all.
Unfortunately, the world isn’t perfect, so I’ve had to put two basic rules I’ve needed to put in place.
First: since I need to turn in grades during the week of Dec. 19, I will accept work no later than noon on Saturday, December 17. I hope you can see why: I need time to grade the work.
Second: Each graded assignment — the essays, annotated bibliographies, the reflective essay — will all have two due dates:
- The first due date, which is the one that Canvas will display, is a recommended due date. Meeting this deadline will ensure that you finish the assignment before starting the next assignment of unit. (Note that Canvas will flag anything turned in after this date as “late”; that has no effect on your grade.)
- The second due date is the no added requirements due date. In other words, if you meet this second deadline, I’ll accept your assignment just as if you had turned it in by the recommended date, with no penalty. (How much later this due date is will depend on the assignment; for example, Essay 3 is due near the end of the semester, so there isn’t as much time to accept a late assignment.)
- If you want to turn in the assignment after that second due date, you’ll need to fulfill a couple extra requirements. There are several reasons for this, but here are two: I want to encourage you not to get so far behind that you can’t catch up; and I want to be sure that your work fulfills the assignment, since there would be less time for rewrites.
However, in all these cases, I am willing to work with you if you contact me. If you think your situation will require you to miss either the end-of-semester deadline, or an assignment’s second deadline, let me know. As I said, I’m willing to work with you, but I need you to let me know what you need.
More Danger, Will Robinson
There are dangers to this late policy. Every time a student turns in an assignment late, it usually means she starts the next assignment late as well. That can add up over the course of the semester. And I don’t know about you, but when I get overwhelmed, I procrastinate even more, which makes things worse.
So do your best to keep up with the pace of the course. But if you find you need to turn an assignment in late, try not to stress out too much. The late policy is flexible — and, if you contact me, I might be able to be even more flexible.
Next up: Resources
The next section is about resources that you might find helpful.