My philosophy
Recently, I participated in a study group that explored ways to make grading more equitable — that is, to be sure that my grading policies don’t create unnecessary obstacles for one group of students over others.
This inquiry led me to reconsider almost everything I’ve done in the past — things that you may be used to, since it’s what you’ve almost certainly experienced in most courses.
My new philosophy is based on the understanding that, for most students, grades undermine the ability to learn. I therefore emphasize the process of writing rather than the finished product. And this emphasis encourages me to separate your grade from the quality of your work.
This doesn’t mean that I’m not interested in quality; I will work hard to encourage you to think and write well. To do that, though, I need to ensure that you feel free to take risks, even to fail, without fearing that your grade will suffer.
Of course, I still have to assign you a grade at the end of the semester, so let me explain how that will work.
The Grading Policy
The default grade for this course is a B. This means that if you complete the required work, then you are guaranteed at least a B in the course. If you don’t complete the required work, then your course grade will be lowered. On the other hand, if you complete work beyond what’s required for a B, then your course grade will be raised. This allows you to earn an A in the course and/or to make up for any grade penalty. (Note: “complete” does not simply mean “turn in”; see below for further explanation.).
In this table , you can see how this works specifically:
| Raising the Course Grade | Required work: Default Course Grade (B) | Lowering the Course Grade |
|---|---|---|
| N/A (Not applicable) | Complete all 3 major essays | Each Incomplete major essay lowers the course grade a full letter. Any Unsatisfactory major essay limits your course grade to a C, at best. |
| Reflection on each of the 3 major essays | Reflection on 2 of the 3 major essays | Reflection on only 1 of the major essays (-1/3) No Reflection on any essay (-2/3) |
| Complete all 3 working draft conferences (+1/3) | Complete 2 (out of 3) working draft conferences | Complete only 1 working draft conference (-1/3) Complete no working draft conference (-2/3) |
| 4 (out of 6) working draft questionnaires (+1/3) Note: these only apply if you attend the related working draft conference. | N/A | N/A |
| Meet with a tutor in the WLDC at least twice over the course of the semester (+1/3) Note: Be sure to log in! | N/A | N/A |
| All 5 Annotated Bibliography entries, as assigned (+1/3) | 3 or 4 Annotated Bibliography entries, as assigned | 2 or fewer Annotated Bibliography entries, as assigned (-1/3) |
| N/A | Reflective Essay (in-class writing assignment) | Incomplete or missing Reflective Essay (-1/3) |
| To be announced: in-class writing assignment (during our scheduled Final Exam time) (+1/3) Note: this only applies if you’ve written the Reflective Essay. | N/A | N/A |
Understanding the table
Note: As I explain this, keep in mind that Yuba College only records full letter grades on your transcripts. For example, a B+ is recorded as a B; a C- is recorded as a C.
To receive a B in the class, you’d complete all the assignments in the center column.
If you complete additional work, as explained in the left column, then your course grade would be raised. If you do not complete all the work in the center column, then your course grade would be lowered, as explained in the right column.
And note that the left and right columns offset each other. If you lose a portion of the course grade, you can earn it back by completing work in the left column; and if you raise your grade, you can lose that progress if you don’t complete one of the center-column requirements.
Examples:
Diana Troy completed everything in the center column, with one exception: she did not want to attend any of the working draft conferences. This lowered her course grade 2/3 of a letter, from a B to a C+. However, she really wanted a B, so she made sure she made sure she completed all three Reflections on her essays. This raised her course grade 1/3 of a letter, bringing her back to a B-. (Final reported grade: B.)
Selina Kyle wanted an A in the course. She completed everything in the center column, with one exception: she remembered to do only one of the Reflections on her essays. This lowered her grade 1/3 of a letter, to a B-. However, she attended all 3 Working Draft Conferences and the related Working Draft Questionnaires (raising her course grade a total of 2/3 of letter). She also met twice with a tutor in the Writing and Language Development Center (raising her course grade another 1/3 of a letter). This raised her course grade to an A-. (Final reported grade: A.)
The Grading System
For this course, I will use a “Complete/Incomplete” grading system. In other words, I will not assign points or letter grades to individual assignments. Instead, each assignment will receive one of three “scores”:
- Complete: If an assignment gets a “Complete,” then it means that you fulfilled the requirements of the assignment.
- Incomplete: If an assignment receives an “Incomplete,” then it means that you didn’t fulfill the requirements of the assignment. (Note that the major essay assignments allow rewrites if they are turned in by a specific date.)
- Unsatisfactory: This score will apply only to major essays that are seriously incomplete. Heavily plagiarized essays, for example, or essays that are severely short would be “Unsatisfactory,” rather than merely Incomplete.
What Does “Complete” Mean?
As I said, I will be separating the notion of quality from your grade. Instead of grading on how “well written” your essay is, or how “proper” your grammar is, or how “insightful” your argument is, I’ll assign a “Complete” or “Incomplete” (or, in some cases, “Unsatisfactory”) based on whether or not you completed the requirements of the assignment.
Some of these requirements are simple to understand. For example, if an essay assignment asks for 1000 words, and you turn in 750 words, the essay would be marked Incomplete. If an essay assignment requires you to cite at least five sources, and you cite only three, it would be marked Incomplete.
Other requirements are trickier. For example, if the assignment asks you to both explain and apply Carol Dweck’s concept of “mindsets” to your experience (that’s Essay 1), and you mention the mindsets without explaining them, that assignment would be marked Incomplete. Or if the assignment asks you to take a position on an issue, but you only report on a range of positions without identifying your own, that assignment would be marked Incomplete.
These requirements will be explained in the assignment and identified in a rubric, so they should be reasonably clear. (If you don’t know what “rubrics” are, don’t worry — I’ll introduce them during the semester.) However, since some of the requirements are, as I said, trickier, please feel free to contact me if I assign an Incomplete and you don’t agree. I’m happy to talk to you about it.
Late Policy
As I mentioned above, my grading philosophy emphasizes the process of learning. In a perfect world, that would mean that I’d have no late policy at all.
Unfortunately, the world isn’t perfect. I have found — both from my own experience, and from feedback from students — that many students need hard deadlines to succeed.
So here’s my general pattern for deadlines:
Initial Due Date
Every assignment has a due date that is designed to keep you “on track.” This will be the due date that is listed on the actual assignment in Canvas.
Grace period
Most assignments include a one-week “grace period,” during which I’ll accept late work with no penalty (and no judgment).
You should do your best to meet the initial due date, as much of this class involves interacting with each other as you work through the concepts and issues that you’ll be writing about. Class discussions or workshops are less useful when you get out of sync with the assignments, for example. It’s also best to wrap up one essay before you have to start dealing with the concepts and issues related to the next one.
Some students report that the grace period created challenges for them: “Although it was nice when I needed it,” one student wrote, “it gave me too much time to procrastinate.” If you’re the type of student who puts things off, you’ll want to be especially careful so you don’t get behind.
But you do have lives, and sometimes things happen that are out of your control. The grace period is there, if you need it.
If you miss the grace period
Aside from the major essays, I will not accept work after the grace period has expired. This isn’t meant to be punitive; it’s meant to support your success. Putting work off often leads to shallow learning and overwhelm. (I know this from other semesters, before I’d put this policy in place.)
The major essays are too important for me to simply refuse to accept them if they’re late, so I will accept essays submitted after the grace period. However, essays submitted after the grace period will receive either an Incomplete or Unsatisfactory (as appropriate).
Rewrites
If you receive an Incomplete or an Unsatisfactory on a major essay, but you turned it in before the grace period expired, you will, in both cases, have the opportunity to rewrite the essay and earn a Complete. (See “Rewrites,” below.)
If you receive an Incomplete on a major essay, but you turned it in after the grace period expired, you will not be able to rewrite the essay for the Complete. You may, however, offset the grade penalty by doing work in the left column of the grade table (“Raising the Course Grade”).
If you receive an Unsatisfactory on a major essay, but you turned it in after the grace period, you will be able to rewrite the essay for an Incomplete, which would allow you to offset the grade penalty by doing work in the left column of the grade table.
However, if you earn an Unsatisfactory on one or more major essays, but do not rewrite for an Incomplete, your grade will be lowered a full letter for each (as with an Incomplete) — but you will not be able to earn higher than a C in the course. That is, you will be able to offset grade penalties by doing work in the left column of the grade table, but only to the level of a C.
Important Safety Tip: Ignore Canvas’s Gradebook!
Unfortunately, Canvas won’t calculate grades based on Complete/Incomplete scores. This creates a real challenge: any calculation that Canvas makes is wrong, whether that’s points, or a percentage, or a letter grade.
For this reason, I’ve chosen to “hide” the Gradebook. However, I’ve also found that some students are somehow able to see their “Grade” in the mobile app.
If Canvas reports a grade to you, it is incorrect. Please ignore it.
One Last Thought
This grading system isn’t perfect. As far as I can tell, though, no system is perfect; there are always trade-offs.
In my judgment, the trade-offs from this system offer huge advantages over traditional ones. But if you’d like to talk through what these advantages are—if you’re concerned (as some 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 continue working through these issues.
Next up: Resources
The next section is about resources that you might find helpful.