Ask any faculty member what they least like about teaching and – regardless of discipline, class size, or modality – most will say “grading.” Grading is demanding, time-consuming, and sometimes tedious work. Yet grading can provide important insights into our students’ learning.
This page shares some strategies and practices to develop, improve, and streamline your grading practice. As you begin thinking about your own approach to grading, be sure to explore your campus’s specific grading information (see UW Bothell, UW Tacoma, UW Seattle) and check in with your department to determine whether it has specific grading policies you need to follow.
Establish a clear framework for grading
These strategies can add structure to your course, streamline your grading process, and provide students with insight into how they will be assessed:
- Create a percentage or point system for your course that accounts for everything you grade (assignments, exams, etc), and set up your Canvas gradebook accordingly.
- Share grading information in your syllabus, including:
- Policies for late and/or missing work
- Information about how and when you will deliver feedback on assignments
- Information about how students can ask questions about their grades and the grading process
- Develop rubrics for your assignments and exams. Share them with students as early as possible.
- Share clear instructions about your grading policies and processes with any TAs who will be assisting in the grading process
Develop an equitable grading practice
Most grading involves some degree of subjectivity. You can make your grading practice more equitable by:
- Creating clear and measurable learning outcomes/objectives
- Aligning assignments and assessments to learning outcomes and objectives
- Sharing your grading criteria with students in advance in your syllabus and/or in assignment rubrics
- Giving consistent and constructive feedback
- “Batch grading” (i.e., grading a single question for each student before moving on to the next question). This can be particularly important when grading short answer or essay responses.
Discuss grading/grades with students
Grading is easier — and less likely to be contested — if you’ve developed and shared (e.g., through a rubric) clear criteria with students. Doing so helps students understand what you will be looking for. You’ll likely need to share the information more than once, reminding students about your criteria/rubric when you introduce the assignment and/or through a Canvas announcement. Talk with students about how each assignment and set of grading criteria align with your goals and outcomes for the course.
What to do if students contest grades
Even if you use rubrics and have clear grading policies, you will likely get questions from students about their grades. Providing clear information about how and when students can reach you to discuss grades will help make the process less confrontational.
Remember that grades are a source of anxiety and stress for many students. Mistakes happen and a student’s decision to contest a grade is usually driven by concern about their performance in your course, not from a desire for confrontation or to ‘game the system.’
When a student asks you to change a grade, take time to assess their request before meeting with them. It can be helpful to have the student submit their request in writing, which will require the student to reflect on and justify their request. This also provides you with documentation should you be asked to explain your decision at a later point.
For more information on UW Grading Policies, please see the UW Policy Directory “Scholastic Regulations”
Manage and Record Grading
Keep accurate and thorough records of your evaluation of each student’s performance throughout the quarter. You are required to maintain grade records for 5 years after the end of an academic year. Your records will also help you to justify and/or reevaluate a student’s final grade if necessary.
There are a number of tools to help you manage your students’ grades, but most UW faculty members use the Canvas Gradebook. For more assistance contact UW-IT.
Alternative Grading
“Alternative grading” is a term used to refer to a spectrum of grading practices that fall outside conventional approaches to grading. These practices typically provide students with more opportunities to demonstrate learning and proficiency, and tend to emphasize feedback over grades and points.
Adopting an alternative approach to grading typically requires an instructor to significantly rethink their instructional approach, so instructors interested in adopting an alternative grading scheme should be sure to begin a course redesign process well in advance of the quarter. For more information on alternative grading practices, visit this useful page from Boise State University.