Geography GTP workshop
Spring 2003
I. Grading rubrics (for more see Curzan & Damour, Chap. 8)
A. advantages vs. disadvantages
1. advantages
a. provides an objective way to grade essays / papers
b. provides standardized way for multiple TAs to grade similar essays
c. provides a defense against student complaints about grades
d. may speed-up grading process
e. may reduce influence of expertly written but poor content papers (or vice versa) (we tend to give these inflated grades)
f. students can focus on the writing or other sections that will be emphasized
g. great way to provide feedback to the students about their writing, etc.
2. disadvantages
a. may do little to minimize subjectivity
i. “I know a good paper when I see it and I just adjust my scores accordingly”
ii. according to “Teaching Tips” (Chism et al. 1994): “Give a global grade- not several subgrades which are summed. Your overall impression is likely to be more reliable than the sum of grades on such elements as content, organization, originality, etc.”
b. may take a bit of time to set up
c. students need to be apprised of rubric structure/grade proportions
d. may be difficult to reward effort .. (see below)
e. hard to use rubrics with a bunch of students with widely varying skill-levels
B. organization
1. example 1
2. example 2
3. example 3
C. giving grade à students
1. some prefer to give back grade broken down à sub-elements
a. good for feedback à students
b. requires less written comments on the paper itself, if grading lots of papers
2. some prefer to give back one score, students can inquire about breakdown
II. Effort?
A. effort vs. outcome
1. which is more important for the final grade? which do we reward typically?
2. is this the “right” / “ethical” system?
3. is it “effort” or just “necessary activity” to succeed in college?
4. how do you discern “effort” from “cunning”?
B. examples of “effort” for essays / papers
1. # times visited/contacted instructor during document preparation
2. # revisions of paper before final draft
a. substantial improvements?
b. correctness of information
c. editing effort?
3. # “effort” incorporated into paper
a. breadth of info covered
b. # articles cited
c. # dif. types of references incorporated
d. inclusion of figures, tables, photos, etc.
e. # of personal involvement in project (e.g. visiting field site, calling key experts, etc.)
f. acknowledgement of different skills levels of students / improvement over time
4. # originality? creativity?
a. does this = effort?
b. does this warrant a higher grade?
C. quantifying effort à grade ? (if necessary)
1. increase by certain number?
2. increase by letter / half-letter grade?
3. use paper prospectus to force earlier effort by students
4. use one section of grading rubric (w/larger # of points) as a bit more subjective on purpose
a. can manipulate this part of rubric grade while leaving rest alone
b. helps to make grade what you think it ‘ought to be’
III. Practice..
A. 2 essays: (modified from online abstracts)
1. (poorer writing, perhaps more effort)
2. (perhaps better writing, perhaps less effort)
B. assign letter grades to these..
1. methods of giving grade?
2. effort counts?
3. note subjectivity of perceived effort levels