Faculty Recommended Promising Practices For Student Centered Grading I

Message from the Canvas Grading Initiative Faculty Working Group: We hope your semester has been going well! As members of the Canvas Grading Faculty Working Group, we wanted to take a moment to share the resources that resulted from our work last semester (fall 2023) to promote student-centered grading practices in... Our working group was part of the Canvas Grading Initiative, a collaboration between the Center for Teaching & Learning (CTL) and Office of Information Technology (OIT) and endorsed by the BUS (Buff Undergraduate Success)... Throughout fall 2023, our working group met regularly to discuss faculty and student perspectives on the Canvas gradebook—and to identify solutions for addressing common pain points. These discussions were informed by our own experiences teaching critical, high-enrollment courses for first- and second-year students in a wide variety of disciplines, as well as by extensive input from faculty interviews and student...

We are now excited to share two new resources: New Guidelines for Promising Practices in Student-centered Grading in Canvas (below) and a set of faculty- and student-facing Canvas video tutorials to support the implementation... We hope these new resources will be helpful for your teaching (e.g., by making grading in Canvas more customizable and efficient), while supporting the success of all of our students (e.g., by ensuring their... We encourage you to share these resources with your colleagues and discuss them within your department or unit. You must be logged in to post a comment. Home » Applications in Context » Creating Student-Centered Grading Structures Assignments and the associated grades represent one of the most powerful tools in our teaching repertoire.

It takes great care and precision to design assessments, and how we measure and translate student achievement into those assessments and into grades. Before delving into specifics of individual assessments, first think about the landscape of your assessments and what they measure (in particular, how those tie into your learning outcomes). For most students, grading policies are the most impactful component of a course, and for most instructors, assigning grades and responding to questions and/or complaints about grades can be the more frustrating part of... Because grades play such a large role in our education system, your policies are worth critical reflection. There are three common philosophies when it comes to grading: Grading not only measures student performance; it also shapes how students perceive themselves as learners.

It communicates how well students have met learning objectives, shapes their academic identities, and influences their motivation. Historically, grading systems have focused heavily on compliance (e.g., punctuality, attendance) or relative performance (e.g., curving). Equitable grading shifts focus to whether students truly master the skills and knowledge intended by the course, while also promoting transparency, growth, and accountability in ways that serve all learners. Adapting our grading practices to be equitable—transparent, accurate, and growth-oriented—helps foster a more inclusive learning environment. Below are three key aspects of equitable grading, followed by common myths and misconceptions. If that question immediately makes your heart race, muscles tense, or your face do an unflattering cringe type of expression, you’re not alone.

This question used to immediately spike my blood pressure too, until I realized I wasn’t actually frustrated with the question itself or even the student who asked it, but I was frustrated with the... Many students approach their education with a narrow goal: study hard, ace the exam, and get an A in the class. It can feel disappointing when students seem to only care about what will be on the test or how they can bargain to bump up their grades, compared to learning and applying new knowledge... Traditional grading systems tend to highlight performance above progress and prioritize short-term achievements over long-term growth. This approach not only confines deeper learning but also limits students’ understanding of what success in education truly means. Alternative grading methods that support critical thinking and meaningful reflection, like competency-based grading, can effectively promote student learning and enhance engagement.

Traditional grading can also be inconsistent (“Traditional Grading Systems vs. Standards-Based Grading Systems” 2023). A student who only partially understands the content might pass with the application of extra credit or a grading curve, while another student who makes significant progress over time may still fail simply due... As educators in higher education, we recognize that learning isn’t always linear; so why do our grading practices assume it is? Competency-based grading promotes multiple opportunities for students to demonstrate proficiency in specific skills or learning outcomes instead of assigning a single score or high-stakes pass/fail grade to an assignment (Townsley and Schmid 2020). In addition to knowledge, this framework assesses expected student attitudes and skills in a progressive design that holds students accountable.

It is important to define clear learning outcomes along with a constructive feedback process to guide future development toward mastery. Naturally, this approach shifts the focus from a final judgment to ongoing growth and improvement. If a student does not meet expectations for a certain skill, they aren’t faced with a permanent loss of points but instead could remediate and try again. (Hanson n.d.) Transitioning from a traditional grading system can be a daunting task. Here are six helpful strategies to get started:

Clark, David and Robert Talbert. 2023. Grading for Growth: A Guide to Alternative Grading Practices That Promote Authentic Learning and Student Engagement in Higher Education. New York: Routledge. Grades and grading have long plagued students and instructors alike. Faculty frequently lament the task of grading and bemoan students’ seeming fixation with the alphanumeric encapsulation of their work, haggling over points and half points on assignments large and small.

Many students, for their part, memorize and discard information for tests, experience tremendous stress over each contributing factor to their GPA and class rank, and focus on their score at the expense of engaging... So why do we all continue this practice that seemingly achieves little but to cause anxiety, entrench students and instructors against one another, and frame the learning experience in such a transactional way? Grading for Growth (David Clark and Robert Talbert) marks the most recent addition to a quickly emerging body of scholarship that seeks to reform grading practices one class at a time. Joining the shelf occupied by volumes such as Ungrading by Susan Blum et al. and Life Beyond Grades by Covington et al., Grading for Growth helpfully shifts the conversation away from the negatives associated with grading and reframes grading as a space for cultivating learning and empowering students. Indeed, even the book’s title and subtitle underscore the positive frame and forward-looking ethos of its message: readers can see this as an opportunity to move away from the framing of ungrading (as something...

For instructors in the context of higher education, the volume’s centering of the university classroom offers a helpful scope for imagining how the practices detailed in the book might be implemented. The book is divided into three distinct yet connected parts, with a foreword by specifications grading pioneer Linda Nilson and an appendix of frequently asked questions. Part one opens with discussions of different types of alternative grading methods (e.g., standards-based, specifications, etc.), and the benefits of utilizing these methods, then presents the four pillars of alternative grading. Part two provides a number of case studies for the reader to learn more about how different versions of alternative grading have been applied in numerous disciplines (e.g., STEM, social sciences, and more). In part three, the authors provide a workbook to help the reader develop an alternative grading framework to apply in their own class. In what follows, we discuss each part in more depth.

Part one (“What Is Alternative Grading?”) provides a definition and overview of alternative grading; through posing and offering responses to questions such as “why do we grade?” and “does alternative grading work?”, the authors... This section serves to present a condensed recap of current discussions about grades and grading while drawing attention to the importance of terminology and the various forces that have contributed to the current (problematic)... Although not a nuanced or in-depth history of education and assessment, the narratives provided here clearly communicate the range of factors that contributed to the emergence of grades around a century ago, the complex... As part of the BUS (Buff Undergraduate Success) Initiative to support the success of all CU students, the Canvas Grading Faculty Working Group, with support from the Center for Teaching and Learning and the... These guidelines were informed by faculty experiences teaching critical, high-enrollment courses, as well as student testing. Consider incorporating these student-centered grading practices into your upcoming summer and fall courses.

Colleen A. McCabe • Provost and Vice President • Wisconsin Technical College System • Madison, WI from the May 2024 issue of The ACAD Leader The cornerstone of fostering student retention and completion lies in a critical aspect often overlooked—the concept of equitable grading practice and policy. While the allure of discovering the answer to retention and completion may initially capture attention, fostering student success through more equitable grading warrants deeper exploration. This transformative shift in the manner used in assessment of students’ knowledge and skill attainment is pivotal in reconstructing the foundations of trust between students and faculty—an essential component in fostering sustained commitment to...

Though there are other factors in student retention and completion, one of the most troubling impacts could be identified as the use of traditional grading practices—practices that are holdovers from the biggest revolutionary change... The trajectory of education in America in the mid-20th century shifted with the nation’s burgeoning population and the transition from an agrarian to an industrial society in the pervious century. This shift ushered in significant changes in teaching methodologies, learning approaches, and the assessment of learning. It was against this backdrop of societal evolution that the concept of assignment of grades and grading was conceived.

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