Grading Strategies for the College Classroom: A collection of articles for faculty

by Maryellen Weimer, Rob Kelly (Editor), Barbara E. Fassler Walvoord (Introduction)

This book provides insights into managing the supremely complicated task of assigning a simple letter to a semester’s work. This book is intended for faculty seeking to understand how to use assessment to enhance as well as measure performance, and it delivers some of the most innovative ideas for meeting that challenge. It presents This book contains a collection of more than 30 articles written by a score of highly accomplished college classroom veterans. The articles, first published in The Teaching Professor newsletter, address four critical aspects of the assessment grading exams, assessing papers, gauging participation, and engaging students in meaningful conversations about grades. Grading Exams
The authors present creative solutions for the challenges of grading exams. Articles Grading Papers
This material is equally innovative when it comes to the challenges of assigning and assessing papers. Articles present high-impact ideas, Classroom Participation
Chapter three focuses on a perennial ambiguous grading area, classroom participation, providing insight into how student perceptions of participation can differ from those of faculty and how to reconcile the two. The authors share strategies Talking with Students about Grades
The final section addresses the difficult subject of managing expectations and conversations about students’ grades. This process begins on the first day of class and continues past the final exam. Topics include how The learning “story” that takes place over a semester is rich, complex, and unique to each student. The details of how an individual progresses (or doesn’t) over the term, what skills are developed, and what knowledge is retained could fill a book. Yet, professors are asked to tell the story not in a book, on a page, over a paragraph, or in a sentence, but in a single letter. Small wonder grading is such a persistent challenge for both new and veteran faculty. Bulk Purchases
To purchase multiple print copies of this book, visit www.MagnaGroupBooks.com

108 pages, Paperback

First published June 3, 2013

About the author

Editor-in-chief of Teaching Professor since 1987. Penn State Professor Emeritus of Teaching and Learning.
Received Penn State’s Milton S. Eisenhower award for distinguished teaching in 2005.

Past Director of the Instructional Development Program at Pennsylvania State University for ten years. Past Associate Director at the National Center on Postsecondary Teaching, Learning, and Assessment; a U. S. Department of Education research and development center.