As final exams and final essays begin to peak out from their lurking places, I wanted to provide some strategies for efficient grading to assuage some of our anxieties surrounding late exam days this semester. (My students and I were unlucky enough to book a December 20th final exam day.) Here are some quick ideas on how to make your grading life easier.
No Comments:
In her article “How to Grade Faster in 2020,” Deborah Cohan shares that she asks her students to request comments, rather than simply giving everyone comments:
“On the occasions that I assign a final project at the end of the term and plan to return it during the last class session or the designated final exam period, I often ask that students write at the top of their papers if they want comments. That is a revealing exercise worth trying as an experiment, since many will likely say, “No comments.”” (Cohan)
Ask your students how they would like to receive comments (or if they would like to receive comments at all!). Knowing what your students need from you will prevent you from spending time on items that your students are not concerned about! If your students have questions about their grades after you have given or not given comments, offer to speak with them in person or over Zoom. Conversations are quicker than more written feedback!
Simplified Grades:
Instead of agonizing over whether a final paper is an 83 or an 84, create a grade chart for yourself. You’ll save time in not debating between a point difference—simply assign the associated number grade for the letter grade. See my example below:
Letter Grade = Number Grade
A+ = 98
A = 95
A- = 92
B+ = 88
B = 85
B- = 82
C+ = 78
C = 75
C- = 72
…
This can be a stealth rubric—you don’t necessarily have to communicate that you are using this grading scale for your final exams. This can be a guide for you.
One Thing at a Time:
The University of Waterloo advocates for grading one topic or question at a time to avoid having to remember what the answer to that question should be:
Grade only one question or topic at a time so you can stay focused. And finish grading all responses to one question at one sitting if possible so you don’t have to worry about reformulating or remembering the subtleties of your marking scheme.” (University of Waterloo)
If you have a final exam with multiple long response questions, going through all of one question before moving on to the next can help you quickly assess for similar information before moving on to the next set of questions.
Employ the EMRN Rubric:
In his article “Hacking your Final Exam for Alternative Grading,” Robert Talbert expands on how the potential use for the EMRN rubric in grading final exams, proposing that final grades can be separated into four categories and four associated grades (Talbert). For example, an instructor could tell their students that there were only four grades for the final exam:
Excellent = 100; Meets Expectations = 85; Revision Needed = 70; Not Accessible = 55
This grading scale eliminates the need for comments (comments are attached to each of the rubric categories) and adheres only to a set of four grades.
While I can’t cover all potential ideas for making grading easier, I hope that these few items will be helpful for getting you through the end of the semester.
Grab a hot chocolate and a non-red pen. Happy grading!
Sources:
Cohan, Deborah. “How to Grade Faster in 2020.” Inside Higher Ed, 2020, https://www.insidehighered.com/advice/2020/02/11/advice-grading-more-efficiently-opinion
Talbert, Robert. “The EMRN Rubric.” 2024, https://rtalbert.org/emrn/
Talbert, Robert. “Hacking your Final Exam for Alternative Grading.” Grading for Growth, 2023, https://gradingforgrowth.com/p/hacking-your-final-exam-for-alternative
“Fast and Equitable Grading.” The University of Waterloo Centre for Teaching Excellence, https://uwaterloo.ca/centre-for-teaching-excellence/catalogs/tip-sheets/fast-and-equitable-grading
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