Teaching Academy 1 Developing Grading Rubrics that Work Teaching Academy 3/26/2013

Teaching Academy 2 What is a Grading Rubric? Guidelines  How student work will be graded  What is expected by the instructor  Fair and consistent grading Different types of work  Quizzes/exams ‒ Short answer  Papers ‒ Presentations  Laboratory reports ‒ Projects

Teaching Academy 3 Grading Rubrics – Students’ View Communicate  Breakdown of grades on work  Placement of emphasis – papers, exams  Technical criteria – numbers of words, pages, citation styles  Potential penalties

Teaching Academy 4 Grading Rubrics – Instructors’ View Communicate  Expectations of student work  Technical criteria – numbers of words, pages, citation styles  Fair and consistent grading policy  Potential penalties

Teaching Academy 5 Developing Grading Rubrics General considerations  What is being evaluated (content, style, all work, final answer)  Scale of evaluation (how many points)  How evaluation is done (right/wrong, partial) For each general consideration  Level of detail given to students  Examples for students

Teaching Academy 6 Grading Rubric Example Multiple choice quiz/exam  There are 25 multiple choice questions on this exam. Each question has only one correct answer. Each question is worth 2 points.  What is being evaluated? Each multiple choice answer evaluated  What is the scale of evaluation? 0 or 2 points for each answer  How is evaluation done? Evaluation: correct answer  Other considerations/improvements? All questions equally weighted

Teaching Academy 7 Grading Rubric Example Exam with a multiple choice section and a short answer section  There are 5 multiple choice questions on this exam, and 5 short answer questions. Each multiple choice question has only one correct answer. Each multiple choice question is worth 2 points, and each short answer question is worth 8 points. There is a total of 50 points available in this exam.  What is being evaluated?  What is the scale of evaluation?  How is evaluation done?  Other considerations/improvements?

Teaching Academy 8 Grading Rubric Example Short answer question  Based on the laws of Physics, if a tree falls in the forest and there is nobody around, does it make a sound? Explain your answer. (3 points).  What is being evaluated?  What is the scale of evaluation?  How is evaluation done?  Other considerations/improvements?

Teaching Academy 9 Grading Rubric Example Short essay/paper  For this assignment, write a 500-word essay in Spanish on how you spent your summer vacation. Pay careful attention to subject/verb agreement, verb tense, and accents. This essay will be graded out of 10 points.  What is being evaluated?  What is the scale of evaluation?  How is evaluation done?  Other considerations/improvements?

Teaching Academy 10 Grading Rubric Example Paper  You will select a Biology topic with historical significance and write a paper (10 double-spaced pages minimum, excluding title page, figures, tables, and references) on how this topic has impacted society over the years. Papers will be graded out of 100, as follows: Length of paper: 10; Biology content: 15; Historical content: 15; Societal impact: 15 References: 10; Quality of paper: 35; Total: 100.  What is being evaluated?  What is the scale of evaluation?  How is evaluation done?  Other considerations/improvements?

Teaching Academy 11 Grading Rubrics and Group Work Group presentation  Do all members of the group receive the same grade?  Do self-reported evaluations of group members efforts count towards grades?  Do class member audience evaluations count towards grades?  Other considerations?

Teaching Academy 12 Grading Rubrics and Penalties Range of issues  Plagiarism  Missed exams  Late papers What counts as a legitimate excuse  Health/family emergencies  Travel  Documentation? What are the penalties?

Teaching Academy 13 Grading Rubrics and Plagiarism UTPA Student Affairs page on Academic Integrity  os_home/slts_home/ez_home/ez_sjs/sjs_inte grity os_home/slts_home/ez_home/ez_sjs/sjs_inte grity  Defines plagiarism, cheating, and collusion  Offers guidelines for resolving suspected incidents of academic dishonesty

Teaching Academy 14 Grading Rubrics Final thoughts  Have clear grading rubrics  Even if you don’t provide super-detailed information for students, have the information readily at hand  Be consistent in your application of the grading rubric