H. D. BROWN & P. ABEYWICKRAMA 12. Grading & Student Evaluation

Grades Scores & Grades vs. Ability & Social meaning? Reliability vs. Validity? Tests vs. Alternatives in assessment Philosophy of grading: What to include? (See and do p. 320) Importance of triangulation (using multiple measures)

Guidelines for selecting grading criteria 1. Be consistent with institutional philosophy & regulations 2. Provide grading criteria and weights of each component 3. Recognize own subjectivity and do not change rubrics or policies at the last minute 4. Focus on main elements for learning or achievements

Calculating Grades points Percentile Absolute vs. relative grading Posteriori relative grading: adjust grade distributions after performances to complement levels of difficulty or your own philosophy of grading (e.g., content, mastery) Refrain from ‘massaging’ or ‘bend’ grades

Toward Appropriate Grading Teacher perception: Bias toward ‘good’ class & Grade inflation Student perception Working with/against institutional expectations & constraints: admission & grading policies on theoretical/research basis vs. practicality or hunches/unwritten assumptions

Toward Appropriate Grading Cross-cultural factors & Issue of difficulty -be mindful cultural variables and ‘work around’ them for fair assessment (see p ); issue of (c)overt cheating (recycling of old exams, etc.) -Construct and reflect your own educational philosophy for better and fair practice in class! -Consider factors for tests not piloted

Toward Appropriate Grading -Consider factors for tests not piloted: own experience with intuition, ability to design feasible tasks, framing clear and relevant items, mirroring in-class tasks, variations of test types, referring to prior tests, reviewing and preparing for the test thoroughly, understanding your students’ abilities, and, of not, mostly luck!!!

Toward Appropriate Grading Meaning of grade -descriptors of letter grades -issue of holistic assessment by grades? -be aware of meaninglessness of letter grades and USE 1) a carefully constructed system of grading, explicitly stated criteria, the criteria established based on course objectives and assessment procedure shared with students!

Toward Appropriate Grading Calculating grades: consider web tools (see p. 332) Use or complement with alternatives to letter grading for both formative & summative assessment (See p. 333) Use summative alternatives -Self-/peer-assessment, narrative evaluations, checklist evaluations, Conferences (see p )

Some principles & guidelines for grading & evaluation understand that grading -is not universal, subjective & context- dependent, and done on a ‘curve’ -reflects your & institutional philosophy(power?), cross-cultural variations, and your expectations rather than students’ real abilities. Testing does not reflect the level of difficulty intended unless carefully designed!

Some principles & guidelines for grading & evaluation Grades from the test are different in meanings or interpretations! Use alternatives to grades for additional indicators of achievement Guidelines of grading & evaluation (See p. 337) Focus more on LEARNING, not TESTING!!!