hallawayjoe

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hallawayjoe
Andyland

2003-06-08 2:58 AM
grading contracts

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I have a student who wants to have his grade changed. He didn't hand in his final paper and portfolio at the due date so I gave him an F. He said that he was sick, had documentation. Fine, I approve a change to an incomplete. He doesn't hand in his portfolio at the new deadline. I don't understand it. I have no problem changing his grade if I see the work, and he was mostly a good student so it baffles me. All I can do is see if he turns it in by Monday. I think the student is game playing or something... but I have no way of proving it. If it is not in my box by Monday, I won't check back unless the department calls me or emails me again. The problem is, in the eyes of the department, I may seem too lenient. My median grade was a B+. Maybe they'd prefer more C's. I let my students revise for grade improvement.

So I have been wondering how to improve and simplify my grading system. I thought a system of tens might work. One of my colleagues does that. A paper will be worth 10 points and all the points add up to 100, so it is easier for students to see what their current grade is. ( a 9 and a 7 on the first 2 papers, and a 8 on the midterm and a 9 average on quizzes would indicate a 33 out of 40, which would be a B-. ) something simple like that. Yet, I also thought about grading contracts. I was surfing a few comp department sites and came across one that used grading contracts. Essentially guaranteeing a B if certain expectations are met based on behavior (Attendance in good standing, serious effort at revision and editing, earnest participation in class, etc. The problem is we use a minus/ plus system so I don't want to complicate things. Also, a student could claim that the contract was unfair if he missed one extra day from the allotted 4 or 6.

I am thinking points is the way to go. I have to keep attendance but I think I will make it so that absenteeism or lateness causes missed easy quizzes.

Make the quizzes so important. Most easy, but some hard and content based.

So here is a healthy point lay out

10-argument paper
10-research paper
20-research argument paper
10- prospectus and annotated bibliography
10- presentation
10- midterm
10-participation in discussions, groups, mini projects.
20-quizzes- Some easy, some moderate, some hard, some announced, some not!

The quizzes would reinforce attendance. If a student left early without permission, they'd prompt me to give a easy quiz that would benefit the rest of the class. Same with a student that habitually came in late.

They'd pay for it in the grade. Also, absentees would lose out on the participation points.

Okay, Attendance hasn't neen a huge problem. For me, it is organization... so I need to have lesson plans all figurend out before the semester starts. So I will probably be posting stuff on the text books as I get them.

What I will do is print an extended syllabus pointing out characteristics of students with the grades they get.

A students being the type that make the cognitive leaps necessary to move from B to A.

B students being good students who do all the work and behave well

C students who do well enough to satisfy requirements

D students who do sub par work,

and F students who do unacceptable work.

I am aiming to raise the bar on getting an A and A- in my class. make B the most numerous grade
A decent bell curve would look like this

A 2
A- 3
B+ 4
B 5
B- 4
C+ 3
C 2
C- 1
D+ 1

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