Instructions to Graders

In the name of transparency

In the interest of complete transparency, I have made the grading instructions available to everyone. I hope this information about the behind-the-scenes workings will help to provide a clear understanding of our assessment process.

1 Grading Guidelines

1.1 Essentials

Grading is necessary & important: Grading/assessing is a nuanced and crucial skill. It is essential in academia and in a broad decision-making context. It demands fairness, consistency, and a keen eye for detail. As instructors/mentors/teaching assistants, your role in assessing student work is instrumental in ensuring a fair and constructive learning environment.

Rubrics: Each assessment component of 73 is accompanied by detailed rubrics. These rubrics identify key criteria that reflect the skills and knowledge I aim for students to acquire, develop, and nurture throughout the course. These rubrics further delineate each criterion into five categories: Needs Improvement, Satisfactory, Good, Accomplished, and Distinguished. These categories serve as a scale to measure varying levels of student mastery and understanding, providing a clear and structured framework for evaluation.

Multiple Graders: Even with rubrics, it is typical to have some variation between grading different graders. To mitigate discrepancies and bias of single-person evaluation, all assessment components of 73 will be graded by at least two graders.

Confidentiality & Professionalism: The University considers grades and all matters related to grading very seriously. You need to demonstrate high professionalism in exercising your privilege as a grader. Always treat all student work and grades with the utmost confidentiality.

Consultation: If you are uncertain about a grade or find a criterion ambiguous, do not hesitate to consult me for clarification.

1.2 Key Principles

When grading, please keep these principles in mind:

  • Adherence to Criteria: Strictly follow the rubric to ensure fairness and uniformity in all assessments.
  • Consistency: Ensure your grading is consistent across all students, guaranteeing equal evaluation for everyone.
  • Benefit of the Doubt: There are so many challenges in our students’ lives that we are not aware of. So, when uncertain, please give them the benefit of the doubt and lean towards a nurturing and generous grading policy.
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