It’s that time of year again. When all of a sudden your to-do list seems longer than it really should be and you wonder how it is all going to get done.
And a big part of that to-do list right now is probably grading. Which feels like Endless Grading.
Like all great jobs, there are things you need to do that are not so great.
An online friend used the example of parenting (a great job) and changing really poopy diapers that have leaked all the way up your kid’s back (a not-so-great task). All parents have done this. I’ve done it on a train. But we don’t think parenting isn’t for us because of a couple of poopy diapers.
First, let me reassure you that grading is not, in fact, endless. It just feels that way.
However, unlike the diapers, there will always be grading in your academic career. So lets see if I can help get the grading into perspective. And make sure it isn’t taking up more time and energy than it deserves.
Limit the time you give it
Grading is one of those tasks that can expand to fill the time available. So limit the time available.
Some of the personal rules I had for grading (mostly 2500 word essays) were:
- 20 minutes per essay: read, decide a grade, write comments
- Never read an essay more than once
- Resist the temptation to mark the good ones first
- Take breaks, reward your persistence
I never wrote on the essay itself, mostly because we couldn’t return them to students but had to keep them on file. So my comments were on one page on the front.
- Always start with a positive statement no matter how hard it is to come up with one.
- Focus your negative comments on important issues.
These rules might not work for you, and that’s okay. Use them as a jumping off point for creating your own rules about how you manage this task.
Mark out from a C
A statistically normal group of students should have most people in the C to B range. A smaller bunch of A students and very few A+. You will probably also have a smaller bunch of weak students (C to D) and even a couple of students who really are not making the grade.
However, because you were an A to A+ student, I bet you mark down from an A+. You have a good idea what an A+ answer to this question looks like. And you judge every essay against that standard.
It gets kind of depressing, and you end up writing a lot of comments about what students aren’t doing. And have a hard time saying positive things about all those thoroughly average students you have.
Back when I was teaching, I found it useful to have a sense of what a C paper might look like. A IIii for those in the UK system.
If a student did the minimum amount of work and has a good basic grasp of the concepts without much sophistication, maybe a couple of errors but generally good, what would that look like? That’s a C.
Then figure out what a B and an A have (broadly) that a C doesn’t. Do the same for a D and a fail. Then you can figure out the minus and plus gradations within each band. (For the UK folks, I started with a IIii, then figured out a IIi, a first, a III, and a fail, then used about 3 marks in each band: top, middle, bottom)
This method enables you to see the positive things in the C and B papers rather than just all the things that make them not-an-A.
You can also be excited about the A students (rather than just relieved that someone is paying attention).
Know what you are assessing
A corollary to this is to know what it is you are trying to assess: grasp of facts? ability to apply concepts to new situations? an ability to support an argument with evidence? what?
I know it is difficult to articulate exactly what these are but spending some time doing it in the abstract can make a big difference. You can also take a break after you have marked a chunk of your stack and try to articulate the standards you seem to have been using. This will allow you to calibrate and do the next bunch more quickly.
If you know what you are trying to assess, you can focus your comments on those aspects of the paper. It will be clear what they have demonstrated and where the weaknesses are.
Every once in a while, you will also realize that a paper which may be reasonable in the abstract provides no evidence of having learned anything from your course. I have been known to give such a paper 10% (and defend it).
Even better (though a bit late for this semester) communicate this to your students. Tell them what you are trying to assess and what you expect in each broad band of marks (A, B, C, D, fail). Sometimes smart, hard-working students write bad papers because they misunderstand what is expected.
Communicating your expectations also saves you time (defending your marks) and emotional energy (worrying about whether students will complain).
Wielding power responsibly
Grading brings the power relationship between you and your students to the forefront.
Unsurprisingly, many of us find that power uncomfortable. I even had colleagues who denied that they had power over their students.
Whether we like it or not we work within a structure in which we have power. And grades are the physical manifestation of that power.
The emotional energy required to confidently use our power in responsible ways can be draining.
Am I being fair? Am I being too harsh? Am I being too lenient? What if the student challenges this grade?
Articulating what you are trying to assess and what you expect for each grade can really help with this, particularly if you also make it clear to the students. Arbitrary power is not responsible.
If you have a colleague you trust, you could also share your criteria and process and confirm for each other that your expectations are reasonable.
But sometimes just recognizing that this is what is going on can go a long way towards reducing the energy it requires.
Self-Confidence
Grading also brings out the fraud squad in your head. You know, the gremlins that tell you that you aren’t really good enough to do this job.
Part of the emotional energy devoted to worrying about students challenging your grades, is beating back the gremlins who are telling you you have no right to judge these people.
We all think we are normal. What we do seems to come naturally for us, so we think most people can naturally do the same things.
You might end up attributing a student’s failure to do A work as a failure of you as a teacher. After all, you are just a normal person and you did A work as an undergraduate. Surely these students are capable of that?
It is hard to accept that you are different. But you are. There are things these students can do that you would be utterly hopeless at. But in the realms of writing essays about this topic? You are much better than they are. And you were much better at their age than most of them are now.
Accepting this will enable you to confidently grade their work. You will be able to confidently determine reasonable expectations for their level. And you will be able to assess their work in a way that differentiates between different levels of performance at that level.
You don’t need to be arrogant about it. There is nothing more obnoxious than an arrogant academic. But you need to accept that intellectual work of the kind that you do is something you excel at.
You are grading their work
The other thing to keep in mind is that you are grading an essay.
You are not grading a student. You are grading the work the student did on this particular occasion in response to a particular assignment.
That student can improve.
That student might excel at something else and be merely good at this.
Your job is to determine how well they have demonstrated their ability to do the various things you are trying to assess.
It’s just one diaper.
