All Questions
311 questions
15
votes
7
answers
8k
views
How Can I Ethically Adjust Grading Without Violating My 'No Grade Curving' Policy?
I always tell my students that I don't curve their grades, and that their final exam and quiz scores will directly determine their letter grades. I do this to avoid giving them false hope that they ...
- 995
7
votes
3
answers
2k
views
Is it appropriate to award points for this answer? (experimental physics)
The experiment in question asks the student to take several measurements for the period with different pendulum lengths.* Then it asks the student to pick a length, with justification, before ...
- 137k
8
votes
5
answers
3k
views
How can student grades from different countries (e.g., India and China) be compared when applying for academic positions?
In the global academic landscape, students often apply for positions or programs abroad where the grading systems can differ significantly. For example, India and China have distinct educational and ...
- 1,747
0
votes
0
answers
88
views
Post-hoc changes of master thesis
This is a follow-up question linked to my previous question. Does anyone have experience with post-hoc changes to a master thesis i.e. proofreading it and changing the publicly available version after ...
- 107
18
votes
8
answers
15k
views
Can an undergraduate student be penalized for exceeding what is expected of a work?
Let's say that a professor gives a series of problems, among which the students must solve and present one appropriately, an assignment (in mathematics) as it has always been done at university. The ...
- 469
3
votes
2
answers
130
views
Any natural way to split grade transition ( AA vs AB etc) thresholds for a large class?
Our University follows a letter grading system with discrete A through D ( including half grades like AB, BC etc) I have a relatively large class ( around 100 students).
No matter where I select my ...
- 1,390
14
votes
8
answers
7k
views
Is there any ethical problem with a tiered grading system?
I am currently teaching undergraduate level courses in mathematics and engineering in a university in the United States.
My university requires us to go through some training on how to make our ...
- 2,275
15
votes
6
answers
5k
views
Adjust grading policy mid-course to improve attendance?
I'm teaching a math course and have traditionally not enforced attendance, instead allocating 5% of the course grade to in-class participation (questions and answers), which maintained satisfactory ...
user11584
17
votes
7
answers
6k
views
Mixed-level class of undergrads and PhD engineers: grading on different curves
I teach an elective chemical engineering mixed-level class. About 30% are 3rd year and 4th year undergrads each and the remaining 40% is a mix of Masters and PhD students.
I want the grading to be ...
- 1,390
1
vote
1
answer
190
views
How Should I Convert My GPA for PhD Applications in the USA?
I am in the process of applying for PhD programs in the United States and am facing a dilemma regarding my GPA format. My current university uses a 20/20 grading scale, and I am unsure if I should ...
- 1,747
3
votes
1
answer
129
views
Extra credit activity in class: how to handle grading
I teach an undergraduate engineering elective where I used to have a project for about 20% of grade. Rest used to be the usual exams, quizzes etc.
Now the class size has grown to about 100 and it is ...
- 1,390
13
votes
5
answers
6k
views
My 1.5 time accomodations were not properly implemented, what can I do?
I am an undergraduate student in Canada. I have academic accommodations from the accessibility centre since I have autism and ADHD. I informed the instructor of my 1.5x exam time at the start of the ...
- 673
4
votes
0
answers
95
views
Department head has requested I lower student grades [duplicate]
I’ve been teaching a 4th year business elective for the past 8-years. Grades for my class generally range from about 57% - 94%, with the average at 86%. This current teaching year, the chair of my ...
- 41
1
vote
3
answers
205
views
Ph.D program let me transfer a course where I got a B-. Could the graduate school audit it out?
My graduate program let me transfer a course where I got a B- during my Master's even though the policy is "B or higher." Should I bring this up before the final graduation audit by the ...
- 1
19
votes
6
answers
8k
views
How to not feel guilty when reporting possible misconduct during exam/coursework as a teacher?
I am teaching a small class in my university. This is my first time, and as I am still a PhD student and the university was missing a teacher, I ended being selected to present it.
It is a programming ...
- 935
1
vote
2
answers
391
views
Partial Credit Retake
I want to offer my students a chance to correct their exam problems (with explanation) for partial credit in lieu of a curve. I was thinking of the opportunity to get half of their points back. ...
- 617
7
votes
1
answer
5k
views
How to handle grading a quiz question which had no correct answer due to a mistake?
I recently gave a 3 question quiz worth 3 points. I made a typo on one question that led to none of the multiple choice questions being correct. What is the best way to handle this? Give everyone ...
- 617
0
votes
2
answers
137
views
Grading large enrollment courses
I am the coordinator of several sections of a course with over 200 students. The midterm exam is common and everyone takes the same exam at the same time. We do have TAs. What are some efficient ways ...
- 1,021
-1
votes
1
answer
140
views
Instructors of SE: How commonly do you readjust the grading scale?
In one of the online exams I took recently, there was an error in the timing and it seems many students did not manage to finish on time due to this somewhat unfair mishap.
The grading is taking very ...
- 472
22
votes
10
answers
11k
views
In the U.S., is it appropriate for math professors to ask students to rewrite their messy (poorly handwritten) homework to be graded?
Many students write their math homework assignments in a messy, barely readable way. When I was a student TA/grader, I didn't have the right to ask them to rewrite them. But as a math instructor, I ...
- 4,246
5
votes
4
answers
437
views
Decreasing the workload of Teaching Assistants
I am a teaching assistant auditor at my university and my duty is to assess the working conditions of the TAs in my department (Physics & Astronomy). To do this, I send out surveys towards the end ...
- 51
3
votes
3
answers
2k
views
How did/does the Greek-letter grading system (formerly?) used at Oxford and Cambridge work?
Does anyone have any information about the alpha-beta-gamma marking system?
What are/were the criteria for the different grades and how were these then collated into degree-class marks?
Is this system ...
- 33
2
votes
2
answers
630
views
What should I do in this grading appeal situation?
The grade I received for Fall 2022 semester was not the grade I feel like I deserved so I emailed my professor as soon as I saw it. The professor did not respond to my email or any follow-up emails ...
- 29
3
votes
2
answers
510
views
Why target for low grade medians and generous curves, rather than extra credit? [duplicate]
There seems to be a trend with science and math classes especially, where target distribution for the absolute grades are somewhere in mid Fs. But then the curve brings all the students with 30s and ...
- 1,220
1
vote
1
answer
2k
views
Adjusting Grades After Throwing Out Exam Questions [closed]
I’m in nursing school and all exams are reviewed after they are taken, and the majority of the time some questions are thrown out after review.
The question I have is if questions are thrown out ...
2
votes
1
answer
247
views
Stuck in a pattern of studying hard for exam but not getting the desired grade
I could be studying 2.5 months for an exam, every single day, doing all the exercises that I can. Doing all the old exams that I can get my hand on. Never falling behind on submissions for the course. ...
- 31
12
votes
8
answers
12k
views
Should an instructor adjust grades for students from underrepresented groups?
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, (Belonging), known as DEI(B), has become increasingly valued in higher education in the United States. UC Berkeley provides a rubric for evaluating candidates' DEI(B) ...
- 307
-5
votes
2
answers
304
views
Is it legally possible to stand up for getting unfairly marked by my professor? [closed]
I recently completed my coursework for International Business Strategy in the UK. I have been marked unfairly in a sense where my professor has given me the feedback of not mentioning certain points ...
1
vote
2
answers
113
views
Should I request audit grading for my MTH 111 class or just fail it? [closed]
I’m a freshman attending a community college. I’m taking 17 credits, 5 of which are from my MTH 111 class. I have struggled with sepsis and infection over the past year and got sick in the middle of ...
- 11
1
vote
2
answers
572
views
Are TAs expected to solve the homeworks or do they get the solutions from professor [duplicate]
Is the TA expected to solve the homework for the professor or is the professor supposed to provide the solutions to the TA for grading homework?
- 111
38
votes
7
answers
12k
views
Should I give full credit for a correct answer different from the expected one to an exam question?
I recently gave an exam that had a particular short answer question where I asked the students, "What type of reaction is this?". I was looking for neutralization reaction, as aqueous NaOH ...
- 617
19
votes
6
answers
11k
views
Realizing I should have graded more harshly at the end of the class
It's my first time teaching a college class as an instructor. My grade breakdown is as follows:
Worksheets 15%
Lab attendance and participation 15%
Homework 40%
Final Exam 30%
Discussion forum 3% ...
- 333
-1
votes
1
answer
256
views
What are advantages and disadvantages of "chapter abstracts" [closed]
What are advantages and disadvantages (totally not implying that there is a rule) of "chapter abstracts", i.e., short summaries of the content of the following chapter, which are placed ...
- 124
1
vote
1
answer
188
views
Is it ethical for lecturers to give marks based on another criteria other than the one they prescribed?
Is it ethical for a lecturer to give all students in their class full marks for a module when they have not assessed the quality of the assessments?
In one class, students were told they would be ...
user156748
1
vote
1
answer
1k
views
Is a professor allowed to take off points for an assignment they messed up?
In the final week of a class, our final project included an essay, presentation, and discussion board responses to the presentations. This is an online class so we depend on the availability of ...
- 11
16
votes
9
answers
7k
views
As an evaluator in mathematics, how should I grade responses that answer the question asked, but in less detail than desired?
I want to know whether there is a need for responding to students who ask for points/marks by arguing that they only answered the question that was asked., a.k.a "literalism". So, I am ...
- 7,797
18
votes
5
answers
8k
views
Being undermined as a TA over grading
I have marked several writing assignments for this course and the grade grubbing from this cohort was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced as a TA.
The primary instructor and I were given a heads up ...
- 217
15
votes
6
answers
4k
views
Should I give an extra credit assignment to a student who failed to drop the course on time?
I am currently teaching an elective course
for undergraduate students in the College of Business,
at a university located in Hong Kong.
Students who choose to take the course
can use the course as one ...
- 19.6k
37
votes
18
answers
10k
views
Is it ethical to assign problem sets and not tell students which subset of problems will be graded?
It is common practice to have a homework strategy as follows: a professor might assign N homework problems but only have some random sub-set of those problems graded. This is motivated by a large ...
- 500
53
votes
15
answers
30k
views
Student gives two different answers to one exam question, one right and one wrong. How should I mark/grade this?
I am marking an exam for a course I tutor. One student has given two answers for a particular question in the exam – one answer is fully correct, while the other is completely wrong.
Each answer has ...
- 691
1
vote
2
answers
93
views
What useful teaching/administrative practices do lecturers disclose as additions to the course outline?
There have been a few answers and comments on this site where lecturers have noted some useful practices they implement in their teaching, which they disclose in the course outline. Usually this ...
- 73k
0
votes
0
answers
368
views
Gradescope automatic match of pages to problems
I used Gradescope with the Instructor upload setting for a paper-based exam that was scanned in bulk. I included a template of the exam with name, ID, and problem regions specified. The exams scanned ...
5
votes
2
answers
475
views
Is it normal for students to ask for summary statistics of exam grades?
I'm a tutor for a university course that has just had a midterm exam marked and returned to the students. One of the students emailed me asking for summary statistics of the midterm exam: the maximum ...
- 691
4
votes
7
answers
794
views
Group Versus Individual Assignments
Every spring (including the spring about to start), I teach an honors course that normally has an enrollment of about 25, with 15 to 20 of those coming from the top few percent of our students and the ...
- 160
17
votes
5
answers
4k
views
As an inexperienced thesis supervisor, how can you guarantee fair grading?
Being a PhD student, I just finished supervising my first masters thesis. Now I have to assess and grade it. While I have a grading template provided by the university (listing the different aspects ...
- 22.6k
5
votes
2
answers
2k
views
Amount of Grading Done By Professors at Teaching-Focused Universities [closed]
In the future, I'm thinking about applying for tenure-track positions in Computer Science at teaching/undergraduate focused institutions. The kinds of places that usually have 3-3 teaching loads and ...
- 487
2
votes
0
answers
97
views
Reference request: Student-selected grading schemes?
I am interested in student learning. However, because I work in a university system, I generally need to assign a grade (A through F) to the students' work. So I need to assess student learning.
I ...
- 4,998
3
votes
2
answers
2k
views
Best grading statistics
I am fresh at teaching computer science. For this subject, students must write an exam. Are there any statistics beyond avg, median, max, min points which you can recommend calculating? Furthermore, ...
- 139
3
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Is there a polite way to help students improve their English, or should I not try?
I am a foreigner that learnt English as his third language. And I make mistakes all the time as a result. In general I like it when people correct me because I get to improve my English, which is ...
- 1,150
5
votes
5
answers
2k
views
What is it called in academia when a teacher grades low scoring students more leniently than those who score well?
For example, in a classroom, if a group of students score 45%, the teacher tries to help these students by allowing them to take a second attempt exam. At the same time, a student with 70% can't ...
- 209