Facilitators: Ben Woo (School of Journalism and Communication)

In a recent article in Inside Higher Education, a group of experts on student learning described the current state of assessment as a “hot mess.” Instructors can certainly evaluate individual assignments and provide beneficial feedback to individual students. As we scale up to the course, the program, or the institution, however, grades’ relationship to learning outcomes become increasingly tenuous. At the same time, assessment presents problems for instructors that may include misaligned student expectations and excessive negotiation over grades.

This session aims to begin a dialogue about common problems experienced during grading and assessment and to introduce an alternative approach called specifications grading, an approach that purports to both save faculty time and to improve the quality of student work. Interested participants will be invited to join a community of practice to further explore this approach.