Grading Philosophy

The grading philosophy for this course may be different from what you've seen in the past. At first it may feel a little confusing, but I hope to demystify grades as we work together and focus on assignment feedback and your learning. The purpose of a writing course is to help you become a stronger critical thinker, a more effective writer, and ultimately to leave feeling more confident in your writing abilities. If we think of our course like that, then the grades feel more arbitrary. If we are really honest, the grades don't mean much; they don’t teach you anything. But the feedback you receive helps you improve and grow.

What grade do you want & How to get it

Feedback & Skill Building

How many of you skip over the feedback and go straight to the grade? Maybe you don't even look at the feedback at all. This course will place an emphasis on the importance of that feedback and less of an importance on your actual grade. For some of you, this will mean a shift in how you think of your coursework. Some assignments, like “Skill Builders,” are there for you to practice, or build skills. This means that it doesn’t have to be perfect because we are practicing a skill that will then be used in an upcoming essay. So, if you give it a meaningful attempt and it shows practice of that skill, you earn a “complete.” If the assignment seems rushed or lacks significant aspects of the skill being practiced, you will have the opportunity to attempt the skill again and resubmit it within 3 days of your grade receipt or keep the “incomplete.” Either way, your growth is up to you and with growth comes advancement of skills and the coveted “grades.”

Because of how academia works, we can't eliminate grades. They will help you transfer to four-year universities, maybe move on to grad school, and they may even help you earn a scholarship. But, they also should not hold the sole value of what we are doing in this class. This means we will shift our thinking to how well am I learning and demonstrating the skills in this course? My grades will be decided by that fact alone. If you are demonstrating Mastery of a skills, going above and beyond the level of just completion, then your grades will reflect that Mastery level.

I also understand that you may have certain goals or a GPA you are striving for. In order to help you achieve your individual goals in this course, please use the chart below.

Do you want an A in the course? Rather than looking at the outcomes, how can you master these skills?
Are you taking a ton of classes and are hoping to show enough skill to pass? Then, how will you show competence in the course objectives?

Canvas Grades

Because our class is graded on a 4-3-2-1 scale, Canvas registers a 2/4 as 50%. But for our purposes, this is a passing grade because you are showing Competency in that Skill. So in traditional grades, a 2 is a C. What this means is Canvas will NOT portray your grades accurately. It will show you what assignments are missing and if you achieved Competency, Advanced, or Mastery of skills. But your “Final Grade” is NOT an accurate portrayal of your grade. You can keep track of your grades using the Assignment Tracker. This will also help you ensure you have completed the number of DB, Skill Builders, etc.

The Grading Chart

The chart shows you what assignments you need to complete in order to get an A, B, or C as well as the level at which those assignments should be completed. Excel version of Grade Chart. For example, if you want an A by the end of the semester, you will need to complete ___ of the Field Research Activities. If you want a C in the class, you need to complete 7 out of the 10 Field Research Activities.

**Use this Assignment Tracker to keep track of how many of each assignment you have completed and your grades. Open the link. "Make a Copy" and save to your school's google drive account.

You'll notice though that you also have to complete the work according to the rubrics or outcomes. This means if you complete a paper or discussion board and you want a B in the class, you need to have done the work at an advanced level according to the rubric. If you would like a C in the course, you would use the rubric and show competence in each of the categories.

Focus on the Feedback

Drafting

Feedback is one of the most vital steps to effective writing and idea development. This will be a key component of our course throughout the semester and you will be encouraged to share your ideas on your own work and your peers’ in the spirit of improvement. In order to achieve each assignment’s learning objectives (and receive full credit) you will be encouraged to complete all levels of the writing process and actively participate in peer editing.

Feedback

Written feedback and comments will be provided for writing assignments in the comment section of the gradebook, and often directly on the submission within Canvas 1 ½ weeks of due date. Canvas Tutorials are available to find these comments and annotations.
I will sprinkle in responses on the discussion board throughout the semester.

Because I take a lot of time and read final papers very closely, grades will be received within 2 ½ weeks of the due date and will be provided via Turnitin along with rubrics and scores, depending on the assignment.

Revisions

Because the purpose of our time together is to help you grow and develop as a writer and critical thinker, you will have the opportunity to revise any of the first 3 papers that do not achieve the paper objectives, resulting in less than 2 - Competency, or the skill level you were aiming for. Because of the pace of the course and purpose of the revisions:

All papers resulting in less than a 2 or Competency will be revised and resubmitted.
You will resubmit revisions to Canvas within 3 days of your final paper grade receipt.
Revisions will also include ½ page explanation of the feedback your revisions addressed and how you made those changes.
Original submissions must be submitted on time and meet the minimum page/word count and source requirements in order to qualify to Level Up.
Paper #4 will not be accepted for revisions since grades are due as soon as the course is over.

Level Up Opportunities

Your success is your choice and I am here to help you reach your goals! If you score a 3 on one paper and miss the cut-off to submit a revision and are hoping for an A in the course, this is still possible! Between Level Up Opportunities and your other commitments in the class, one paper will not decide your fate!

And, if life gets in the way and you start falling behind in one of your contractual obligations, you can use Level Up Opportunities to help fill in these gaps. If you are trying to achieve Mastery of skills but you miss 3 Skill Builders, use the Level Up Opportunities to show your skills and fulfill your contractual obligations. Missing a few too many Reading Notes and want to maintain Competency? Or falling behind in more than one area? Level Up with a Research Poster!

So what does this mean for late work?

My role is to support your learning experiences. Therefore, should any issues arise while you're in this class, please know that you can (and should!) reach out to me. Every assignment has a due date and rubric to help keep you on track and ensure you know what is expected for each assignment. Due dates are not punitive but are the guide to scheduling and preparing throughout the semester. In order to be successful, students should submit assignments on or before the assigned due date. This also allows me enough time to provide feedback to help you as you build towards the next assignment. Because of the design of the course and how each assignment builds off of previous work, this means that late work just can’t be accepted as it puts me and you too far behind. With that said, I recognize that you are more than a student and have responsibilities beyond our classroom. I understand that things can happen while you're taking classes that can interfere with your success.

You can advocate for your success by communicating with me via email or “stopping by” my in person or virtual office during office hours.
If an unforeseen event has occurred and you need an extension on an assignment, please reach out at least 12 hours before the assignment is due so we can create a plan for your success.
Remember, if you stop participating in the class, there's no way for me to know if something's going on with you or if you've just been forgetful. So reach out!
Please view our Orientation module for a detailed Plagiarism and AI policy.
Major Assignments will not be accepted more than 5 days after the due date.

Grades

The only letter grade you will receive is the one on your transcript at the end of the semester; everything else is about growth, risk, learning, feedback, and revision. Therefore, each assignment is graded on a 4 pt scale as follows:

4pts: Mastery of assignment objectives.

Excellent work exemplifying the requirements for each assignment and demonstrating mastery of each of the Learning Objectives required for this course. Student goes beyond the minimum requirements and does an excellent job on writing assignments, participates actively, and has completed every major assignment, 3 of which have scored Mastery.

3pts: Advanced completion of assignment objectives

Demonstrating advanced skill of each of the Learning Objectives required for this course. Student goes beyond the minimum requirements and does a good job on writing assignments, participates actively, and has completed every major assignment, 3 of which have scored Advanced completion.

2pts: Competence of assignment objectives

Student has completed EVERY major assignment, scoring no less than a 2 on all assignments, and shows competence of each of the Learning Objectives required for this course on writing assignments. Student sometimes participates (whether verbally or via email to the instructor).

1pt: Developing assignment objectives

Student does not produce work that shows competencies in the Learning Outcomes of this course, does not meet the minimum requirements for each assignment, fails to participate, has missed at least one major assignment or scored a 1 without revising, has missed multiple class meetings.

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