Marking, Grading & Exams: Policies & Recommendations

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University policies for assessment are posted online at: Grading Procedure. 

These policies were approved at General Faculty Council in May 2012. Ensure that you are familiar with the principles upon which your assessment practices must be based. One of the most important principles, but one that is often overlooked is that the assignment must reflect the objectives of the course. The objectives and the assessment should also be sufficiently challenging that “outstanding” work is recognized. 

At this time, we do not have an Undergraduate Faculty Policy for assessments and grading.  The Undergraduate Academic Affairs Committee (UAAC) will be discussing this in 2023-2024.

Exams and all course assignments should be challenging, scholarly, and make distinctions among students. Select and weight assignments according to their importance in demonstrating course objectives. Avoid assignments where all or most students are given full marks. Set expectations early in the course to demonstrate how you will assess student work (e.g., provide detailed rubrics for each assignment). Ensure that your course outline and course materials clearly explain the procedure you use to convert raw scores to grades. Keep in mind that university policy requires all instructors to ensure that grading fairly reflects student achievement in relation to course objectives.

Cases of plagiarism occur each year. Each case is emotionally difficult for all parties involved and is usually time consuming. Carefully select assignments that will discourage plagiarism. While cases often include quoting or paraphrasing internet sources without references, many plagiarism cases involve using previous students’ assignments and also unauthorized collaboration in which two or more people work together and submit very similar assignments. Avoid using the same assignment in consecutive terms, especially across several sections. Avoid assignments that require students to create resources or texts that might already be readily available to them online, such as annotated bibliographies. 

For individual assignments, set clear expectations. That is, you may encourage students to work together to think through questions in an assignment, but that each person must submit his/her own work. 

Spend time in class discussing expectations for citing sources in the specific types of assignments you are using (e.g. lesson plans). For example, be clear with students as to whether students are expected to use in-text citations within the body of the lesson plan or in the list of references. Include these expectations in the assignment instructions. Model how to create in-text citations and reference lists using a style guide (e.g., APA 7th edition) during class time. Academic librarians are also available to support students in using style guides.

If you suspect that plagiarism has occurred, please see APPENDIX VI: Inappropriate Academic Behaviour Reporting Form. Contact the Undergraduate Coordinator (See contact list) for help with the process. Additionally, the College of Social Sciences and Humanities has an Academic Integrity and Discipline Coordinator (cssh.acadinteg@ualberta.ca) who may provide assistance.

You may assign marks for class participation; however, you must explicitly tie attendance/participation to course objectives and provide students with a clear rubric in the course outline indicating how you will assess participation. These marks must assess the qualities of students’ learning through participation. The Centre for Teaching and Learning provides the following guidance: “Participation grades should evaluate students on behaviours specific to engagement with the course material. … Write a clear policy explaining what good participation/professionalism looks like, when you expect it from students, and how it will be graded. Using this policy, give feedback on participation throughout the term by highlighting good examples of participation or giving formative feedback on student performance mid-way through the course. … For participation and professionalism grades, it is best if evidence is collected over time and a record of contribution maintained. One strategy for this could be to provide students with a small rubric (as shown below) and record after each class how a student as scored out of three” (Participation & Professionalism Grades). As noted above, participation marks should make distinctions among students; they should not be used if all or most students will receive full marks. 

A term exam, which is an exam held during the term that is not a final exam, is optional. Term exams are considered as a type of term work and are subject to policy statements related to term work, the same as assignments. Instructors may schedule term examinations during any regularly scheduled class period, but it should never exceed class time. There is no provision for a deferred exam date of a term exam; rather, a missed term exam is addressed in the same way as missed assignments. Please check with your Subject/Program Area Coordinator so there is consistency across multi-section courses. 

General Faculties Council urges all instructors of University undergraduate courses to provide that suitable portions of course testing or other course work should be in the form of written essay responses and to emphasize to students that competence in written work is integral to competence in a subject and will constitute part of the basis on which the student’s course grade is determined. All instructors should make clear at the outset of each course their expectations in regard to standard and importance of writing in assignments and examinations and note this on the course outline.

Instructors should allow students a reasonable time in which to complete an assignment, bearing in mind its weight. If a student is handing in work outside of class time, make arrangements for the student to deliver the work to you in your office, to mail, or email it to you. It is not appropriate to ask students to deliver an assignment to your home. 

Instructors are not obligated to accept late assignments or grant extensions. However, if an instructor chooses to do so, a clear statement must be included on the course outline. Here is an example of a late policy: 

Assignments are due at the beginning of class on the due date. Ten percent will be deducted for each day if it is late. The instructor may consider an extension for acceptable reasons if notified within two working days following the scheduled due date, or as soon as the student is able. The instructor may also consider extensions for other reasons if requested two working days prior to the due date.

If you grant an extension for an assignment, put it in an email and keep a record of the due date. You should also add a provision as to what will happen (e.g, grade of 0) if the assignment is not received by the time that was agreed upon. Ensure that you keep a record of the assignment’s arrival and email the student with this information.

Students occasionally ask for repeated extensions when they are not successfully addressing personal or other issues, including family responsibilities or financial stresses. If a student asks for repeated extensions, consider that they may be “at risk” in other courses as well. Fill in the Student of Concern form. This is important because problems do not necessarily become apparent until they emerge in several different courses.

Instructors should mark and return to students with reasonable dispatch all term examinations and, provided the students submit them by the due date, all course projects, assignments, essays, etc. At the latest all projects, assignments, essays, etc. should be returned on or by the last day of classes in the course. If the course has a final assignment instead of a final exam, the final assignment should be due the day of the final exam dates/times that are published on the Exam Schedules website (set by the Registrar’s Office) or as set out in Appendix I (for IPT and APT courses). These final assignments need to be marked within 5 business days to facilitate timely submission of final grades. Instructors needt to make arrangements for return of the final assignments.. . 

Assignments returned in class must be given directly to students if they are not returned electronically on eClass. They may not be given to another student to deliver. Do not leave assignments in the hallway or any other place for student pickup. This encourages theft of assignments. An additional issue is the theft of student identification on the assignments.

Your class lists and student grades are confidential documents. Keep them in a secure location and avoid taking them to class with you. General Faculties Council requires that the Faculty keep class records and detailed records of the component marks for at least one year after the final exam. 

Student grades are unofficial until they have been formally approved by the Vice Dean. Students are to access their final grades via Bear Tracks. Do not post or email final letter grades. 

Historical guidelines for grade conversion in undergraduate courses are being created. These guidelines, when available, will be added to this Manual and can be reviewed to determine whether your grading is consistent with standards that have historically been maintained in the Faculty of Education. These guidelines are not mandated but they will provide an indication of whether your grades are in accordance with typical ones. It is helpful to check your distribution on every assignment so that you have a chance to reconsider your standards if they may be too high (or too low). If there is a departure when you submit the grades, attach a written explanation when you submit them for approval at the end of term. You will be contacted if there is a need to discuss your grades.