Grading

Prof Brown's Grading Philosophy

I remember going through school and closely monitoring my grades in every course. In high school and college, I would sit and obsessively calculate my grades for accuracy because I was so concerned about my GPA. It got to a place where points and percentages and letter grades consumed me and distracted me from retaining the information that I was in school to learn. As I began my teaching career, I turned to scholars in the field to guide me to grade in a way that would not replicate my own experiences as a student, but instead help my students focus on the learning for its own sake. I finally arrived at the system you'll see below after years of trial and error.

As a result of this grading system, my students have reported that they have felt more safe, validated, intrinsically motivated, and have taken more risks in their assignments. These outcomes remind me of what it means to really teach rather than simply grade for the purposes of categorization or classification. Therefore, in this class, I have removed grades from the equation so that students may focus on the intrinsic value of the course content for their personal and academic growth. I hope this will lead to a rewarding and freeing experience, AND I promise that, by digging deeply into the course content and committing to improving your critical reasoning, reading, and writing skills, you will be able to advocate for the grade you feel you've earned (more on this below).

Let me tell you how it works...

Assignment Scores

Each assignment in our course includes a no-points grading rubric to help you understand the assignment criteria. Please review the rubric before submitting your work to ensure you have addressed all the required elements. If your work is submitted on time, I will make every effort to review and comment on the discussions within 72 hours and projects within 10 days.

Individual Assignments

The scoring system in this course is set up using narrative scores rather than points, letters, or percentages. Students will see one of three narrative scores for their assignments:

Accomplished: Excellent Work ⭐️: this indicates that the assignment has met or exceeded the criteria as outlined in the assignment instructions and rubric.
Progressing: Please Revise 📌: this indicates that the assignment can use a bit of reworking in order for it to meet or exceed the criteria as outlined in the assignment instructions and rubric. Students are invited to submit a revision of their work for additional feedback from me. Once the assignment has been reworked, I will change the score to "Accomplished." Revisions need to be submitted within 3 days of receiving feedback from me so that I can turn around additional feedback quickly.
Missing ⚠️: this indicates that the assignment has not yet been submitted. Students are invited to submit their work late, as I believe that completing the work is critical to meeting (or exceeding) the course learning outcomes. Please note that there may be a slight delay in receiving assignment feedback if the assignment is submitted late. Assignment deadlines are there to keep you on track and help you meet specific milestones in the course. However, sometimes students encounter life obstacles that affect their ability to turn in work on time. For this reason, I will accept assignments up to 3 days late, but please use this added window sparingly. *One caveat: peer reviews cannot be submitted late, as your peers rely on timely feedback to use for their final drafts.*

Course Grade Goals

To determine your Grade Goal, decide which letter grade you'd like to strive for this semester. Then, find your letter grade at the top of the chart and complete the number of each type of assignment as indicated in the chart. You are in control!

If you are going for an "A" in the class, you will earn:

Accomplished: Excellent Work ⭐️ on all 4 projects
Progressing: Please Revise 📌 or Missing ⚠️ on up to 3 Homework Assignments

If you are going for a "B" in the class, you will earn:

Accomplished: Excellent Work ⭐️ on 3 out of 4 projects. 1 Project can be scored Progressing: Please Revise 📌
Progressing: Please Revise 📌 or Missing ⚠️ on 4-5 Homework Assignments

If you are going for a "C" in the class, you will complete earn:

Accomplished: Excellent Work ⭐️ on 2 out of 4 projects. 2 Projects can be scored Progressing: Please Revise 📌
Progressing: Please Revise 📌 or Missing ⚠️ on 6-7 Homework Assignments

*If Project 3 is Missing ⚠️, the final course grade will lower one letter.

Header Photo by Cytonn Photography on Unsplash

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