The goal of this class is to develop critical thinking skills that will allow us to understand the basic concepts of psychology, make sense of research findings related to psychology, and apply these concepts to your own life. I want you to be able to focus on actual learning and developing useful skills rather than on earning a certain grade or trying to figure out what your teacher wants you to do. In this spirit, grading will look a little different.
I will be using a type of grading where you will decide the grade you receive in the course based on how you engage with the material. I will give you plenty of feedback on the assignments, but they will not have a numerical point value and instead will be marked as “accomplished,” “almost there,” or “incomplete.”
I know some of you may be feeling uneasy about this method of grading because you are comfortable with the traditional letter grade system. However, letter grades do not measure engagement, and many students complete the work to get a specific grade but do not retain the material. With this grading, you have control over the grade you receive in the course.
For each assignment, you will receive one of three comments:
👏🎯✅ Accomplished: Great Job! The work met or exceeded the guidelines discussed in the instructions, checklist, or rubric.
🔄🤏🛠️ Almost There: Good Start! Please review my feedback and the instructions, checklist, or rubric and revise/update.
🔍📝⚠️ Incomplete: I look forward to seeing your work! It is okay if it is late 😊
Final Project assignment exceptions: The final project assignments need to be completed promptly for me to give you feedback in a timely manner so you can move to the next part of the project. Therefore, final project assignments need to be submitted on their due date. If you submit more than one final project assignment after the required submission date, the highest grade you can receive in the course is a B.
Self-Assessment & Final Grade
You will reflect on the work you completed and what you learned in a self-assessment and propose a course grade for yourself at the end of the semester. I will read your self-assessment and grade proposal and carefully consider them before assigning a final course grade. If I have any concerns about your self-assessment or disagree with your proposed course letter grade, I will either message you through Canvas or request that we meet in person or via Zoom to discuss it.
This way of "grading" is more like real-world evaluations where you are involved in assessing your own work and demonstrating its quality and successful completion. If you have questions or concerns about how this all works, please don't hesitate to ask!