Re: Arbitrary Grades?????

[Chris Deacon <cdeacon@kelvin.physics.mun.ca>]

I don't like marking labs myself, because I find it so difficult to
give a numerical grade. 

I normally use graduate TA's who are very close to completing their
Masters or PhD, and, consequently tend to be the most critical when
marking labs. 

When I was a student in the UK, you would be delighted to get 70%. Now I
live in a world where 70-80-90 seems to be the expected norm, and anything
less than 70 accuses the marker of being too hard.

This year I'm using a revised marking scheme:
  Object - 1 mark
  Data - 2 marks 
  Analysis - 4 marks (requires tidy graphs and complete treatment of
            errors)
  Interpretation - 3 marks (i.e, the *physical* meaning of the result)

I think this is fair, because it allows us to distinguish more clearly
between A+ students and those who are just getting by. 

I'm still getting complaints. A large fraction of the class are getting
60, but nobody is failing (pass mark is 50), and about a third of the
class is heading for an A.

This seems perfectly fair to me.

Chris

On Thu, 9 Oct 1997, Jerry Hester wrote:

> Tappers and Phys-lers,
> I have recently instituted a policy for labs in which lab grades are
> based:
> 50%  Data sheet answers and results
> 50% Punctuality, Effort, Group work, Preparation, performance, etc.
>
> I feel these more subjective criteria are really more valid measures for
> labs.  The problems here are many, such as, students don't like being
> graded this way since it is a matter of how the GTA interpretes. 
> Students perceive things like effort and preparation differently than
> the grader, and it is very difficult to teach GTAs to use a consistent
> approach to grading of this type.
>
> Do any of you use alternate grading criteria for labs and if so how do
> you approach these problems?
>
> Thanks,
> -- 
> Jerry Hester                      Email:    jhester@mtu.edu
> Dept. of Physics                  Phone:    (906) 487-2273
> Michigan Technological University Fax:      (906) 487-2933
> 1400 Townsend Drive	
> Houghton, Michigan  49931-1295

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| Christopher Deacon          |         (709) 737-7631              | 
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