Grading System
I have found that students are typically very interested in how their work will be graded. They will spend as much time discussing this during the first class meeting as anything else. I, therefore, include a fairly detailed discussion of the grading system into each syllabus.
Form my point of view if you give your class a detailed course outline with what they are doing each day and how many points each task is worth this helps with student perseption of the instructor as being organized and also ther is know question as to what is comming.
I always let my students know how they will be graded on the first day of a new rotation
I have definitely found that a set grading scale helps with the overall flow of my courses. My students know on the first day what my expectations are, and how they will be graded in regards to those standards. This especially helps at the end of the course, because it eliminates the possibility of any surprises.
The first day of class the grading system and criteria are explained to the class and any questions are answered.. Everyday at the start of class the lab progress for the class is posted so that the students know how they are progressing in relation to the rest of the class. This helps the individuals see for themselves if they are ahead and have time to do more advanced projects and also helps those that may be running a little slower to see they might need to spend some extra time with the instructor either before or after class and get some help.
I have found that students will still ask you how they are doing with lab hours even though they know they have not attended. They want to know if they still have time to do the required labs. Also, for homework assignments, they still question if they have time to do them before the quarter is up. I let them know the last possible date for an assigment to be accepted before midterms and before finals. Of course, you still have some that will request some additional time.
They might have all of this information in front of them, we talk about the course outline in great detail the first week of class, and they still ask how are they going to be graded. The main question, what do I need to do to pull my grades up. This is a very logical question, all they have to do is do the required work to your specifications instead of not doing it, or only doing a three page report instead of the five pages required.
You are exactly right. All of us want to know what the rules are for what we are trying to get accomplished. Our jobs are like that for sure. Our relationships are like that especially if we have a spouse. Surely we we should expect that same interest from the people we are charged to teach and evaluate.
Every new class I give my students grading and course info so they know exactly what they need to do.
our grading system is laid out on the first day and gone over in detail. once the students understand that, there normally aren't any problems at the end of the course. it also helps them with a few of their projects to make sure they cover certain areas. although they should do it on their own, if their grade depends on it, it normally is done correctly.
In addition clarity on day one leaves no gray areas to be challenged.
