Are good marks a good sign or a bad sign?
Currently, I am rating a pile of student assignments. It is the fourth time I give this course. Each time, when reviewing the assignments, I identified misunderstandings of the topic and decided to tell the students more clearly what my understanding of scientific work is. Especially, I told them what plagiarism is and that I usually discover it and it will lead to a complete rejection of the assignment. Since that, I had no further case of plagiarism. Just "sluggish citations". I have just included an additional slide into my course material to discuss different ways of citing.
Now I wonder: The clearer I tell the students what I expect, the easier it is for them to do it. It is mainly a question of time invested, not of guessing my criteria. This means that the grades will improve. This time already, most grades lie on the top part of the scale. Similar effects I have observed in other courses where I learned better and better to prepare the students exactly to the type of questions I will ask in the exam.
While I think that this is fair play, however, seen from outside, it might look like I am loosing my teeth. That I do not thouroughly review assignments and do not see errors in the exams. The good grades might even look like I am trying to win students by making the course easy. Seen from outside. My students keep complaining how much work I demand from them. And this is true. However, those who work hard can be sure that they will be rewarded by good marks. And this is what I remember from my studies. There, we also had transparency about what we must learn, how it will be tested and what the criteria are.
Now I wonder: The clearer I tell the students what I expect, the easier it is for them to do it. It is mainly a question of time invested, not of guessing my criteria. This means that the grades will improve. This time already, most grades lie on the top part of the scale. Similar effects I have observed in other courses where I learned better and better to prepare the students exactly to the type of questions I will ask in the exam.
While I think that this is fair play, however, seen from outside, it might look like I am loosing my teeth. That I do not thouroughly review assignments and do not see errors in the exams. The good grades might even look like I am trying to win students by making the course easy. Seen from outside. My students keep complaining how much work I demand from them. And this is true. However, those who work hard can be sure that they will be rewarded by good marks. And this is what I remember from my studies. There, we also had transparency about what we must learn, how it will be tested and what the criteria are.
AndreaHerrmann - 28. Jun, 13:11
