Our TAs have identified strategies for effective grading and means of providing undergraduate students with constructive feedback.
How to prepare for marking?
– Block out time without distractions
– Treats: favourite snacks – chocolate
– Plan your marking over the term
– Acknowledge your “Alert” time
– Environment – music?
– Set goals – with rewards
– Budget time to learn rubric, calibrate it and scan all possible answers
– Keep notes on rubric
– Mark better papers first (remark for consistency)
– Avoid drifting
– Mark question by question
– Double check the first papers marked
How to deal with demanding students?
– 24 hours rule – “cool off”
– Refer to rubric
– Be willing to review:
Away from other student
Re-mark in it’s entirety – mark could go up or down
Have them come up with list of concerns and write it down
– Math mistakes – correct right away
– Give them perspective on total course grade
– Ask instructor for help
You always want to give positive types of feedback to students!
Positive:
– Balanced
– Sandwich
– Informative à improvement
– Constructive
– Comment on work not person
– Be specific
– Explain Expectations
Negative:
– Not commenting at all
– Too much red
– All negative comments
– Critical, not constructive
– One syllable
– Unprofessional
– Vague
– Personal
– Sarcastic