Grading Challenges
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See some quick tips for resolving common grading issues that can arise during your asynchronous online course delivery.
How do I encourage students to submit assignments on time?
- Send a class email that clarifies your expectations about the due dates and consequences for not submitting
- Email students who are not submitting to understand the situation
- Provide a class-wide extension, which can help alleviate stress and give students more time
- Make suggestions for appropriate student supports
- Apply appropriate penalties, as indicated in your Program Handbook or Instructional Plan
How do I manage my marking time more effectively?
- Calculate the time to grade each assignment, then multiply by the number of assignments: set aside chunks of time in a grading schedule
- Use the course rubric, annotation tools, and other multimedia tools (audio/video) to provide feedback in a way that may be more time effective, given the assignment
- Keep a copy of the Course Outline with you during marking, and focus on comments that align with relevant course outcomes
- Form a checklist (related to the rubric), and use it to grade key elements
- Provide feedback only on the most important or significant aspects of the work
- Use a bank of pre-formed responses, and adjust to personalize as necessary
- Provide automatic feedback using the Quiz tool
- Provide a modified feedback sandwich:
- Positive feedback/praise (observational) – a key strength
- Constructive feedback (evaluative) – a key weakness or limitation
- Next time feedback (prescriptive) – ideas or suggestions for the next assignment
- Provide class-wide comments to implement in the next assignemtn
