Pedagogical Pattern #55
Grade It Again Sam
(Version 1.0, November 1998)
Contributed by:
Joseph Bergin
Pace University
One Pace Plaza
New York, NY 10038 USA
berginf@pace.edu
NAME:
Grade It Again Sam
THUMBNAIL:
To provide an environment in which students can safely make errors and learn from them, permit them to resubmit previous assignments for reassessment and an improved grade.
AUDIENCE/CONTEXT:
This pattern can be used ubiquitously--in every course. The only real exception is a course with a major project due at the end and which is graded only then.
FORCES:
A college or university is supposed to be a safe place in which to learn. This implies making mistakes.
Students shouldn't come to a course to prove they don't need to take the course.
We all make mistakes, novices most of all.
Students should have an environment in which they can learn from their mistakes.
Professors are busy and have a lot of things to do besides teaching.
SOLUTION:
When an assignment is turned in and graded, permit the students to resubmit it with changes for a reevaluation and a new grade. The grade will be higher than the original, but there will be some small penalty charged so that a "perfect score" isn't attainable on a reassessment. A limit can be put on the number of reevaluations that can be done or not. In a large class (more than 30, with no teaching assistants) perhaps one reevaluation is all that can be managed. In a smaller class there may be no need to limit it at all.
A variation is to permit the student to resubmit the work on their lowest grade to date, rather than just dropping the lowest score as is commonly done. This permits the student to think again about the material covered.
DISCUSSION / CONSEQUENCES / IMPLEMENTATION
Some students take advantage of the system, but enough benefit greatly from it so as to make it worth doing. Students should turn in all previous editions of an assignment with the new work so that the professor can easily see from previous comments why points were lost. It can also help if students mark the changes (change bars or hiliter). It also helps if work is neatly done and submitted in a manila folder.
You may also need to cut off additional editions for a student or for the class under certain conditions. Sometimes the potential for improvement is small and the student's time is better spent elsewhere. Sometimes the professor doesn't have time for the reevaluations. At the end of the course it will probably be necessary to set an absolute deadline for resubmissions.
The purpose of this pattern is to permit a student to spend additional effort on material with which they have special difficulty.
SPECIAL RESOURCES:
This is time and labor intensive.
EXAMPLE INSTANCES:
I use this method in all courses and have done so for ten years. I don't know of other instances. My experience is that there are seldom more than three editions, though I don't limit editions. Some students have grown tremendously with this method. You work more with the students that really need the help.
CONTRAINDICATIONS:
If students are sloppy they may turn in especially poor work the first time, thinking that there is no risk. I use a 10% penalty on regrading to avoid this somewhat. The penalty is charged only on the difference between the initial score and the perfect score.
If students are overly conscientious then they may spend too much time on new editions to the extent that they neglect other work.