Grading Students' Classroom Writing: Issues and Strategies: ASHE-ERIC Higher Education Research Report, Volume 27, Number 3

by Bruce W. Speck

• ISBN13: 9781878380913
• ISBN10: 1878380915
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2000-06-01
• Publisher: Jossey-Bass

Summary

"For professors concerned with how best to grade students' writing, this monograph will be a must. It is particularly helpful in its coverage of how to provide effective feedback on students' writing. It also should stimulate most readers to new insights about the relationship between grading student writing and the students' writing process." --Barbara TownsAnd, professor of education, University of Missouri-Columbia This report explores the connection between the process of writing and the process of grading. It also explains how to construct effective writing assignments, resolve issues of fairness and professional judgment, include students in the process of assessment, and provide effective feedback to students as they revise their writing. Speck synthesizes the best practices in teaching and learning to help faculty and part-time instructors envision grading as a process, not a product.

Author Biography

BRUCE W. SPECK is associate vice chancellor for academic affairs at The University of North Carolina at Pembroke (UNCP). Before his position at UNCP, he was acting director of the Center for Academic Excellence and professor of English at The University of Memphis.

Table of Contents

Foreword	ix
Acknowledgments	xiii
The Writing Process and Grading Students' Writing	1	(10)
The Writing Process	1	(2)
Problems Fitting Evaluation With the Writing Process	3	(2)
Issues Related to the Grading Process	5	(3)
Marrying the Writing and Grading Processes	8	(3)
Constructing Writing Assignments	11	(16)
Determining Purpose and Audience	11	(7)
Determining and Specifying What Is Essential and What Is Optional	18	(3)
Determining What Standards Will Be Used to Evaluate Students' Written Responses to the Assignment	21	(2)
Critiquing Writing Assignments	23	(3)
Conclusion	26	(1)
Fairness and Professional Judgment	27	(18)
Theoretical Issues Related to Reliability, Validity, Fairness, and Professional Judgment	27	(4)
Grading Methods	31	(13)
Conclusion	44	(1)
Including Students in the Assessment of Writing	45	(16)
Professorial Authorities	45	(2)
Cheating	47	(4)
Preparing Students to Make Informed Decisions About the Quality of Writing	51	(1)
Ways to Include Students in the Grading Process	52	(8)
Conclusion	60	(1)
Providing Feedback for Revision: Reading and Responding to Students' Writing	61	(16)
Common Misperceptions About Feedback	61	(4)
Why Professors Might Have Difficulties Providing Effective Feedback	65	(5)
How Professors Can Provide Useful Feedback	70	(5)
Conclusion	75	(2)
Conclusion and Recommendations	77	(4)
Appendix: Example of a Student's Paper With Effective Written Comments	81	(4)
References	85	(14)
Index	99