A Grading Shift to Recognize Learning Outcomes
by Janel Mitchell, Instructional Designer III
Have you ever struggled to grade less-than-stellar student work? Have you had students confused about your vision of an assignment? Have you ever offered students a redo? Have you received feedback saying your course has “busy work”? Do you ever agonize over partial points grading? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you might wonder whether there is a better way to recognize and reward students for meeting your intended learning outcomes.
This article is about a new way of grading, introduced by Linda B. Nilson in her book Specifications Grading: Restoring Rigor, Motivating Students and Saving Faculty Time. But what is this method of grading? Specifications grading ensures students meet intended learning outcomes by using customizable structures in course delivery that clarify expectations and motivate students beyond simply achieving a desired grade.
Robert Talbert shares a sad story about a student who never missed an assignment, achieved all the learning outcomes, but consistently took two weeks longer to master concepts. Traditional assessments did not accurately reflect her learning progress. She began the semester very enthusiastic, contributing to the learning and energy in the class. That attitude shifted after she took her first exam and spiraled continually downward the rest of the semester. Talbert was angry about having to fail a student who worked hard and eventually achieved the desired results. He decided there had to be a better way to grade deserving students. Enter specifications grading.
Specifications grading is customizable to a variety of courses. There is some work up front as you consider and connect the learning outcomes to assignments and develop clear instructions/rubrics that keep everyone accountable. It presents students with options and provides mercy for trying. It has the potential to decrease the time and energy of partial points grading while helping students succeed and become confident, contributing members of society.
While there are as many ways to do specifications grading as there are courses, the following is a basic outline.
- Align assignments to course outcomes
- Be explicit in your assignment instruction and rationale
- Provide explicit measures in the associated rubric for the assignment
- Bundle and outline the work required for each letter grade
- Provide tokens and outline associated privileges for their use
The key part of specifications grading is that, after they submit their work, students have an opportunity to correct mistakes and not be penalized for trying something new.
References:
Nilson, L. B., & Stanny, C. J. (2015). Specifications grading: Restoring rigor, motivating students, and saving faculty time. Stylus.
Talbert, Robert, (2021 July 17). Entering the feedback loop: Robert’s origin Story: Sometimes snap decisions work out pretty well. Grading for Growth. https://gradingforgrowth.substack.com/p/entering-the-feedback-loop-roberts