Assessment of Specifications Grading in an Undergraduate Dietetics Course

Pope, Lizzy; Parker, Holly Buckland; Ultsch, Sharon

doi:10.1016/j.jneb.2019.07.017

Cited by 20 publications

(37 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…To incorporate all of these elements, backward course design is utilized (Bonner, 2016;Ring, 2017). Assignments are bundled in a form of contract grading documented on the syllabus for students to preview at the beginning of the course (Mendez, 2018b;Mirsky, 2018;Pope, Parker, & Ultsch, 2020). Ultimately, final grades in the course are determined by "the highest letter grade for which they have completed all specifications" (Williams, 2018, p. 134).…”

Section: S Pecific Ations G R Adingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Faculty beginning with specifications grading may benefit from its widely documented use in courses such as an undergraduate dietetics (Pope et al, 2020), technical writing in computer science (Mirsky, 2018), organic chemistry (Ring, 2017), engineering (Mendez, 2018a), thermodynamics (Mendez, 2018b), various mathematics courses (Carlisle, 2020;Prasad, 2020;Williams, 2018), political science (Blackstone & Oldmixon, 2019), counselor education (Bonner, 2016), STEM (Tsoi, Anzovino, Erickson, Forringer, & Henary, 2019), and literacy (Shields, Denlinger, & Webb, 2019). While Nilson (2015) suggested a major benefit of specifications grading was reducing the time faculty spend on grading, an advantage confirmed by Mendez (2018b), Mirsky, (2018 and Williams (2018), others have disagreed.…”

Section: S Pecific Ations G R Adingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Students have also weighed in on the pros and cons of specifications grading. In particular, students appreciate the opportunity to self-regulate in working toward their desired grade based upon the specifications of the course (Blackstone & Oldmixon, 2019;Pope et al, 2020;Williams, 2018). Furthermore, students relish increased feedback from their instructors and the enhanced transparent alignment between course objectives, assignments, and learning activities (Pope et al, 2020;Shields et al, 2019).…”

Section: S Pecific Ations G R Adingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In particular, students appreciate the opportunity to self-regulate in working toward their desired grade based upon the specifications of the course (Blackstone & Oldmixon, 2019;Pope et al, 2020;Williams, 2018). Furthermore, students relish increased feedback from their instructors and the enhanced transparent alignment between course objectives, assignments, and learning activities (Pope et al, 2020;Shields et al, 2019). Yet, some students have perceived specifications grading to be less flexible than points-based grading; therefore, faculty ought to communicate with students early and often during the course (Pope et al, 2020;Prasad, 2020;Shields et al, 2019).…”

Section: S Pecific Ations G R Adingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Furthermore, students relish increased feedback from their instructors and the enhanced transparent alignment between course objectives, assignments, and learning activities (Pope et al, 2020;Shields et al, 2019). Yet, some students have perceived specifications grading to be less flexible than points-based grading; therefore, faculty ought to communicate with students early and often during the course (Pope et al, 2020;Prasad, 2020;Shields et al, 2019). The research on grading in recent years points to an opportunity for faculty to communicate more regularly with students and incorporate more effective feedback in the process.…”

Section: S Pecific Ations G R Adingmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Alternative grading practices: An entry point for faculty in competency‐based education

Townsley

Schmid

2020

J of Competency-Based Ed

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Due to a lack of buy‐in from multiple stakeholder groups, institutions of higher learning may struggle to reorient their entire course and program offerings to embrace the full breadth of competency‐based education. One such way of overcoming these systematic issues to make incremental progress toward competency‐based education is to consider practices such as grading that single professors can implement without the need of full institutional support. Few college instructors are likely to have received any formal grading training. As such, they may rely on institutional norms and their personal experiences as students. In response to historical grading challenges in higher education, some faculty members have adopted models working against the status quo such as mastery grading, specifications grading, and standards‐based grading, which all promote students demonstrating their learning on criterion‐referenced tests in a more flexible time frame. The purpose of this paper is to describe alternative forms of grading as an entry point for faculty incrementally progressing toward competency‐based education axioms in higher education. The authors recommend a multiple‐step course design framework and areas for future research.

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Section: S Pecific Ations G R Adingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: S Pecific Ations G R Adingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: S Pecific Ations G R Adingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: S Pecific Ations G R Adingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: S Pecific Ations G R Adingmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Alternative grading practices: An entry point for faculty in competency‐based education

Townsley

Schmid

2020

J of Competency-Based Ed

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How did we get here? Evolution of specifications grading in a required skills-based course series

Dupree,

Augustine,

Miller

2024

Currents in Pharmacy Teaching and Learning

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Developing and Implementing a Specifications Grading System in an Organic Chemistry Laboratory Course

2020

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Large, multi-section laboratory courses are particularly challenging when managing grading with as many as 35 teaching assistants (TAs). Traditional grading systems using point-based rubrics lead to significant variations in how individual TAs grade, which necessitates the use of curving across laboratory sections. Final grade uncertainty perpetuates student anxieties and disincentivizes a collaborative learning environment, so we adopted an alternative grading system, called specifications grading. In this system each student knows exactly what level of proficiency they must demonstrate to earn their desired course grade. Higher grades require demonstrating mastery of skills and content at defined higher levels. Each students' grade is solely dependent on the work they produce rather than the performance of other students. We piloted specifications grading in the smaller, third quarter course of the lower division organic chemistry laboratory series held during a summer term. Open-ended questions were chosen to gather student and TA perceptions of the new grading system. TAs felt that the new grading system reduced the weekly grading time because it was less ambiguous. Responses from students about the nature of the grading system were mixed. Their perceptions indicate that initial buy-in and multiple reminders about the bigger picture of the grading system will be essential to the success of this grading system on a larger scale. File list (2) download file view on ChemRxiv CHEMRXIV_REVISED2-Developing and Implementing a ... (1.17 MiB) download file view on ChemRxiv Supporting Information.pdf (441.79 KiB)

show abstract

Assessment of Specifications Grading in an Undergraduate Dietetics Course

Cited by 20 publications

References 18 publications

Alternative grading practices: An entry point for faculty in competency‐based education

Alternative grading practices: An entry point for faculty in competency‐based education

How did we get here? Evolution of specifications grading in a required skills-based course series

Developing and Implementing a Specifications Grading System in an Organic Chemistry Laboratory Course

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