Specifications Grading at Scale: Improved Letter Grades and Grading-Related Interactions in a Course with over 1,000 Students

McKnelly, Kate J.; Howitz, William J.; Thane, Taylor A.; Link, Renée D.

doi:10.1021/acs.jchemed.2c00740

Cited by 11 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 63 publications

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“…Specs grading has also decreased grading issues between students and instructors by clearly articulating expectations and removing the ambiguity of partial credit, which is a commonly observed fault in classes with large enrollments and multiple graders (McKnelly et al, 2023). Instead, rubrics used to assess student performance use clear criteria, making it easy for graders to correctly identify whether the work submitted by a student has reached the desired level of proficiency (Howitz et al, 2023).…”

Section: Specifications-based Gradingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To mitigate these drawbacks, specifications-based grading (Nilson and Stanny, 2023) has emerged as a method for assessing student learning that focuses on clearly communicating learning objectives and encouraging student engagement with material (Howitz et al, 2021). Within Chemistry, specifications-based grading has been used in small lecture settings (Ring, 2017;Donato and Marsh, 2023) and large ones (McKnelly et al, 2023), and even has been implemented in lab-based (Bunnell et al, 2023;Howitz et al, 2023) and writing-based (McKnelly et al, 2021) courses. Among these successful implementations of specifications-based grading, several were done in Organic Chemistry; however, few, if any, publications have explored the impact of specifications-based grading in an online, asynchronous course or graduate level course.…”

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Use of specifications-based grading in an online, asynchronous graduate organic chemistry course

Moster,

Zingales

2024

Front. Educ.

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Specifications-based grading is an alternative grading scheme that emphasizes student proficiency of learning objectives. Course grades are determined by the number of objectives completed rather than the number of points accumulated. At the University of Saint Joseph, CHEM 510 Intermediate Organic Chemistry is the foundation course that all incoming graduate students take in their first semester of the fully online, asynchronous MS programs in Chemistry and Biochemistry. Students in CHEM 510 complete the entire course online and at their own pace within the structured due dates, which presents unique challenges compared with synchronous learning modalities. With these considerations in mind, CHEM 510 was revised to use a specifications-based grading scheme with an a la carte assessment menu and token system. Generally, students found the alternative grading scheme helpful, but they needed additional instructions and time to adjust to the new grading system. By the end of the semester, students expressed their appreciation for the ability to choose their assessment method, work at their own pace, and use the token system for extensions/retakes. The instructor found that implementation of specifications grading took greater time for the initial course setup, but did not require more time than points-based grading once the course began. One large positive outcome was that student-instructor interactions were more frequently about the content of the course rather than grades. Overall, there was a slight increase in the course’s pass rate compared to the pass rate prior to the change in grading modality. We believe that the implementation of the a la carte assessment menu accommodates a more diverse population of learners without sacrificing the integrity of student learning. Additionally, we believe that the diverse assessment opportunities were critical for the successful implementation of specifications-based learning in the online classroom environment, though further extension of the menu in synchronous, in-person classroom settings may be challenging.

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Section: Specifications-based Gradingmentioning

confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

Use of specifications-based grading in an online, asynchronous graduate organic chemistry course

Moster,

Zingales

2024

Front. Educ.

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“…Surveys were available to students, LAs, and GTAs for 1 week during the final week of instruction through Qualtrics. Students were offered one credit toward a "token" for completing this and other research surveys in each quarter; tokens can be exchanged in the course grading system for options such as late passes or the opportunity to revise and resubmit unsatisfactory assignments (McKnelly et al, 2023).…”

Section: Student and La Surveysmentioning

confidence: 99%

Leveraging undergraduate learning assistants when implementing new laboratory curricula

Griffin,

Thompson,

López

et al. 2024

Front. Educ.

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At University of California, Irvine, a large-enrollment research university, undergraduate chemistry courses for non-chemistry majors were delivered remotely during the 2020–2021 academic year, with a return to in-person instruction planned for January 2022. Because this return to in-person instruction coincided with the transition of second-year students from general chemistry to organic chemistry laboratory courses, the instructional staff recognized a need for remedial laboratory curricula for students with no prior in-person laboratory experience. Simultaneously, we desired to implement undergraduate Learning Assistants (LAs) in non-chemistry major organic chemistry laboratories for the first time at our university. In this paper, we describe our approach for leveraging undergraduate LAs to (1) test new laboratory curricula and (2) address feelings of comfort and safety for students with no prior in-person laboratory experience. Benefits of our LA program perceived by students include increased laboratory efficiency and improved student learning from near-peer instructors; benefits perceived by LAs include the development of professional skills and teamwork with graduate student teaching assistants. We provide an outline of resources and strategies to enable instructors to simultaneously implement undergraduate LAs and new laboratory curricula.

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“…Surveys were available to students, LAs, and GTAs for one week during the final week of instruction through Qualtrics. Students were offered one credit toward a "token" for completing this and other research surveys in each quarter; tokens can be exchanged in the course grading system for options such as late passes or the opportunity to revise and resubmit unsatisfactory assignments (McKnelly et al, 2023).…”

Section: Student and La Surveysmentioning

confidence: 99%

Leveraging Undergraduate Learning Assistants When Implementing New Laboratory Curricula

Griffin,

Thompson,

López

et al. 2024

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

At a large-enrollment research university, undergraduate chemistry courses for non-chemistry majors were delivered remotely during the 2020–2021 academic year, with a return to in-person instruction planned for January 2022. Because this return to in-person instruction coincided with the transition of second-year students from general chemistry labs to organic chemistry labs, the instructional staff recognized a need for remedial laboratory curricula for students with no prior in-person laboratory experience. Simultaneously, we desired to implement undergraduate Learning Assistants (LAs) in non-chemistry major organic chemistry laboratories for the first time at our university. In this paper, we describe our approach for leveraging undergraduate LAs to (1) test new laboratory curriculum and (2) address feelings of comfort and safety for students with no prior in-person laboratory experience. Benefits of our LA program perceived by students include increased laboratory efficiency and improved student learning from near-peer instructors; benefits perceived by LAs include the development of professional skills and teamwork with graduate student teaching assistants. We provide an outline of resources and strategies to enable instructors to simultaneously implement undergraduate LAs and new laboratory curriculum.

show abstract

Specifications Grading at Scale: Improved Letter Grades and Grading-Related Interactions in a Course with over 1,000 Students

Cited by 11 publications

References 63 publications

Use of specifications-based grading in an online, asynchronous graduate organic chemistry course

Use of specifications-based grading in an online, asynchronous graduate organic chemistry course

Leveraging undergraduate learning assistants when implementing new laboratory curricula

Leveraging Undergraduate Learning Assistants When Implementing New Laboratory Curricula

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