Online Course Grading Criteria

[HigherEd7]

What is the best grading criteria for an online course? This is what I have done in the past.

25% -Discussion Questions
10% -Quizzes
15% -Assignment2
20% -(3) Exams
30% -Final Exam

Discussion and quizzes are weekly, and I drop the lowest grade. I give one assignment before the midterm and end of the semester. I do not give a quiz during the week of the exam.

[Caracal]

What is the best grading criteria for an online course? This is what I have done in the past.

25% -Discussion Questions
10% -Quizzes
15% -Assignment2
20% -(3) Exams
30% -Final Exam

Discussion and quizzes are weekly, and I drop the lowest grade. I give one assignment before the midterm and end of the semester. I do not give a quiz during the week of the exam.

Grades aren't magic, they're just a way of communicating what skills you think students are supposed to be acquiring in the course.. The weighting on the exams seems a little strange to me. If you're going to have three exams, why have them count for so little, and why have the final count for so much?

If the discussion questions are going to count for that much, you should have a solid rationale for that, and it would also mean you are going to need to grade them rigorously. When I'm going to be grading things every week, I usually prefer to have things that keep students on track, but I can just grade as check, check - or 0.

[HigherEd7]

Thank you for your response and advice. I count my exams a little lower because students are going to use their books, help each other, send pictures etc... compared to a face to face course. They have 48 hours to take the exam.

I change my questions for the final exam and only give 24 hours to take this exam in the hopes I can reduce this.

You are correct for the discussion questions, and I am finding it to be very time consuming especially if you are doing this in three courses.

[arcturus]

You should set the percentages based on how well you think the assessment is measuring students' understanding AND based on how much you think it will affect student learning (i.e., more points for things that help students learn).  In my online course, the exams (midterm and final) total less than 50% of the course grade, because I don't think students should be able to pass the class based only on their performance in an open-note, open-book multiple choice test. On the other hand, weekly assignments and a (major) final project add up to more than 50%, because these assignments help students master the material. Students are encouraged to work together on the weekly assignments, as that is yet another learning opportunity (as we all know as teachers, teaching others is a great way to master the material!), but I do not require group-work.  Discussions are a lesser part of my GenEd science course, but I do use these to help students connect what they are learning in class to their current and future lives (one of the goals of a GenEd course) and to practice applying what they have learned in a very low stakes assignment.

[HigherEd7]

You should set the percentages based on how well you think the assessment is measuring students' understanding AND based on how much you think it will affect student learning (i.e., more points for things that help students learn).  In my online course, the exams (midterm and final) total less than 50% of the course grade, because I don't think students should be able to pass the class based only on their performance in an open-note, open-book multiple choice test. On the other hand, weekly assignments and a (major) final project add up to more than 50%, because these assignments help students master the material. Students are encouraged to work together on the weekly assignments, as that is yet another learning opportunity (as we all know as teachers, teaching others is a great way to master the material!), but I do not require group-work.  Discussions are a lesser part of my GenEd science course, but I do use these to help students connect what they are learning in class to their current and future lives (one of the goals of a GenEd course) and to practice applying what they have learned in a very low stakes assignment.

Thank you for your response. How many posts do you require your students to make in a weekly discussion assignment? What do you consider to be weekly assignments?