The grading thread

[FishProf]

I am grading lab practicals.

Students, how can you guess "Gall Bladder" on the Kidney model?  We never ever covered the digestive system in this class!

And you did dissect hearts, right?  Why are most of you utterly clueless about the labelled parts on the hearts y'all dissected?

[MarathonRunner]

^ Yes, my masters classes this year include the good students comprising the top half of the class who are as good as ever while the bottom half of the class is the worst I've seen. Those students seem content with not doing the readings, not keeping up so they can submit the problem sets on time.

That seems to be the case. I have some excellent papers and some that just have me shaking my head. The good students seem to be as good as ever.  The poor students are worse than usual for a graduate course. I haven't finished grading, but I've given one 90, a bunch of 80-84s, and a few 86s-89s.

I'm still puzzled by the fact that students don't seem to read the instructions. Some would be great papers, but are missing one or two of the items that are clearly required if you read the assignment instructions and associated resources. I took this class years ago, and with some edits, my paper was good enough to get published in a peer reviewed journal.

[Sun_Worshiper]

Grading all weekend, but at least I'll be a free man by early next week.

[AmLitHist]

Same here, Sun Worshiper:

-19 final Comp I papers graded this week
-30 more final Comp I papers sitting in Canvas, to grade today
-~15 Comp I final papers coming on Wednesday (hopefully some will submit earlier)
-~5 Comp II final papers due on Tuesday

There are also some discussion boards (which will get the "posted on time = full credit" treatment at this late date) due by tomorrow night, and about 20  "gimme" reflection papers due Wednesday/Thursday. 

Everything is getting half-assed/minimal commentary at this point. If they want detailed feedback, they can ask, but since most have gotten and ignored that all fall, I doubt m/any will pursue it now.

Onward. . . .

[OneMoreYear]

Yup, tis the season for binge grading. To do by Tuesday:

14 recorded group assignments (likely will be good per initial TA review)
25 skills assignments (likely be mostly good, usually have only a  couple flame-outs)
1 delayed 3-hour competency exam (could go either way)
30 short papers (eh, probably OK)
30 longer papers (will be the worst; holding to the end where I will care less. Need to make simpler rubric).

If I do nothing but grade for the next 4 days, I think I might make it.

Happy grading, everyone!

[EdnaMode]

Years ago I employed a jedi mind trick because I was tired of the last-minute panic/excuses/whinging/etc. for first-semester students turning in their final projects. I really want them turned in by Friday before finals so I can start grading over the weekend as there are typically 75-100 of them to grade and they take 20 minutes or so each to grade, even with rubrics and me making "mostly right / mostly wrong" choices when I'm assigning points. So... what I do is give the students a "bonus point opportunity" that amounts to less than 5% of the total project grade if they turn the project in by Friday at midnight so I can start grading Saturday morning. To earn the bonus points, they have to turn in all parts of the final project, and notify me via Canvas message that they wish to be eligible for the bonus points.

The official due date is Monday morning at 8 AM, with a late penalty applied to work that is submitted after 8 AM. Not only has it cut out 99% of the excuses, I rarely get late work, and also if I open the project files to start grading over the weekend and find a substantial error (usually because they forgot to submit part of it) I notify the students and they can resubmit until Monday morning with no late penalty, but no bonus points either, and they're almost always extremely grateful for the 'second chance.' I plan on working for another couple hours, should get about halfway through grading since nearly half the students submitted 'early,' and so far only a couple students have to resubmit. Should be able to finish up next Monday and Tuesday before they have their final exam.

[Parasaurolophus]

I should do an entire batch of some assignment or other today. Ugh.

[Parasaurolophus]

I should do an entire batch of some assignment or other today. Ugh.

One down.


Y'know, for the last three years I've asked my critical thinking students to analyse the same sportsball statistics question, based on a real instance of commentator doofusing. Only one (out of about 500) has ever recognized that the events in question are independent.

[Parasaurolophus]

I'll at least get two assignments out of the way. Three would be nice, but that's not gonna happen.

[MarathonRunner]

Finally finished grading. Overall better than last year but wow, one student went so far off course I had to consult with the prof (I'm a TA). Back to hopefully finishing my dissertation by the end of the month.

Nice split of As and A-s (I'm in Canada). One A+, one B+, one D. Last year I had more B+s. The online session we had that outlined pitfalls seems to have worked as only one student (the D) didn't address the assignment framework. This is a graduate course.

[Parasaurolophus]

I'll at least get two assignments out of the way. Three would be nice, but that's not gonna happen.

Managed four!

[Sun_Worshiper]

Grading is done and grades are posted. Grade grubbing may now commence!

[evil_physics_witchcraft]

Grading is done and grades are posted. Grade grubbing may now commence!

Yay!

Same. I already got a request for 'something else to do' from a student who got an F. Nope. You should have passed more than 1 out of 5 tests this semester.

[OneMoreYear]

Yup, tis the season for binge grading. To do by Tuesday:

14 recorded group assignments (likely will be good per initial TA review)
25 skills assignments (likely be mostly good, usually have only a  couple flame-outs) FINALLY DONE!
1 delayed 3-hour competency exam (could go either way)
30 short papers (eh, probably OK)
30 longer papers (will be the worst; holding to the end where I will care less. Need to make simpler rubric).

If I do nothing but grade for the next 4 days, I think I might make it.

Happy grading, everyone!

I am sooooo jealous of everyone on this thread who is done. I've got a long couple of days ahead.

[Parasaurolophus]

Yup, tis the season for binge grading. To do by Tuesday:

14 recorded group assignments (likely will be good per initial TA review)
25 skills assignments (likely be mostly good, usually have only a  couple flame-outs) FINALLY DONE!
1 delayed 3-hour competency exam (could go either way)
30 short papers (eh, probably OK)
30 longer papers (will be the worst; holding to the end where I will care less. Need to make simpler rubric).

If I do nothing but grade for the next 4 days, I think I might make it.

Happy grading, everyone!

I am sooooo jealous of everyone on this thread who is done. I've got a long couple of days ahead.

If it makes you feel any better, my classes only ended on Friday, and the exam period goes until the 16th.