Scheme: Specifications Grading in Data Structures
Contents
Scheme: Specifications Grading in Data Structures¶
This course example uses a specifications grading scheme and assesses assignments on complete/incomplete basis. Please visit the Summer 2021 course site for more detailed information.
Instructor Process¶
While students enjoyed a grading structure that centered learning and offered them flexibility, having topics that mattered more for their final grade created unnecessary confusion so I decided to change the grading scheme to specifications grading for the summer. For the summer, I kept assignment requirements as-is. Each assignment became complete/incomplete and the only way to complete any given assignment was by meeting ALL requirements. Final course grades were based on the total number of completed assignments, with a minimum of 14 being required to pass with a D (for reference there were around 21 total assignments given out).
System basics¶
Students had to meet all the requirements (I used an autograder so they had to pass all the autograder tests) of:
14-15 assignments to earn a D
16-17 assignments to earn a C
18-19 assignments to earn a B
20+ assignments to earn an A
For reference, there were a total of 21 graded/qualified assignments. Completing and submitting a final project was also a required part of passing the course. Final projects didn’t count towards a student’s final grade, though an exemplar final project could earn a student a + designation (i.e., a B+ instead of a B). There was an additional opportunity to gain a + designation described in the syllabus, as well as a way to earn a “freebie” (replace a mising or incomplete assignment).
Equity and learning focus¶
Final course grades were not based on averaging performance across assignments meaning students could have bad weeks that wouldn’t hurt their final grade.
Students had the agency to choose which and how many assignments to complete.
Other applied strategies for equity¶
Assignment resubmissions were allowed and encouraged throughout the semester. Some topics take longer than others to click, sometimes students have only a limited amount of time to devote to an assignment but can return to it later.
Soft deadlines and hard deadlines allowed students to self-pace while having an outline of where they should be at with their assignment completion.
Open-ended final projects to allow students to apply course topics to their own interests.