As professors, we each have our own approach to grading which allows us to assess learning and provide useful feedback to our students, yet is not too onerous. This article explains one approach we have used that differs from standard grading scales we often hear about from our colleagues. Rather than being based on 100 points or 100% over the…

It is increasingly important that higher education institutions be able to audit and evaluate the scope and efficacy of their digital learning resources across various scales. To date there has been little effort to address this need for a validated, appropriate, and simple-to-execute method that will facilitate such an audit, whether it be at the…

The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of assessment method (essays vs. examinations) and instruction method (seminars vs. lectures) on student perceptions of the fairness of the assessment process. Department-specific combinations of these factors give a unique profile to the assessment process and to the way students interact with…

This paper explores and presents new data on how to improve open access in distance education through using prior learning assessments. Broadly there are three types of prior learning assessment (PLAR): Type-1 for prospective students to be allowed to register for a course; Type-2 for current students to avoid duplicating work-load to gain…

States that final exams can best motivate students if the exams are counted substantially toward the final course grade. Proposes a weighting system in which a performance on the final which exceeds the student's average would be weighed more heavily than a poor performance. (CP)

Procedures for correcting for guessing and for assessing partial knowledge (correction-for-guessing, three-decision scoring, elimination/inclusion scoring, and confidence or probabilistic scoring) are discussed. Mean scores and internal consistency reliability estimates were compared across three administration and scoring procedures for…

This study identifies critical elements of the front dive half-twist that judges are likely to look for when they score springboard diving competitions. Videotapes of divers at a 1979 intercollegiate diving meet were made and analyzed, using grid scoring procedures, to isolate components of the dives that would help predict judges' scores.…

Adapted the scoring matrix, a method used to facilitate community participation in planning and monitoring development projects, to a university course in participatory resource management. Suggests the matrix is an example of how discipline-specific tools can be adapted to serve the dual purposes of promoting experiential learning of…

The Outside World Experience (OWE) Index--a weighted index of industrial, government, business, consulting, or other experience outside academia--is discussed as an important assessment measure for department faculty. Formulas for calculating the OWE Index as applied to schools, departments, and individual faculty members are included. (SF)

The use of a computerized system is described in which students rate each other's term papers via the computer program PEERRATE, which creates a matrix of intervals between ratings received and calculates final ratings incorporating a mean and standard deviation selected by the instructor for the class. As described, the program includes: (1)…

The Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) was used in this study, which attempted to develop a new methodology for assessing the speededness of right-scored tests. Traditional procedures of assessing speededness have assumed that the test is scored under formula-scoring instructions; this approach is not always appropriate. In this study,…

The effectiveness of the "read-comp" technique in assessing writing ability and the usefulness of a rubric and procedure devised for scoring read-comp samples and essays were evaluated. Subjects were 100 freshman students enrolled in general and remedial English classes in a 6-week summer session at Indiana University of Pennsylvania.…

Four systems for scoring student essays were used to classify eleventh grade and undergraduate students according to writing ability. The reliabilities of the raters and the validities of the systems in classifying students were emphasized. Two analytic scoring systems--which assume that quality writing is characterized by the inclusion of certain…

An attempt to adapt the U.S.-based IDEA (Instructional Development by Evaluation and Assessment) system to Great Britain is described. This widely-used method of faculty evaluation based on student ratings was pioneered by Kansas State University. Among the features of IDEA are the following: it relates student perceptions of teacher behavior to…

To assess the impact of various rating scale formats in rating student teachers, a Likert-type scale (Highly agree/slightly agree/neither/slightly disagree/highly disagree) was derived from the graphic scale currently used by the cooperating teachers and university supervisors. They rated the music student teachers on an eight-point scale from…