Students who take classes in education departments at universities receive significantly higher grades than students who take classes in other academic departments. The higher grades awarded by education departments cannot be explained by differences in student quality or by structural differences across departments (i.e., differences in class…

Although there is significant research on improving college-level teaching practices, most literature in the field assumes an incentive for improvement. The research presented in this paper addresses the issue of poor incentives for improving university-level teaching. Specifically, it proposes instructor-designed common examinations as an…

Education has been considered as a priority sector and a great challenge to the Bangladesh Government, with a view to transforming human potential into a productive workforce. The conventional face to face education system is not enough to cope with the need of an ever increasing population, rapid changes in human knowledge and the global context…

While literacy autobiographies, citizenship autobiographies, and family narratives are common first writing assignments in the freshmen composition classroom, they are usually followed by some kind of research proposal, annotated bibliography, or research essay. While there is nothing wrong with literacy and citizenship autobiographies or family…

This article examines how a faculty member's status--either tenured or tenure-track--might affect the grades assigned to students in a writing class. We begin with a brief review of the research surrounding faculty to student assessment practices and follow with specific controversies regarding faculty motivation pertaining to grading practices.…

This teacher research study explores the changes in early childhood teacher candidates' perceptions of how children construct and represent knowledge following repeated exposure to "The Wonder of Learning: the Hundred Languages of Children" exhibit. When the renowned exhibit from Reggio Emilia was housed on the study participants' campus for 6…

The purpose of this survey of the grading policies of the AACRAO member institutions was to determine: (1) the nature and extent of changes from the traditional grading system; (2) practices in accepting transfer students and credits from institutions with nontraditional grading systems; (3) the rate and recency of change in grading systems; and…

Despite extensive research, grading and the potential for grade inflation remain areas of concern within higher education. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to obtain collective understandings regarding grading and pressures to inflate grades from faculty and instructors within a research-intensive university. The study focused on a…

The following article discusses holistic grading as implemented in a first-year undergraduate calculus course. The intent of this manner of grading is to distinguish both students that truly master the material and those that have not even a limited understanding from the majority of the student body. (Contains 6 figures.)

This "how-to" book on formative assessment is filled with practical suggestions for teachers who want to use formative assessment in their classrooms. With practical strategies, tools, and examples for teachers of all subjects and grade levels, this book shows you how to use formative assessment to promote successful student learning. Topics…

The fact that students have difficulties in constructing proofs is well documented. However, some of these difficulties may be lessened if instructors and students have access to a common evaluation framework. Operating in the theoretical tradition of heuristic inquiry, a proof error evaluation tool (PEET) is constructed that may be used by…

Purpose: Much of the recent research on data-driven decision making in US schools has focused on standardized test scores while other forms of data in schools have gone largely unexamined as useful data, such as teacher-assigned grades. Based on the literature, the theory outlined in this paper is that grades, as data historically overlooked in…

This article briefly describes the central tenets of a program several low-income middle schools implemented to remove failure as a choice students could make in completing their assignments. Instead of doling out Fs for poor and nonexistent work, teachers devised a variety of options students had to follow to demonstrate eventual mastery of…

The purpose of the study was to determine whether students expect to earn higher grades in their online courses. In spring of 2007 a confidential Web survey was posted to randomly selected higher education online classrooms across the country. The survey sought to ascertain whether students' ground school course grades were comparable to those…

Student evaluations to measure the teaching effectiveness of instructor's are very frequently applied in higher education for many years. This study investigates the factors associated with the assessment of instructors teaching performance using two different data mining techniques; stepwise regression and decision trees. The data collected…