Posted by Prof Comisso
on March 11, 2009, 12:33 am, in reply to "Re: Grading question"
69.232.78.179
RC, thanks, this is one of the considerations. I use a curve in my classes as a check on the instructor--both the TA and the prof. My feeling is that if everyone misses the boat on something, then no one should be penalized; it means the instructor didn't make the point clear.
The downside of a curve is that it creates--or at least reinforces--competition among students. So we do employ some general standards, such that if there are a lot of really good papers, TAs will give more than the "officially prescribed" % of As--and if there are a lot of disasters the curve will bend toward C and below.
I do control at the upper--and especially the lower--levels; you can get some idea of the standards used at the top if you check the A papers that were posted (from 2 different TAs). But we cannot guarantee absolute uniformity, since each TA approaches the same content somewhat differently and with different emphases. This gives TAs some freedom and they can conduct the sections more effectively by playing to their own intellectual strengths and interests. But it means that each one may be looking for slightly different points in the essays you write. Nevertheless, in the handful of papers that have been regraded, the second grade has always come in virtually identical to the original one.
If you are looking for a perfect system with grading (or any evaluation), I don't think it exists. In this class, we try to be as fair as possible, that is the best we can do.
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