ABSTRACT
Gatekeeper courses, sometimes referred to as killer courses, present a warren of complex issues at the student, instructor, departmental, institutional, and even societal levels. Here, we wish to focus on an extremely discrete set of those issues which impact your daily assessment life with your students. We begin with a discussion of your philosophy and mindset about gatekeeping. We’ll point to a broader classroom assessment picture, the constellation of issues discussed elsewhere in this book which bear on gatekeeper courses. Finally, we’ll discuss some of the nuts and bolts: course alignment, pre-testing, and grading.
