ABSTRACT
Grading can serve a number of purposes. The first is the ordinary evaluation of the student’s work in a manner that is valid, fair, and trustworthy. The second purpose is to communicate a particular message to the student and also to future employers, graduate schools, the military, and fellowship agencies. Because of its potential emotional charge, the grade may be the most important communication between the instructor and the student. Grades serve the purpose of motivating students to study. This is true not just in your class but in the student’s entire collegiate career. Grades that reward effort act as an incentive for the student to continue putting forth the effort. Grades that thwart effort act as a disincentive. Finally, grades mark transitions between segments of the course or between the end of the course and the beginning of the next term. Grades bring closure and help students and instructors focus their efforts. (Walvoord and Anderson 1998)
The university may have already defined the grade categories for you. If so, you’ll probably find the distinctions too general to be useful. “A is for excellent work” does not help us to differentiate the excellent from the very good. To say that we know it when we see it reveals laziness. After so many years of learning to make discriminating judgments about the works of other scholars, describing analytic criteria for our students’ work ought to be a piece of cake. We do it infrequently because it is time consuming and uncomfortable. As Walvoord and Anderson make clear in that quote, grading entails evaluating our own contribution to the students’ performance.
