This Week for Faculty: đ± Grading for Growth
Grading practices that promote learning and engagement
In Grading for Growth: A Guide to Alternative Grading Practices that Promote Authentic Learning and Student Engagement in Higher Education (2023), mathematics professors David Clark and Robert Talbert highlight ways that instructors can improve upon traditional grading systems. Their approach centers on aligning grades with learning, clearly communicating evaluation criteria to students, and providing feedback that supports revision and continued growth.
As the end of the semester approaches, consider assessment and grading practices that reduce anxiety and emphasize learning:
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Clarify expectations. Be explicit about what success looks like in your assignments or exams. Help students connect assessments to the knowledge and skills they have developed through the course.
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Give targeted feedback. Let students know what they are doing well and where they can improve. You might also invite them to reflect on their own growth this semester and how they plan to approach the remaining work.
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Encourage revision. When possible, offer students the chance to revise high-stakes assessments. This reinforces the message that learning is a process â and that making mistakes is part of it.
Access our on-demand resources on assessing student learning and grading for tips and strategies:
- Feedback for Learning
- Incorporating Rubrics Into Your Feedback and Grading Practices
- CourseWorks Grades and Gradebook: Best Practices
- Grading at Columbia: Tips and Strategies using CourseWorks (Canvas) and Gradescope
- Alternative Grading Approaches: Grading for Learning
The CTL is available to assist you as center learning in your assessment, grading, and feedback approach. Please reach out to us at CTLfaculty@columbia.edu.
Celebrate teaching and learning with us on April 9!
Celebrate teaching and learning with us on Wednesday, April 9, 12:00 – 1:00 PM. Join us for an online panel and live Q&A discussion. Panelists David Helfand, Larry Jackson, and Monica Lypson will share insights from the past ten years of teaching, their innovations in pedagogy, discuss their collaborations with the CTL, and look ahead to the next decade of teaching at Columbia. The panel will be moderated by Amanda Irvin, Executive Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning.
Teaching with AI Showcases
Join us for two showcases of adaptable models for using AI to support teaching and learning across a variety of disciplines!
During the sessions, 2024-25 Teaching with AI Fellows will share pedagogical models they have developed, tested, and refined, and take your questions. You will have the opportunity to try out the models shared and explore ways to adapt them to your teaching context.
Teaching with AI Showcase 1:Â STEM focus
Thursday April 10, 3:00 PM â 4:30 PM, 212 Butler Library –Â RegisterÂ
Teaching with AI Showcase 2:Â Humanities focus
Tuesday April 22, 11:00 AM â 12:30 PM, 212 Butler Library –Â Register
The CTL is here to help!
Connect via Zoom or over the phone
Join us for office hours via Zoom (or phone) Monday-Friday, 9:00am-5:00pm to have your teaching with instructional technology questions answered.
Schedule a consultation
Schedule an in-person or virtual consultation to discuss any teaching and learning need by emailing ctlfaculty@columbia.edu or email the CTL Learning Designer assigned to your school or department.