Strategies for Manageable and Meaningful Grading
Grading can be one of the more time-consuming aspects of teaching. Below are several strategies that can make grading more efficient and also promote deeper learning by providing students with clearer, more meaningful feedback. Efficient grading and deep student learning do not need to be mutually exclusive. By employing the strategies below, instructors can reduce their grading burden while enhancing the quality of student learning.
This resource provides strategies to help you manage your grading process through transparent assignment design, high-impact feedback techniques, and the use of CourseWorks Gradebook.
Cite this resource: Columbia Center for Teaching and Learning (2018). Strategies for Manageable and Meaningful Grading. Columbia University. Retrieved [today’s date] from https://ctl.columbia.edu/resources-and-technology/resources/grading-strategies
1. Assignment Design
Design assignments to be as clear as possible
The clearer an assignment is for a student to execute, the easier it is for an instructor to grade. When designing assignment prompts, try to make them as clear as possible to the student. What are they expected to do to complete the assignment successfully? How are they supposed to do it? Making assignments as clear as possible can help students submit higher-quality work, making it easier to grade the assignments once they are submitted.
One effective approach to optimize the clarity of an assignment prompt is to apply the Transparency in Learning and Teaching (TILT) framework, which asks instructors to answer three questions for every assignment:
- Why: Define the purpose of the assignment. What skills or knowledge will the student gain by completing this assignment? (Explaining this can reduce off-topic submissions.)
- How: Define the task. What steps should the student take to be successful? (Explaining this can reduce procedural mistakes.)
- What: Define the criteria. What does an “Excellent” versus a “Good” submission look like? (Using a rubric or a gallery of examples to illustrate this can help students understand your expectations for quality.)
Brevity and scaffolding
- Make assignments shorter whenever possible: If an 8-page paper demonstrates the same student learning as a 20-page paper, assign the 8-page paper. Consider the minimal length for each assignment to achieve its goal. Could the same student learning be observed if the assignment were 25% shorter? Shorter assignments can allow for deeper, more focused feedback.
- Scaffold assignments over time: Break large projects into smaller steps. For example, a research paper could be broken into several developmental steps, including: an annotated bibliography; a thesis and outline; a first draft; peer review; and the final draft. Having students submit each developmental milestone separately allows an instructor to provide quick, “just-in-time” feedback early in the student’s process, reducing the need to write extensive feedback when the final draft is submitted (and when it’s too late for revision).
Assign self-reflections
Ask students to submit a self-reflection with their work.
- For example, students could be asked to submit a “cover letter,” reflecting on their work and how it aligns with the rubric criteria. This can prompt students to self-correct their work before submission, resulting in higher-quality work that is easier to grade.
- In another approach, students could be asked to provide a two-sentence self-reflection (e.g., “What is the strongest part of their submission, and what was their biggest struggle?”), which can help an instructor know where to focus their attention when grading.
Use auto-graded quizzes in CourseWorks (or Gradescope) to assess foundational knowledge
Auto-graded assignments (for example, Quizzes in CourseWorks) can be effective assessments to evaluate foundational concepts and factual recall. CourseWorks Quizzes and Gradescope allow instructors to design multiple-choice, true/false, and numeric-entry questions that are scored instantly by the platform.
2. Grading
Use “One-Point” Rubrics
Just like most other rubrics, a one-point rubric includes a list of criteria. In a one-point rubric, a student either gets one point if they meet the criteria or they get zero points if they don’t meet the criteria. This can save time by eliminating the struggle to determine whether a student earned a “3” or a “4” from a five-point rubric. Using a one-point rubric, an instructor only needs to write detailed feedback if the student did not meet the criteria and needs to improve. One-point rubrics can be particularly helpful when giving feedback to students in the formative stages of an assignment, as they indicate exactly which skills or concepts a student has achieved and which ones they still need to work on.
| Criteria | Met? (Y/N) | Feedback |
|---|---|---|
| Content & Analysis: All parts of the prompt are addressed with evidence-based reasoning. | ||
| Organization: The argument follows a logical flow with clear transitions between ideas. | ||
| Evidence/Sources: Evidence effectively supports claims. | ||
| Evidence/Sources: Sources are from credible experts and cited correctly | ||
| Clarity & Mechanics: The writing is professional, clear, and free of distracting errors. |
Completion vs. Accuracy
Consider which assignments can be graded for completion, rather than for accuracy. When an assignment is graded for completion, it earns a “check” if, based on a quick review, the student completed the assignment. To keep students engaged in the assignment, instructors can incorporate spot checks for accuracy. For example, an instructor can tell their students that they will grade an entire problem set for completion and will choose one question at random to grade for accuracy.
3. Feedback
High-quality feedback is about quality, not quantity. Focus your energy where it helps the student move forward
Identify themes for each individual student
Rather than writing extensive feedback for each student, identify 1-2 major strengths and 1-2 areas for improvement for each.
Identify themes for the class
Rather than writing unique comments for 40 students, identify 2–3 major themes from the class and address them in a single announcement or video.
Record audio feedback
Use CourseWorks’s Speedgrader media comment tool to record your thoughts and reflections as feedback. Two minutes of spoken feedback can often be more meaningful to a student than 10 minutes of typed comments.
Maintain a feedback library
Keep a document of common comments that you write. Instead of typing the same explanation 40 times, maintaining a “feedback library” allows an instructor to copy-and-paste a robust, pre-written explanation.
4. Leveraging the CourseWorks Gradebook
Setting up the CourseWorks Gradebook
An organized setup before the semester begins reduces the administrative burden later. The CTL recommends using the Gradebook within CourseWorks as your central repository for all grading data.
- Establish Ownership: Keep all grades within CourseWorks to maintain a single “source of truth.” If you use external spreadsheets, ensure you create them yourself to maintain administrative ownership of sensitive student data. You may also want to make several copies throughout the semester.
- Define Grading Scheme: Set up the grade weighting systems and grading schemes early. Clearly communicate these policies—including your late work policy—in the syllabus and on the CourseWorks Syllabus page.
- Post Rubrics Early: Attach rubrics to assignments before students submit. This not only clarifies expectations but also allows you to use the SpeedGrader’s “point-and-click” rubric feature once grading begins.
- Explore On-Demand Training: For a deep dive into these features, faculty can enroll in the CTL’s self-paced course, Assessment and Grading in Canvas (2.0).
Using Gradebook during the semester
- Stay current with your grading: Aim to grade assignments and post the grades to Gradebook within a week of submission. This helps students stay informed about their progress in the course and address any concerns they may have in a timely manner.
- Manage grade visibility: By default, CourseWorks posts grades to students as soon as they are entered. Update your Grade Posting Policy to “Manual” if you prefer to review all grades for accuracy before making them visible to the entire class.
Using Gradescope at the end of the semester
- Verify the Gradebook: Ensure all assignments, quizzes, and discussions are included and weighted correctly.
- Review Calculations: Check the final grade distribution for any anomalies before finalizing.
5. Submitting and Archiving Grades
To ensure a smooth conclusion to the term, follow this final checklist:
- Submit Final Grades: Follow the protocols for Student Services Online (SSOL) to submit your final marks.
- Archive and Secure: Securely store copies of your spreadsheets and any graded work for future reference or institutional purposes.
The CTL is here to help!
Seeking additional support with streamlining your grading or designing transparent assignments? The CTL is available for one-on-one consultations and course design support.
- Request a consultation: Email CTLFaculty@columbia.edu to schedule a session.
- Live Support: Join the CTL for virtual office hours (Monday – Friday, 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM).
CTL Resources
- Grading at Columbia (this is the page we previously developed to address similar concerns)
- CourseWorks Support landing page (This is the page the Registrar will send in his email this week, as you know)
- CourseWorks Gradebook (a very “how to” page)
- Creating Online Exams