Contextual Background
During my CCP unit in 23/24 ‘The Godzilla Suit Project’ I struggled to objectively stick to the marking criteria (LOs) when marking/giving feedback for the unit. This happened because I did a mismatch of marking, attempting a holistic approach when I should have kept it objectively evidence-based and sticking to the LOs’. This resulted in me having to remark a large section of the student submissions during Parity.
Evaluation
I wanted to independently (without institutional authority or approval) mark each student by not only their written submission but their work on the unit as a whole, so a personal take on a holistic approach. However, when the parity checks occurred I had to remark on a large section of student submissions and base their marks strictly on their reflections upon meeting the LO’s.
This not only wasn’t fair on the students, who deserve stricter marking standards and criteria, but it doubled my workload and overall had bad outcomes.
Moving forwards
This year during my CCP Unit ‘The Feast’ I wrote the entire project to lead to success for my students. I made sure the project had multiple sections that focused on the LOs, for example including a large voting section at the beginning of the project to meet LO1 and LO2, including a section where they had to come up with social justice based narrative designs LO4 and LO5, and including a emphasis on working in sustainable materials that I had them all document in their submissions for LO3.
This has had much better outcomes and I feel I’ve regained a sense of confidence as a teacher and project lead, and gained more trust from my student body
References
Teachers Institute (n.d.) Grading vs. marking: understanding the differences in educational assessment. Available at: https://teachers.institute/assessment-for-learning/grading-vs-marking-educational-assessment-differences/
Times Higher Education (n.d.) When a percentage is not a percentage: the problem with HE marking practices. Available at: https://www.timeshighereducation.com/campus/when-percentage-not-percentage-problem-he-marking-practices
University of Oxford (n.d.) An introduction to writing effective learning outcomes. Available at: https://www.ctl.ox.ac.uk/effective-learning-outcomes
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