The purpose of this article is to present the author's anecdotal findings from using a grade defense assignment as a supplemental aspect of an ePortfolio assignment. This is not a full research study, but the author did a few semesters of testing with the assignment before implementing the grade defense in all sections of the University Seminar…

It started with a simple little filler in "USA Today" 25 years ago. It showed a broken student desk with cobwebs on it and offered data on "average yearly absences" in Japan, Germany, and the United States. Assessing my own data, I verified that they were on point and proceeded to discuss why this was a major hurdle for our…

The COVID-19 pandemic severely disrupted education at all levels. One consequence was that alternative arrangements had to be made for the 2021 summer public examinations. Exam boards asked staff at schools and colleges to generate, for each subject, teacher-assessed grades for their students. The submitted grades had to reflect 'a fair,…

Ungrading is an emancipatory pedagogy that focuses on evaluative assessment of learning. Self-regulated learning (SRL) has consistently been referred to as the learning theory that undergirds ungrading, but SRL--with its deficit frame in the literature and in practice--fails to uphold ungrading's emancipatory aims. An asset-framed learning…

Toward the end of the nineteenth century a number of external music examining systems were introduced to New Zealand. Two of them, Trinity College, London, and the Associated Board, gained a strong following and became de facto standards in the absence of a national music conservatorium. This article briefly outlines the beginning of external…

Although grades are often portrayed as detrimental to students' motivation and interest in learning, closer analysis of the evidence indicates that when used appropriately, grades can be a meaningful and effective form of feedback. Thomas R. Guskey clarifies how studies on grades are frequently misinterpreted, explains how grades offer important…

Higher education institutions are increasingly seeking ways to leverage the available educational data to make program and course quality improvements. The development of automated curriculum analytics can play a substantial role in this effort by bringing novel and timely insights into course and program quality. However, the adoption of…

Assessment reliability can be affected by various types of unforeseen events. In any such circumstances where a concern is raised that the reliability of assessment is lower than usual, our natural inclination is to allow extra leniency in grading to reduce the chances of students missing out on a grade they deserve. This article shows how, by…

The traditional points system and subsequent Grade Point Average (GPA) in education perpetuates an evaluation of academic performance which reflects arbitrary weighting of assignments and/or assessments. As such, GPAs which are calculated using a traditional points system are not unidimensional in their design. The baseball batting and slugging…

This paper offers an exploration of success mindsets and one example of how these may be used as an intervention to impact student success in both their personal and professional lives. Gottfredson's Success Mindsets concept is used as the intervention. These success mindsets combine four sets of mindsets associated with positive outcomes:…

This paper examines gender disparities in university student pathways in Italy, from initial enrolment to completion of a bachelor's degree and enrolment in a subsequent master's programme. While it is established that females generally outperform males in completion rates and final grades, little has been done to analyse retention up to the…

Peer assessment has become a primary solution to the challenge of evaluating a large number of students in Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). In peer assessment, all students need to evaluate a subset of other students' assignments, and then these peer grades are aggregated to predict a final score for each student. Unfortunately, due to the…

Most educators agree that students' academic grades should be kept separate from measures of organization, engagement, or timeliness. But how do we move toward the goal of all students' being engaged in learning, giving effort, and being conscientious about deadlines without attaching those behaviors to a grade? This seems to be the million-dollar…

The relationship between students' subject-specific academic self-concept and their academic achievement is one of the most widely researched topics in educational psychology. A large proportion of this research has considered cross-lagged panel models (CLPMs), oftentimes synonymously referred to as reciprocal effects models (REMs), as the gold…

Limitations of assessment reporting are analyzed in order to reorient practice toward improving the equity of student success. Reporting practice is contextualized by scholarship within assessment and accreditation organizations, and the implicit assumptions driving current practice are examined. Two novel findings are presented: an assessment of…