This article advocates using Leventhal's (1980) justice judgment theory to incorporate distributive and procedural justice into summative assessment of student learning in higher education. It reviews important commonalities between the process of employee performance appraisal in organizations and practices to assess student learning in academe…

Assessment is a crucial aspect of academic work. Indeed, there is substantial literature on assessment design and how to ensure the integrity of students' learning. Much work goes into enhancing assessment practices to ensure the validity of assessment to safeguard the reliability of students' knowledge. Yet relatively little research has…

Results from Rasch analysis of GCSE and GCE A level data over a period of four years suggest that the standards of examinations in different subjects are not consistent in terms of the levels of the latent trait specified in the Rasch model required to achieve the same grades. Variability in statistical standards between subjects exists at both…

This article argues that the writing classroom's practical life can profoundly impact students' cultural and political beliefs. Privileged here are the mundane activities and interactions associated with reviewing writing, which encompasses the practice of grade comparison as well as the more common, but commonly simplified, practices of peer,…

At large research universities, physics graduate teaching assistants (TAs) are often responsible for grading in courses at all levels. However, few studies have focused on TAs' grading practices in introductory and advanced physics courses. This study was designed to investigate whether physics graduate TAs grade students in introductory physics…

Self-reports suggest >50% of university students cheat at some point in their academic career (Christensen Hughes JM, McCabe DL. "Can J High Educ" 36: 49-63, 2006), although objective values of academic misconduct (AM) are difficult to obtain. In a physiology-based department, we had a concern that students were altering written tests…

This study sought to describe the prevalence of Standards-based grading (SBG) among practicing music teachers and report the rationale teachers provided for or against its use. Participants were music educators (N = 96) responsible for grading students. Most participants (52.08%, n = 50) indicated that they were not familiar with SBG. Many…

Understanding how individuals interact with a course after receiving a passing grade could have important implications for course design. If individuals become disengaged after passing a class, then this may raise questions about optimal ordering of content, course difficulty, and grade transparency. Using a person fixed effects model, we analyze…

Understanding how individuals interact with a course after receiving a passing grade could have important implications for course design. If individuals become disengaged after passing a class, then this may raise questions about optimal ordering of content, course difficulty, and grade transparency. Using a person-fixed effects model, we analyze…

Most higher education institutions employ a traditional, summative scoring system to report student grades at the end of each semester. This system is limited in that it offers a final grade based on individual assignments completed throughout the semester without testing whether students have sufficiently understood the learning objectives of the…

The most common way to grade students in courses at university and university college level is to use final written exams. The aim of final exams is generally to provide a reliable and a valid measurement of the extent to which a student has achieved the learning outcomes for the course. A source of uncertainty in grading students based on an exam…

The issue of group learning has become an even greater concern in recent years as more college and university professors have begun to incorporate specific group assignments (i.e., assignments which require that students meet as a group and equally contribute to a final product) into their class requirements. The purpose of the present descriptive…

Unreliability in marking is well documented, yet we lack studies that have investigated assessors' detailed use of assessment criteria. This project used a form of Kelly's repertory grid method to examine the characteristics that 24 experienced UK assessors notice in distinguishing between students' performance in four contrasting subject…

The following is the second article in the "Digital Academic Revolution: Mentorship Competency Series" by Martin Mehl and Luanne Fose. It is a "transcribed" conversation between Luanne and Martin about their experience collaborating as a research team and the conceptualization, implementation, and assessment of the Digital…

This multi-site case study examined leadership strategies used during successful implementation of standards-based grading systems in three Wisconsin high schools. It found that leaders' reported commitment, patience, and persistence showed evidence of sustainable, high-functioning systems. It drew two main conclusions: first, school leaders need…