Web-based homework (WBH) Technology can simplify the creation and grading of assignments as well as provide a feasible platform for assessment testing, but its effect on student learning in business statistics is unknown. This is particularly true of the latest software development of Web-based tutoring agents that dynamically evaluate individual…

Beginning in August 2006, the author modified a school law course by moving from fifteen (15) weekly class meetings to eight (8) weekly class meetings and seven (7) online sessions. The blended or hybrid delivery system was adopted as part of a pilot project sponsored by the university's Institute for Teaching and Learning Excellence. The course…

Using grade distributions for fall semesters for odd-numbered years from 1955 to 1977, this study presents statistics on grading practices at Los Angeles City College. For each year in the day and evening divisions, the number of A, B, C, D, F, W (withdrawn), WF (failing at the time of withdrawal), WU (dropped for non-attendance), INC…

Kansas State University faculty members and students were asked about factors affecting "grade inflation" as well as consequences of changing academic polices relating to it. Responses were received from 188 faculty members and 369 students. Most faculty members viewed grade inflation negatively, and felt that it was caused by a…

Background information and a discussion of major issues accompany recommended state minimum standards for grading as presented by an ad hoc Grading Policy Study Group to the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges. The report first notes the diversity of grading policies among the colleges and then outlines the Group's…

Instruction can be systematically designed using the procedures, or model, set forth in this handbook. Steps are given for writing, selecting, and organizing behavioral objectives and for identifying their levels. Test construction, testing, and grading are explained. Flowcharts illustrate how to determine required competencies and actual entering…

The aim of the study was to look at the effectiveness of combining a variety of teaching and learning methods in an attempt to facilitate students' understanding of assessment criteria. Fifty-three psychology students were asked to complete the mismatch exercise (Norton et al., 2002), and a booklet entitled "Your Assignment results and how to…

We were recently challenged with trying to maintain the integrity and learning experience of our Physiology course, which included the use of long-answer, essay-style test questions, with a class size that increased over 2 yr by approximately 200 students. We reorganized the teaching assistant (TA) support structure in an attempt to keep the…

This article reviews federal case law that address a college instructor's right to academic freedom over classroom activities. This review shows that the federal courts have defined a college instructor's academic freedom rights narrowly in terms of the instructor's classroom activities. Institutions have a great deal of latitude to regulate an…

Honors and advanced placement (AP) courses are commonly viewed as more demanding than standard high school offerings. Schools employ a range of methods to account for such differences when calculating grade point average and the associated rank in class for graduating students. In turn, these statistics have a sizeable impact on college admission…

The information presented in this report was drawn from a 1973-74 school year survey of school programs and administrative practices that was mailed to all 567 school systems enrolling 12,000 or more pupils and to a stratified random sample of 702 systems enrolling 300 to 11,999 pupils. After reporting that the overwhelming majority of the…

The extent of and attitudes toward competency-based assessment in Australia's technical and further education (TAFE) sector were examined in a five-phase study that included the following activities: preliminary literature review and structured interviews with individuals/groups selected for their expertise in training in public and private…

This book presents specific grading strategies and explicit instructions for using them while offering options which allow teachers to place the grading of writing into a communication context. The book introduces and explains a wide range of evaluation strategies used by classroom teachers to arrive at grades. Samples of student writing accompany…

Combining student scores to form subtotals and finally a total score to determine a grade is discussed. The composite score reached by combining measures or subtotals is only valid when the scores are combined so that the actual weight of each measure or subtotal in the total score is the same as the intended weight. Three types of variability…

The use of essays in higher education is discussed. It is suggested that essays have two clear but always separate functions: a teaching-learning function and an assessment function. The assessment may be formal, as when essays are given a mark that contributes to the final classification, or informal, when the essay may not formally count but is…