Describes an assessment strategy used by pharmacy faculty to grade student writing in a large-class, lecture-based course, outlining the steps the instructors took to recast an existing writing assignment so that it is carefully constructed and articulated, can be assessed quickly and consistently by multiple assessors (self, peer, instructor),…

A study investigated the clinical preparedness of 144 Stanford University (California) medical school graduates in 11 areas, comparing it with peers from graded medical schools and rating the accuracy of the dean's letter in representing graduates' capabilities. Results indicate that graduates from Stanford's two-interval, pass/fail system…

Grading class participation can send positive signals to college students about the kind of learning and thinking an instructor values. Various structures for participation (whole-class discussion, cold-calling on students, collaborative learning, electronic mail, journals, student-faculty conferences) call for different approaches to assessment.…

Identifies 13 administrative issues that arise when teaching distance education courses with students enrolled through other higher education institutions. Highlights include administrative models; academic cultures; academic calendars; registration processes; text books and additional readings; library resources; course materials; copyright…

Instructors teaching any college statistics course hold to a standard practice of assigning homework, grading it, and returning it to students with some form of feedback. However, with a course as difficult, intimidating, or as intense as statistics, students often need help from the instructor during non-office hours. Large class sizes often…

The 2001 U.S. Supreme Court Case of Falvo v. Owasso School System (Owasso Independent School District No I-011 v. Falvo) has focused national attention on the common classroom practice of peer-grading. In a unanimous decision the court reaffirmed the popular view that students grading each others' tests is valuable, saving teachers' time and…

This study examined how particular grading systems motivate students. Since competency-based grading and point systems are most prevalent (Hendrickson and Gable, 1999), the current study is modeled around these systems. The grading systems used for this study were divided into two categories and defined as those students who earned their grades…

Team-based assessments are commonly used in management education, yet questions remain about how to adequately differentiate individuals' levels of input into team processes and project content when grading a team-based assessment. Following an overview of relevant research, this article describes an innovative self- and peer-assessment strategy…

This practical, how-to guide makes it easy for teachers to incorporate the latest technology in their classes. Employing an informal workshop approach, the book avoids technical jargon and pays special attention to the needs of teachers who are expanding the use of computers in their classroom. The authors focus on what teachers do and how they…

Performance assessments in education and credentialing are becoming popular. At the same time, there do not exist any well established and validated methods for setting standards on performance assessments. This paper describes several of the new standard-setting methods that are emerging for use with performance assessments and considers their…

Instruction in business letter-writing, particularly in the context of the business French course, is discussed. First, the kinds of business communications (face-to-face, print, and electronic) currently used are surveyed briefly, and a taxonomy of the content of business communication is presented. Conventions of French business letters are then…

Intended to guide writing teachers through the complexities of evaluation, the essays in this collection represent a variety of approaches to evaluation. The essays display, however, some common beliefs about what is fundamentally important to writing teachers' work--specifically, the need: to distinguish between "grading" and…

The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) enforces federal civil rights laws prohibiting discrimination in programs and activities receiving federal financial assistance from the Department of Education. Laws enforced by OCR include: (1) Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race, color, and national origin;…

This guide is designed for student advisors in the United States who are counseling students preparing for a period of study in a fully integrated higher education program in France. The guide covers aspects of the French educational system including the French higher education system, university and academic life, course selection and credit…

Over the past 3 years, the Mathematics Department of Grossmont College, in California, has examined the issues of course standards, instructor grading variability, and course placement. In 1990, a study was conducted to determine if the Elementary Algebra instructors with lower pass rates had higher standards, and if their students had a higher…