There are many issues related to the practice of assessment. This series addresses the different facets of grading, such as formative and summative assessment, grade inflation, and aligning assessment with learning outcomes. If you attend the whole series (all sessions), you will be awarded a certificate of completion – a great addition to your dossier indicating your commitment to professional development and to enhancing your performance as an instructor.
You can register for all the following workshops on Learning Central. Search by title to find the upcoming session or browse our upcoming sessions on our workshops and events page.
Grading: Why and how?
Assigning letters or numerical values to student work is a tradition that goes back to the 18th century. Despite severe criticisms of this method of assessment, it is still common practice. In this workshop, we will explore the rationale of grading, the meaning assigned to grades, and concerns around fairness of the process and the challenge of grade inflation. Some of the issues to be addressed are the distinctions between summative and formative assessment, reliability and validity, and normative and criterion-based grading.
Grading: Why and how?
Sept 27, 2022
1:00pm
Grading Series
Grading: Why and how?
January 17, 2023
1:00pm
Grading Series
Rubrics: What they are, why they are useful, and how to create them for your course assignments
Rubrics are a useful framework to ensure consistency when grading assignments. Ideally, rubrics are designed at the same time as assignments are but can also be developed from the criteria stated for an assignment. In this session, we will discuss the various forms that rubrics can take, the many advantages of using rubrics, and how to create well-designed rubrics that will provide consistency in grading. We will also demonstrate how we use rubrics to provide clarity, both for ourselves and our students, in terms of staging learning throughout the course, and offering clear expectations of learning goals in specific situations. You will have a chance to design a rubric for an assignment in your course and receive feedback.
Rubrics: What they are, why they are useful, and how to create them for your course assignments
October 12, 2022
9:30am
Grading Series
Rubrics: What they are, why they are useful, and how to create them for your course assignments
January 31, 2023
9:30am
Grading Series
Making assessment enjoyable: Is that possible?
Formative assessment can alleviate some of the challenges associated with summative assessment. Formative assessments are the ‘practice’ aspects of assessment that prepare students for graded assessment, such as exams and final papers. A common concern when considering implementing formative assessment into a course is that it will take too much of your time. In this session, we will discuss the significance of formative assessment, how it aligns with summative assessment, and how the time invested in formative reduces the time spent on summative. We will also work on how to implement formative assessment, such as forms of low-stakes assignments and scaffolding assignments that might actually make assessment enjoyable.
Making assessment enjoyable: Is that possible?
October 25, 2022
10:00am
Grading Series
Making assessment enjoyable: Is that possible?
February 14, 2023
1:00pm
Grading Series
High-stakes assessment of students’ performance: The challenges of summative assessment
In this workshop, a panel of instructors will share how they are assessing student’s achievement in their courses. The panel will discuss innovative assessment strategies and challenges associated with summative assessment, including how to manage your time.
High-stakes assessment of students’ performance: The challenges of summative assessment
Nov 15, 2022
1:00pm
Grading Series
High-stakes assessment of students’ performance: The challenges of summative assessment
February 28, 2023
10:00am
Grading Series
See all our teaching series
We have several other series to enhance your teaching.
