- Do not be defensive. Errors in marking can occur, especially with TAs.
- You can also make errors in the assessment process. You are not 100% perfect all of the time. Own any issues you have created.
- Be fair, and where there is doubt, the advantage should go to the students. However, you can double back and ensure that mastery did indeed exist.
It isn't what it seems...
Do not be surprised when a student asks for an assessment to be reviewed. It really can happen! It is not a myth or an urban legend. They will disagree with the assessment and want it reviewed. Imagine that.
Joking aside, this is a very serious topic. Students have the right to have their mark explained and possible errors in marking addressed.
Here are some thoughts about reviewing assessments...
- Take the review request seriously. Do not dismiss it out of hand. There might be merit in the request. There might be marking errors, and the errors might result in the student getting more or less than they deserve.
- If a problem is discovered with the assessment design or marking, own it, be responsible, do not be defensive.
- It is possible that the question was at fault, was ambiguous and that another answer was plausible. If the student's answer was plausible based on possible language implications, it is an ok answer. This is a marking/assessment failure and the instructor has to own it.
- It is possible that the marking missed some of the answer. That is a marking failure and the instructor has to own it. You have inconvenienced the student, perhaps caused stress,
- It is possible that you accidentally provided contrary advice, ideas before the assessment that caused confusion, ambiguity as to the appropriate answer. Your problem, own it.
- When reviewing an assessment, do it holistically and review the whole thing, unless it is a simple clerical error. Note in the syllabus that this will be at your discretion. Reviewing the whole deliverable again is good way to understand what the student was doing, thinking, and to see if there are other marking failures.
- If there are subjective aspects of the marking, it is important to have a suitable rubric (LINK LINK). If the rubric is ambiguous and does not provide clarity, a variety of answers or quality of answers might be considered plausible and long discussions will ensue. The rubric quality is also your responsibility and an inadequate rubric is your problem, not the student's.
- If the rubric, question, and assumptions are good, then the failure is in the student's court. If the student is in denial or pressing the point, it might be necessary to slowly work through how others solved the problem, figured it out. Use it as a learning moment. The student needs to understand why the error was made, not simply that the answer is wrong.
- For a mid-term, we often have the TAs do the initial review. If the student is still not happy, we have had to jump in. For a final, it is probably best for the instructor do the review.
- It is possible that a significant portion of the class had an issue with one or more questions. Perhaps 20% got it, but the rest tanked and think that the question tricked them and it was unfair. There are various ways that this can happen. We even had this happen. A good number got the question, did really well, but a large number did not. The question was a bit tricky in fact. It was the type of question that a word change here, another there, and the answer changes 100%. The 80% swore up and down that they knew the question and would have been able to nail it, if it had not been for the tricky language. When the 20% were pointed to, the 80% said that 20% of the class did not matter. The question was not minor, it was a 25%. It was impossible to figure out the reality, so we gave everyone 25%. Of course, the 80% complained that the 20% also got 25% extra, arguing that the 20% now mattered. If one thought a bit logically, the 20% probably spent more time on the question, getting it right while the 80% bailed and worked on other parts of the test. In any event, we just gave 25% to everyone. If the 20% did not matter before, they do not matter later. The sylllabus always notes that assessments can be cummulative, from the beginning of term. So, there was a 25% question on the next exam. Basically asking the students to explain the theory, concepts in the original question, explaining it to a junior student; a mini lecture. Surprise, surprise, the students that did well on the first test, did well and those students who tanked the first time, tanked again. Point of this example? There are times you cannot figure it out, if it was your fault or the students'. When in doubt, come back to the material again, test for comprehension, test for deep understanding. That will sort out who knows what. In the meantime, give them the marks, things will be sorted out in the end.
Further reading
- Race, P. (2001), Using feedback to help students to learn. The Higher Education Academy. via https://phil-race.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/Using_feedback.pdf
- Jonsson, A. (2012). Facilitating productive use of feedback in higher education. Active Learning in Higher Education, 14, 1, pp. 63-76.