Changing the Way We Grade Student Performance

Assigning grades to student work raises many dilemmas for college and university teachers. This volume helps teachers deal with these dilemmas by providing rubrics to be used as guides for scoring various kinds of student performance. The authors offer a range of alternative approaches to assessing student performance that are rooted in the belief that students should be active rather than passive learners.They draw on their own classroom experience to explain how to use each assessment measure presented--including developing criteria, integrating peer and self-assessment, and assigning grades--and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each. This is the 74th issue of the quarterly journal New Directions for Teaching and Learning.

REBECCA S. ANDERSON is codirector of the Memphis Urban Writing Institute and assistant professor at the University of Memphis. BRUCE W. SPECK is professor of English and acting director of the Center for Academic Excellence at the University of Memphis.