Grading a paper or assignment involves summative assessment, assessment that is fixed, retroactive, and measures or judges the "finished product". This is in contrast to the formative assessment of providing feedback, where comments can be used by students to modify their work prior to judgment.
Given the task of grading, the kinds of comments you provide will be more assessment focused rather than the reader focused comments of feedback. Of course, you can and should include formative comments that deal with the kinds of things a student is doing well or needs to work on; these comments aren't specific to the content of the assignment.
Other than the grade point to letter grade conversion, there is no single standard for grades at SFU. The Philosophy Department actively resists grade inflation and works to maintain consistent standards. In large lower-division courses, the average grade (the grade that average work receives) is typically a C+ or a high C. Scores are recorded numerically, for example a score out of 20 or a percentage. For any questions about grade to percentage equivalencies, please ask your course instructor. He/she will usually provide this information for the first major paper assignment.
Here is a sample letter grade, percentage, and qualitative scale:
| Letter Grade | Percentage Range | Qualitative Equivalent |
| A+ | 87 - 100* | extraordinarily superb |
| A | 83 - 86 | exceptional |
| A- | 80 - 82 | excellent |
| B+ | 77 - 79 | very good |
| B | 73 - 76 | good/strong/solid |
| B- | 70 - 72 | fairly good |
| C+ | 67 - 79 | almost good/competent/ average or just above |
| C | 63 - 66 | average or just below |
| C- | 60 - 62 | below average |
| D | 50 - 59 | problematic/deficient |
| F | 0 - 49** | deeply problematic |
* In practice, grades above the low 90s are rarely given. ** If you have to fail a paper, avoid giving it a 49; a 45 is a solid fail. |
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Please consult with your course supervisor for more information on giving grades at the high and low ends of the scale and for grading in general.
Grading a paper shouldn't take as long as providing feedback for that paper. If you had 20 minutes for each paper for feedback, then 15 minutes should likely be enough for each paper graded. Use your time use guidelines as a guide, and check with your course supervisor. Here are some tips to consider when grading:
Before you mark an assignment (or before you hand it back) you should set your policy for reviewing assignments. One good element of such a policy is the "24 Hour Rule". Simply, the 24 hour rule states that you won't meet with a student about the assignment until the following day (or office hour). This gives students some time to look over their assignments and to think about what they wrote and the comments they received. For students who are distressed about their grades, it gives them some time to calm down.
Most students who come to you with a grade concern or question really just want to know why they got the grade they did, and how to improve for next time. This can be an opportunity for significant learning for the student, and is often the source of "ah-ha" moments. On the other hand, some students feel the paper or exam question has been marked incorrectly or unfairly and want you to take another look at the assignment.
When a student comes to see you about an assignment, try to ascertain if the student has a grade dispute or wants to understand their grade and to improve for next time. If a student has a grade dispute:
If a student instead wants a better understanding of their grade and how to improve, there are a couple of approaches you can take. One is to skim the paper, review the comments, and explain the strengths and weaknesses of the paper. The other is to do a "think aloud" protocol, in which you read the paper aloud with the student, and communicate your thoughts as you're reading. For example, you might say when reading the introduction, "Okay. I would expect to read about what your stand is in the paper here, but you only tell me what topic the paper is on."