18 Grading

Grading Policies

OBB students are highly engaged and motivated, and many instructors have found that they are among their best students for their level of dedication and excitement for learning. Even so, many students need reassurance about their academic abilities and might demand that their instructors be harder on them. Instructors in the past have heard students say that “they don’t want trophies” for their efforts. Students in early Odyssey Project courses indicated that they didn’t want Pass/Fail grading—they wanted letter grades, and that’s true in OBB as well.

Providing framing around grading from Day 1 is important. You may want to consider tools like rubrics (see Appendix) to help make the grading process clear to the students. In classes that focus on writing, we encourage instructors to grade using a portfolio system that helps students demonstrate progress in their writing. You may also want to consider setting expectations with contract grading in the beginning of the semester. It’s important to help students understand that grading, particularly in writing courses, is not about setting expectations according to an ideal student. Instead, students are graded individually according to their growth from the start of the course. We are in the business of measuring learning, not perfection.

Submitting Grades

OBB classes use the Faculty Center in my.wisc.edu to submit students’ grades. Here are step-by-step instructions. Instructors do not need to turn in a midterm grade. In the past, instructors at mid-semester have written students a letter on what is working well in their writing and what needs to be improved. The LMS is set up without grades or points.

There will always be special cases when it comes to grading. We’ve had students sent to segregated housing right before the end of the semester, and they were unable to finish the course with their classmates. In most cases, the education staff at the prison will do everything they can to help the student finish. In situations that are more complicated, we often need to determine whether it’s best to give the student an Incomplete and let them finish later, or if Pass/Fail is a better option than a low letter grade. Martin Rouse, the dean of Adult Career and Special Student Services, is always willing to help us assess the best options.

Final grades must be turned in by the instructor using UW-Madison Faculty Center. Even if you are employed by another UW campus, you will need to use your UW-Madison login credentials (given to you at the start of the semester) to access the Faculty Center and submit grades.