Evaluating (and Grading) Student Writing

Grades can provide external motivation to students to put time and thought into their papers; however, they can also have the opposite effect, where students don’t take risks or try to write only “what the professor is looking for.” Grades on writing can also affect a student’s self confidence. When they receive low grades on their writing, many students experience those grades as judgments of their abilities as writers or even of their intelligence. And grades are challenging for instructors as well. Grading takes time, feels subjective, and can make it difficult to incorporate writing assignments into courses.

In this section, we suggest ways to make your assessment practices fair, transparent, and manageable for you and your students. Be sure to click “Contents” on the left and click the “+” to make the individual chapters visible.