Re: students grade themselves

[Lynne Belcher <lrbelcher@saumag.edu>]

Steve,

I know what you mean about not having the grade at the end of the term 
be a big surprise, and I have tried to create a system that allows 
students to know where they stand and to have some imput on that 
standing, but at the end of the term, I'm the one who signs off on the 
grades.  Certainly As ands Bs and even Cs are fairly painless; the 
agony comes with Ds and particularly with Fs.

I have also done as you suggested about collaborative writing, and I 
have had students lie (exaggerate?) about their roles in that 
collaborative process.  Oprah once did a show on cheating.  Many of the 
students in the audience had no problem with cheating or lying when it 
came to their school work.  I don't like to set up situations in class 
that force students either to be painfully honest about their lack of 
accomplishment or lie.

I think grading issues are complex and difficult to resolve.  I wasn't 
really looking for easy solutions because I don't think there are any.  
Just knowing that others share my sense of frustration in dealing with 
these complex issues makes me feel less insecure about what I do to 
deal with them. 

Lynne Belcher
Southern Arkansas University