1. Marking for TA’s
TA Marking

2. TA Marking - John Parry - UBCO -CTL
Objective
The Guardian
Participants will be able to develop
a plan that will enable TA’s to
mark student assignments fairly,
accurately, and effectively.
TA Marking - John Parry - UBCO -CTL

3. Discussion
FCSI.WS
One of your assignments this semester is to mark student work.
You have been handed a stack of 100 papers.
What information do you need to know before you can begin?
TA Marking

4. What do you need to discuss with your supervisor?
TA Marking

5. What should we communicate to the students prior to submission?
Develop a plan! Supervisors and TA marking
colleagues, discuss the following:
What should we communicate to the students prior to submission?
unitymanagement
TA Marking

6. What are the objectives of the assignment?
Develop a plan! Supervisors and TA marking
colleagues, discuss the following:
What should we communicate to the students prior to
submission?
What are the objectives of the assignment?
unitymanagement
TA Marking

7. What should we look for in order to evaluate the essays?
Develop a plan! Supervisors and TA marking
colleagues, discuss the following:
What should we communicate to the students prior to
submission?
What are the objectives of the assignment?
What should we look for in order to evaluate the essays?
unitymanagement
TA Marking

8. What constitutes an excellent, good, adequate, or poor paper?
Develop a plan! Supervisors and TA marking
colleagues, discuss the following:
What should we communicate to the students prior to
submission?
What are the objectives of the assignment?
What should we look for in order to evaluate the essays?
What constitutes an excellent, good, adequate, or poor paper?
unitymanagement
TA Marking

9. What should we include in our comments?
Develop a plan! Supervisors and TA marking
colleagues, discuss the following:
What should we communicate to the students prior to
submission?
What are the objectives of the assignment?
What should we look for in order to evaluate the essays?
What constitutes an excellent, good, adequate, or poor paper?
What should we include in our comments?
unitymanagement
TA Marking

10. How can we manage our time? How long should we spend on marking?
Develop a plan! Supervisors and TA marking
colleagues, discuss the following:
What should we communicate to the students prior to
submission?
What are the objectives of the assignment?
What should we look for in order to evaluate the essays?
What constitutes an excellent, good, adequate, or poor paper?
What should we include in our comments?
How can we manage our time? How long should we spend on marking?
unitymanagement
TA Marking

11. Evaluating the Writing
Discuss the following with your supervisor: Clarify the relative weighting of content, expression, format, grammar, etc.
TA Marking

12. Evaluating the Writing
Discuss the following with your supervisor: Clarify the relative weighting of content, expression, format, grammar, etc. Share sample essays to calibrate your marking: have each marker read essays to locate excellent, good, average, and poor. Share these and discuss. Develop a set of attributes tied to each of the letter grades.
TA Marking

13. Communicating Expectations to Students
Stress expectations and university standards.
Include detailed formatting expectations.
Identify the required documentation style.
Clarify precise expectations related to submission.
Discuss plagiarism, how to avoid it, consequences, and process.
Double spaced ?
Binders ?
TA Marking

14. SWBAT …
TA Marking

15. Consider using letters (tied to UBC numbers) rather than numbers
Consider using letters (tied to UBC numbers) rather than numbers. Sometimes numbers communicate quality (A=excellent), and quality is what you are looking for.
A – 100 B – 79 A – 89 B A
TA Marking

16. Another Question What does a good paper look like? Average?
Failing paper?
TA Marking

17. Sites.fcps.org
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18. Style
Complexity
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19. New Question
How much commenting should I do?
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20. Including Useful Comments
Comments that run through the paper should help the student understand what they are doing wrong or incorrectly as well as what they are doing well or right.
These comments help the student understand the grade.
TA Marking

21. A marking sheet helps reduce the amount of writing you have to do!
TA Marking

22. A marking sheet helps reduce the amount of writing you have to do!
Your final, summative comments should help the student understand why his or her paper deserved the mark it received.
TA Marking

23. A marking sheet helps reduce the amount of writing you have to do!
Your final, summative comments should help the student understand why his or her paper deserved the mark it received.
Include what he or she did right and what he or she should do to improve on the next assignment.
TA Marking

24. A marking sheet helps reduce the amount of writing you have to do!
Your final, summative comments should help the student understand why his or her paper deserved the mark it received.
Include what he or she did right and what he or she should do to improve on the next assignment.
End on a positive note (“I’m looking forward to reading your next paper.”)
TA Marking

25. A useful tip … Marking sheets and grade descriptions
sd23
Marking sheets and grade descriptions
Consider providing students with self review sheets that correlate to the assignment and the marking sheets.
TA Marking

26. Calibration meetings: Before marking, to discuss assignment
and expectations.
Early in marking, to recalibrate based on sample papers.
After marking, to compare experience and discuss difficult or special cases.
Seton.com
TA Marking

27. A few cautions … If you suspect plagiarism or cheating …
Any papers that raise concerns related to
academic integrity must be returned immediately to the instructor.
TA Marking

28. A few cautions …
If you feel that you are being bribed notify the instructor and clarify the issue with the student.
If you sense that a student is depressed or anxious notify the instructor, your unit’s administrative assistant, the Health and Wellness Centre (
TA Marking

29. How do you handle an appeal?
Always discuss in private
Be prepared to explain criteria
If you have made an error, correct it
Explain that the student should consult further with the professor
TA Marking

30. This is his first semester at university, and Jeff is used to getting “A’s” in high school. He has just received his first “C” ever on the midterm in the course you are grading. He has ed saying the test was unfair and asked to meet with you. What do you do?
TA Marking

31. Final Thought
Careful planning and assignment design can help students, streamline marking, ensure fairness and accuracy, and reduce questions and queries.
TA Marking

32. University of Maryland Guide
University of
Maryland Guide
TA Marking

33. Grading Resources
 Walvoord & Anderson (2009) 2nd ed. Effective Grading: A Tool for Learning and Assessment . San Francisco: Jossey-Bass (1998)
 IDEA papers:
resources/knowledge-base/idea-paper
Improving College Grading:
Nilson, Linda. B. (2003) Grading: Tests, Assignments, and Course Performance. In Teaching at its best: A research-based resource for college instructors. 2nd ed. Bolton, MA: Anker Publishing p
 Edwards, N.M. (2007). Student self-grading in social statistics.
 College Teaching, v 55, no. 2, p72-75.
 Landrum & Dietz (2006) Grading without points. College Teaching, v 54, no. 4, p
TA Marking

34. A copy of today’s PowerPoint is on our CTL website
Grading handbook
This is an excellent resource from the University of Maryland Download it from:
Marking for TA’s
A copy of today’s PowerPoint is on our CTL website .
TA Marking

35. en.hdyo.org 
Comments
TA Marking