Grading College Level Writing

Education is a long-term investment. We, as students, work hard to acquire knowledge and to hone our skills so that we may use them one day. The effort we put into a single assignment should be considered as both for that specific assignment and for our rounding as complete, educated individuals. And with this mindset, students should be motivated even more to put more effort and hard work into academics, with the goal of bettering themselves for the future and advancing their prospects as individuals. And with this hard work and effort will come progress, and this progress should be reflected in the grading—not necessarily on individual assignments, but on the student’s education as a

Downs & Wardle’s “Teaching about writing, Righting Misconceptions: (Re) Envisioning “First Year Composition” as “Introduction to Writing Studies” talks about several ways to refer to writing and our response to it. As well as the misconceptions students have towards the proper way of writing and how they have managed to break the “college writing” stereotype and discover their own way of writing.

Everyone on the planet has a goal set in life, but only a handful attempt to improve to obtain their goal by studying the subject their goal is in. In my English class, English 101 this quarter I was astonished by how much I had progressed as a writer sharpening my writing skills and also learned a lot about writing that I hadn’t learned before. In my writing portfolio for this quarter I had to write an autobiography essay, a research essay, and this reflection essay to develop my writing skills better. The writing assignments were fun to do because it challenged me to work on essays of different styles that were new to me. The essay assignments helped me grow as a better writer that gave me the self-confidence and skills to take on the world on my own.

Teaching the process of a five-paragraph essay seems to be a popular strategy when it comes to teaching new writers; however, not everyone agrees that five-paragraph essays are the best way to go about introducing the writing process. John Warner, author of “Kill the 5-Paragraph Essay” believes the process gives writers little freedom and is a “tool for the worst of teachers to hide amongst the good.” On the other hand, Kerri Smith, author of “In the Defense of the Five-Paragraph Essay” claims “students who know the five-paragraph essay intimately are more prepared to take on the challenge of college-level writing.” Both first-year composition professors make great arguments; however, Warner’s article seems to argue his point effectively.

Alfie Kohn discussed multiple fabulous points in his article, “Degrading to De-Grading”. The author suggests more effective ways to assess students’ progress other than numerical or letter grades. Kohn goes into detail about why our current grading system is flawed. Grades can cause students to lose interest in learning which causes them to stop taking challenges. If students are not engaged and interested than they are not retaining the information they are being taught. The grading system can also cause students to develop unhealthy competition with one another for instance, “I got a better grade than you!”. Indeed, grades are a wonderful concept, but they tend to be more hurtful than helpful. In some cases, grades can have positive effects on students. For example, setting goals for various assignments, or receiving help where they are struggling. Though, there are alternatives that could make positive changes in the system.

From writing thoughtful poems to research papers, I have experienced composing a diverse portfolio of literary analysis and criticisms throughout the school year. I started out the year writing minimally. By the end of the year, I noticed I was able to express my ideas and thoughts in a more clear and concise way on paper. Ultimately, each composition allowed me to widen my horizons as a writer and see how I could improve as a writer.

Historically, letter grades have served as a tool to rate educational intelligence. By looking at the progression of a student’s grades over time, people are able to determine whether or not the students are developing skills in certain areas. Using a one letter grade to determine progress has received many critiques as a common system used in America’s education. Critics claim letter grades cause students motivation and creativity to decrease because grades shift students focus from learning the material to obtaining a good grade.

In “Making the Grade” by Kurt Wiesenfeld and “In Praise of the F Word” by Mary Sherry, both authors establish an issue with the grading system in schools. Somewhere along the line, love for knowledge died and a generation of indolent students were born. They both however, point the finger of blame in different directions. Wiesenfeld claims society has molded the student to believe he/she can simply charm their way to good grades, whereas Sherry holds complete liability in the pampering of high school teachers.

While many believe that the grading system has a concrete standing in the success of education, other’s believe that it actually can inhibit or at least lessen the effectiveness of learning. In “A Young Person’s Guide to the Grading System,” Jerry Farber states that for the longest time, many have dismissed the fact that grades could be harmful to the learning process. He argues that grades lack the ability to bring about self-discipline within the students learning the content. While the educational system has rendered changes throughout the years, the grading system maintains its virginity and has been fairly untouched. He insists that many educators are in strong belief that grades are the only way to ensure that learning is to take place within the classroom. Most of society would dictate that the system has been fairly effective in getting individuals through their schooling. But as Farber points out, students tend to focus more upon the grades they are receiving and less upon the content itself. Throughout his writing, Faber uses many forms of rhetoric to persuade the reader to believe the fact that the grading system is corrupted and should be changed, and offers a solution which is referred to as the Credit System. With this being said, it can be stated that Farber effectively conveys his argument through his appeal to a younger

In “A Simple Alternative to Grading”, Glenda Potts of The Journal of the Virginia Community Colleges claims that the current grading system creates many issues and added stress for all parties involved (students and teachers). In addition to this, she claims that a contract grading system would be a preferable alternative and gives numerous reasons to support this. The author emphasizes how the current grading system is subjective, wasteful of time, and stress inducing for both students and teachers. Because the current grading system is holistic, the author claims that it often makes unfair comparisons between papers of completely incomparable content. There are a lot of viable alternatives, but the author focuses on contract grading because that is the system that she has experience with in her classroom. In the contract grading system, clear guidelines are set and must either be met or missed with no room for uncertainty. Potts explains that this makes grading quicker for teachers and makes expectations for assignments more understandable and clear cut for students. The author mentions a few issues that higher-performing students had with obtaining their previously easily-earned A’s, but was able to overcome these issues by explaining the function of the system to the students. The author finishes by proclaiming that grades should not be about a letter, but about learning and retention.

The grading system was made, for student to pass or fail. This, of course, is absurd. What we need is a system that do not judge a student work. Put your all in your work just to see a teacher put a failing grade on your work. When student fail some dropout of school, and become another negative static. How would you feel if someone you knew personnel, dropout school because they felt like was just getting harder everyday? Do you want to see your students succeed, and become successful?

Strong writing skills are vital component used by post-secondary students, considering a large proportion of third and fourth year courses assign term papers to assess and grade a student. Upon graduating high school, I believed my writing skills were above average and that I would not benefit from the FAW courses required for my undergraduate degree. The FAW I orientation furthered this belief with a very simple power-point presentation, propagating the assumption that the FAW I and FAW I courses required for my undergraduate degree would be a simple way to increase my academic average. However, it became blatantly aware that this assumption was incorrect. In fact, the FAW courses helped me distinguish valid academic sources, learn the importance

Evaluating a piece of writing using traits that are already set and outline in rubrics helps us have a set of descriptions and levels of performance that will be the same for all students. At the same time by having a rubric you will know what to “look for” in the student writing. The rubric can be specific to an area of concern such as organization, or can have different areas that the student needs to be able to accomplish. Understanding rubrics can help get the most out of students’ thoughts and ideas through the means of formative and summative assessments.

Being a Computer Science Major, I believe writing was not a necessity to me, but realizing how language is intertwine to every aspect of my life, I began to realize that writing is a crucial element especially for the outcome of my future. I've come to see this because of a research paper I had to do for physics and my desire to participate in research. At that point on I knew that writing wasn't going to end there, it was merely the beginning of a long struggle. Therefore, this portfolio will show the growth and previous struggles of my writing abilities, the writer that I was before and the writer that I am today.

I have always enjoyed writing, and I believed writing was a subject I was naturally good at. I turned in papers that were still rough drafts, I did not evaluate my sources, nor did I ever take the time to fully understand the prompt. It was not until my first semester of college, in my writing composition course, I realized that I had a lot of work ahead of me to be as good a writer as I thought I was. In the writing course, the students were required to compose several essays using different methods to help progress on the course objectives. The work in this portfolio demonstrates that I have used the methods of synthesis and evaluation of sources to advance my critical thinking skills and develop personal responsibility. Though I have