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Grading is one of the key components of modern pedagogy. Grades are primarily meant to be a method of communication, which is initiated by the owners of the pedagogy (instructors, school, etc.) and are received by various parties such as students: as feedback on their learning outcomes, parents, potential employers, other institutions, etc. However, traditional grading practices in wide use across institutions globally suffer from many problems and can prove to be a hindrance to students achieving their learning outcomes. Many of these practices do not have a backing in education and social research and suffer from various problems such as inherent bias, rewarding of behavior over skill or knowledge, increasing student anxiety, etc. In contrast, EGPs have been backed in research, follow a more open assessment method and have been shown to induce increased learning. Thus, to mitigate some of these problems, we employ Equitable Grading Practices (EGPs) in an introductory CS-1 course at Virginia Tech for the Fall 2023 and Spring 2024 semesters. In this thesis, we introduce these practices and evaluate student perceptions of them thereafter to answer research questions so that we may be able to refine these practices. We gather student experiences primarily through two instruments: a survey and one-on-one interviews. We describe these in detail and evaluate them through the use of statistics as well grounded theory analysis to be able to extract student perceptions of these grading practices. / Master of Science / Grading is a fundamental aspect of education, shaping not only student learning but also their future opportunities. Traditionally, grades are intended to communicate a student's performance to various stakeholders, including parents and potential employers. However, standard grading methods suffer for biases and promote anxiety among students, rather than truly reflecting their knowledge and skills. In an effort to address these issues, our research at Virginia Tech investigates the implementation of Equitable Grading Practices (EGPs) in an introductory computer science course. These practices, supported by educational research, emphasize a more transparent and inclusive approach to assessment, aiming to enhance learning rather than merely evaluate it. This thesis examines how students perceive these new grading practices through surveys and detailed interviews. Our goal is to understand their experiences and refine these methods to better support student achievement and well-being. This study not only offers insights into the impact of EGPs but also contributes to broader educational reforms aimed at fairer and more effective grading systems.

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This study sought to determine the ways in which Texas public school districts differ in their calculation of Grade Point Average/Rank in Class (GPA/RIC), how district size affects weighting practices, and the effect of non-uniform calculation of GPA/RIC on admissions to college. Descriptive and non-parametric analysis techniques were used.

Master of Science / Department of Mathematics / Andrew G. Bennett / The purpose of my research is to identify what features of a graph are important for college teachers with the intention of eventually developing a system by which a machine can recognize those features. In particular, I identify the features that college algebra teachers look at when grading graphs of lines and how much disagreement there is in the relative importance graders assign to each feature. In the process, eleven students from college algebra classes were interviewed and asked to graph six linear functions of varying difficulty. Eleven experienced college algebra graders were asked to grade the selected graphs, and interviewed to clarify what features of the graphs were important to them in grading. Altogether, a general grading rule appears to be: slope is worth 4 points, y-intercept is worth 4 points, labeling of intercepts, points and graph is worth 1 point. After that, add 1 point if everything is correct. All graders considered slope and y-intercept to be very important. Only some of them considered labeling to be important. Anything else was a matter of a single point adjustment. Furthermore, the graders judged slope and intercept from two points(the y-intercept and the first point to the right). Returning to the students’ work, I saw that the students also placed extra importance on points to the right of the y-axis. I conclude that this grading style may have a role in students’ learning to think only about two points in a line (but nothing else), and that replicating human grading may not be the best use of machine grading.

Call number: LD2668 .T4 1958 T85