Instructor guidelines are indicated on the left side of the page, with student guidelines on the right side of the page. Supporting language and resources are included below guidelines. Note, language included below guidelines is not required, but suggested by the Institute for Teaching and Learning (ITL) to support implementation.
Instructor
Instructors commit to communicate to each student a clear idea of their grade trajectory in the course by three weeks prior to the last day to withdraw (including, but not limited to, substantive feedback such as grades, points, verbal or written assessment).
Student
Students commit to stay abreast of their grade trajectory and to communicate with an instructor before withdrawing from a class due to concern about their grade.
Implementation Resource – Defining Grade Trajectory
Grade trajectory is intended to provide students sufficient information about their standing in the course by two weeks before the final withdrawal date. This information allows them to make an informed decision about continuing in your course, changing their behavior to improve performance, or dropping the course. Grade trajectory information can be provided through enough graded work, or enough qualitative feedback, they may estimate a final grade based on past performance and/or understand what changes in performance need to be made for a desired final grade. “Enough graded work” likely means more than a homework grade or solely low-stakes assignments, and “enough qualitative feedback” likely means that you have provided both clear and specific feedback on current performance and whether you have concerns about their current performance enabling them to complete the course successfully.
Implementation Resource - Posting Grades
Posting grades and/or sharing verbal or written feedback ensures that students know where they stand in a course and, if needed, have the time to make corrections to their level of engagement, seek assistance with the course, and/or make the decision to withdraw from a course. For full-time faculty, the OEA contract requires that at minimum, “The faculty member must provide to each student at least one (1) written grade report on a class assignment (test, examination, essay, etc.) at least three (3) weeks before the deadline for student withdrawal from the course.” Policies on the withdrawal process for students can be in the YSU Course Catalog. The YSU Academic Calendar can be found online at: https://catalog.ysu.edu/calendar/.
Instructor
Instructors commit to give feedback and/or return graded materials as soon as possible (e.g., within two weeks during a regular semester term unless otherwise indicated).
Student
Students commit to actively review grades and seek feedback about performance in a timely way (e.g., within one week after receiving feedback or graded material).
Implementation Resource – Setting Feedback Expectations
While students may desire to have grades back on submitted assignments immediately, this may not be a reasonable (or doable) turnaround time for you, particularly with assignments like papers or projects. However, we know from the literature that prompt feedback supports deeper learning as well as the ability to course-correct when performance is insufficient (Chickering & Gamson, 1987). It is important that you decide on and explicitly set expectations with students regarding when they can expect to see their assignments returned. You may also wish to explain why the intellectual labor of grading takes more than a few hours, such as the importance of providing thoughtful feedback. Note that while you can set one turnaround time (e.g., within two weeks), you could also consider differentiated return times depending on the type of assignment.
Implementation Resource – Syllabus Statement
An example syllabus grading statement could say something like: “I believe quality feedback on your assignments provides the opportunity for you to learn and grow as a student; therefore, I require sufficient time to provide feedback to all my students. For homework assignments and weekly quizzes, I will return grades in about one week. For tests and paper assignments, you can expect to receive feedback and grades returned within two weeks.”
Implementation Resource – Providing Meaningful Feedback
Beyond giving prompt feedback, ITL hosts online resources for giving regular and meaningful formative feedback to students.
Instructor
Instructors commit to post grades/assignment scores to Blackboard or equivalent learning management system.
Student
Students commit to check for grades/assignment scores in the designated location, whether Blackboard or equivalent learning management system.
Implementation Resource – Why Post Grades?
It is important that a student be able to monitor how they are doing in a course. Though some may say that students should be collecting their grades and tracking it themselves; however, unless this is an actual learning goal for the course it can act as an additional burden that takes student attention away from where you want it—on your course learning goals. In addition, you can make your life easier by posting grades in Blackboard, which will reduce the emails from students asking what their grades are! The most consistent way for students to be able to access their grades is by posting them in Blackboard.
Implementation Resource – Creating Assignments and Tests in Blackboard
Adding assignments or tests in Blackboard can benefit you by reducing the papers you have to collect, and puts your grading tasks in one location – no more worrying about misplacing or losing a gradebook! If you have assignments that do not lend themselves to online collection, you can also manually add grades to a Blackboard gradebook. Through the Knowledge Base, YSU Cyberlearning and Information Technology Services provide multiple resources for using Blackboard for faculty. The Instructional Design and Development Center (IDDC) can also provide Blackboard support to faculty. Email iddc@ysu.edu or contact the IDDC main number at 330-941-3244