Course memo (kurs-PM)

LH216V Develop the Learning by Using Grading Criteria, 1.5 credits

March-May 2020

The aim is that you after the course should be able to design outcomes based criterion-referenced grading criteria and assessment that can be immediately used in your own courses.

Grading criteria for LH216V (linked to intended learning outcomes and assessments)

To pass the course, the course participant should be able to

• account for how intended learning outcomes, grading criteria and examination stick together (ILO 1, assessed in assignment 2)
• formulate outcomes based criterion-referenced grading criteria for a course (ILO 2, assessed in assignment 2)
• suggest how items of the examination should be designed so that they assess according to the grading criteria (ILO 3, assessed in assignment 2)
• review critically and reflect on own and others' grading criteria (ILO 4, assessed in assignment 1 (others') and 2 (own))
• account for how to combine assessments to a final grade and reflect on which effects this can give (ILO 5, assessed in assignment 2)
• reflect on how the grading criteria can be used in your own teaching (ILOs 1, 3 & 5, assessed in assignment 2).

Teachers

• Viggo Kann, 80% EECS Computer Science and 20% ITM Learning, course coordinator, teacher and examiner
• Emma Lundkvist, Uppsala University Pharmaceutical Biosciences, teacher
• Hans Havtun, ITM Energy Technology, teacher
• Veine Haglund, CL student, teaching assistant
• Madeleine Tucker Smith, ITM Learning, learning technologist

Schedule: meetings

• Meeting 1: 26 March 2020, 9:00-12:00 in Zoom https://kth-se.zoom.us/j/205892562 Links to an external site.
  Purpose of grading criteria, how grading criteria can be designed, examples of ILOs, outcomes based grading criteria and assessment, first own grading criteria.
  The preparations before meeting 1 are described at another page in Canvas.
• Meeting 2: 23 April 2020, 9:00-12:00 in Zoom https://kth-se.zoom.us/j/205892562 Links to an external site.
  How grading criteria can support the learning in a course, a case study on grading criteria at Uppsala Universitet, discussions on and work with your submitted assignment 1, KTH regulations, combining grades to a final grade, pitfalls and advice.
  Before meeting 2 you should do a quiz on important concepts of grading criteria and assessment and read either chapter 11 in Biggs & Tang Links to an external site. or page 21-44 in Bergqvist.
• Meeting 3: 27 May 2020, 9:00-11:00 in Zoom https://kth-se.zoom.us/j/205892562 Links to an external site.
  (Strongly recommended but not mandatory meeting.)
  Students' thoughts about grading criteria, sharing of your grading criteria and assessment, how to further improve the grading criteria, evaluation of LH216V.
  Before meeting 3, you should read either chapter 12 in Biggs & Tang Links to an external site. or page 45-50 in Bergqvist.

Language

The main language of the course is English. However, in group discussions it is allowed to speak other languages as long as all in the group understand. The terminology will be given in both Swedish and English, and you are allowed to write your assignments in either Swedish or English. We recommend that you use the same language in your assignments as the course you are writing your grading criteria for is using.

Examination

There are three mandatory assessments in the course. It is important that you submit the assignments before the stated deadline in order for the course to work. Please contact the course coordinator if you need to submit a hand-in late.

• Assignment 1a (ILOs and draft of new grading critieria), submitted before 17 April 2020 at 19:00 in Canvas/Peergrade.
• Assignment 1b (feedback to peers), submitted before 22 April 2020 at 19:00 in the Peergrade system.
• Assignment 2 (final version of grading criteria etc), submitted before 14 May 2020 at 19:00 in Canvas.
  Assessment (with respect to the six grading criteria above) and constructive feedback on your assignment 2 will be given by the teachers before meeting 3.
  A submission fulfilling all criteria will pass. A submission not fulfilling any criterion will fail. A submission fulfilling at least one but not all criteria will receive Fx, and could be completed (submitting a new version in Canvas) within six weeks (8 July 2020). A new version that is fulfilling all criteria will pass. A new version fulfilling all criteria except one or two may be completed one more time (latest 17 August 2020). Otherwise the submission will be failed.
  
  

Readings and examples of grading criteria (or grade descriptors or grading rubrics)

• Chris Rust: Purposes and principles of assessment Links to an external site., Oxford Brookes University, 2002.
• John Biggs and Catherine Tang: Teaching for Quality Learning at University, 4:th edition, Open University Press, McGraw Hill Education, 2011. Chapter 11 and 12. Available online through KTHB Links to an external site..
• Johanna Bergqvist: Att sätta praxis på pränt: En handbok i att skriva betygskriterier. Links to an external site. (in Swedish)
• Stefan Ekecrantz: Målrelaterade betyg - Att arbeta med betygskriterier och bedömning i sju grader Links to an external site., UPC-rapport 2007:1, Stockholms universitet, 2007. (in Swedish)
• Useful taxonomies when formulating grading criteria on different levels. Download Useful taxonomies when formulating grading criteria on different levels.
• Grading student work Links to an external site. - tips and examples of Rubric creation from Berkeley.
• Examples of grading criteria at KTH, mostly from former participants of LH216V.
• Graham Gibbs: Learning in Teams Download Graham Gibbs: Learning in Teams
   Grading of team projects, among other things.
• Phillip Dawson: Assessment rubrics: towards clearer and more replicable design, research and practice (available online through KTHB Links to an external site.).
  Describes and discusses grading rubrics and gives 14 design elements related to rubrics. A useful paper, but a bit hard to read if you are not used to read educational research papers.  
• Lab Report Rubric Links to an external site.. An example of a well designed grading rubric from MIT. The lab course is described, together with the ILOs. The scale 0-3 is applied on the eight types of criteria used. How the criteria relate to the ILOs is shown, together with the formula for the final scoring. All in all, this rubric looks like what you are expected to develop for your course within this course (LH216V).
• Bioethics project, Research Paper Rubric Links to an external site.. 
• Scoring rubrics for professional writing Links to an external site.. Nine criteria and four scoring levels that can be useful for inspiration on how to work with marking (or peer marking) where writing skills are to be trained and assessed. 
• Scoring rubrics for professional presentations Links to an external site.. Eight criteria and four scoring levels that can be useful for inspiration on how to work with marking (or peer marking) where oral presentation skills are to be trained and assessed. 
• Rubrics for artists and designers Links to an external site..

Key concepts in Swedish and English

As in every course, there are several concepts that you should be aware of. There is a list of the key concepts of this course, with terms both in Swedish and English. Between meeting 1 and 2, we recommend that you take a formative concept understanding quiz.

Course evaluation and course analysis

By the end of meeting 1, a mini-evaluation will be carried out. At the end of the third meeting, we will evaluate the course together, which will constitute the course meeting of the course (as required by the KTH regulations for course evaluation and course analysis). After the third meeting, there will be an ordinary Learning Experience Questionnaire (LEQ).

After the course, the course coordinator will write a course analysis, that will be published on the official course web page in the course catalog.

Changes from previous course offering

• The course is given at distance using online tools (Zoom, Canvas, Peergrade).
• The presentation of the students' perspective has been moved from meeting 2 to meeting 3, since some former course participants thought that meeting 2 was a bit rushed.
• Chapter 11 and 12 from the famous book by Biggs&Tang have been included in the course reading.

Advice from participants of the last course offering

• Use the course to work with a course that you really want and are able to  change.
• Be prepared by thinking through your own course before taking this course.
• Make sure to keep track of deadlines.