Effective Strategies for Grading: Achieving Excellent Evaluations

Get excellent evaluations from all faculty and instructors you grade for! How?

Why This Orientation? The purpose of this orientation is to give you a heads up on how to get an excellent evaluation. We implemented grader orientations in 1997 and from that date on we have had a phenomenal record of 90% excellent evaluations from over 80 instructors. How do we get all these instructors to agree that their grader is the best ever?

Why a Grading Program? We could do bubble grading where the computer indicates right or wrong. But this does not provide the feed back our students need to absorb the material and learn. We implemented the grader program in order to: improve the performance of students in the class free the instructor s time to help students one-on-one, prepare for class and complete other work. Our primary goal is to give feedback every week to the student in the class so they can succeed. We never want to force students to cram for a test or interfere with or delay their ability to study knowing what they got right or wrong

Why return graded work every week Students typically require time to absorb new mathematical concepts. Repeated errors take repeated correction for student s to re-learn if they believe in a incorrect method of solving problems The grader is a teaching assistant as they are helping students learn the material by providing prompt and appropriate feedback.

Appropriate Feedback It is important to give appropriate feedback for student s to learn. Appropriate feedback is at the level of the course the student is taking and at point values appropriate to the correctness of work done. Feedback should be done in a way that helps students learn the concepts being taught in the class. Feedback should follow current semester coordination instruction/rubrics, and guidance given by teachers in each section. Feedback that is to generous at giving points when work is partially correct or even wrong is not appropriate.

Anticipate changes in grading rubrics Anticipate that the grading rubrics used often changes from semester to semester . Anticipate that instructions from the instructor may also differ from one section to another section. If instructions provided by an instructor contradict or are in conflict with the instructions given by the course coordinator or those given by the grading program supervisor, please bring this to the attention of the coordinator with a cc to the program supervisor.

Additional Work Sometimes instructors will offer students extra credit work or extra study material and ask you to grade these. The grader budget is for coordinator assigned paper grading and does not allow for extra work. Any work beyond this can be brought to the attention of the coordinator, especially if it is exceeding the hours you are allowed to grade.

Your Supervisors and their Instructions: The course coordinator oversees all aspects of the course including grading Your assigned instructors are your direct supervisors. Deb is your secondary supervisor and ombudsman. Return the coordinator and instructors' calls and email promptly. Have text responses ready for when you are unavailable to respond. Contact your assigned instructors and the coordinator for directions. Follow the coordinator and instructors' directions explicitly. You must meet deadlines set by your instructor.

Negotiation Process Negotiation is a form of communication. Communication only occurs when both parties understand what is being said the same way. If you perceive instructions one way and the instructor perceives the instructions differently, then you are not communicating. Question their instructions if they are not clear. Repeat instructions for clarity. Negotiate the deadline so it fits in your schedule. Never accept a deadline you cannot keep. ask Deb to switch you to another instructor if the deadline is non- negotiable and you are unable to meet it. Deb can also switch you to a different section for personal reasons. It is about getting an excellent and you probably can t earn an excellent rating if there is a personality conflict.

General Instructions: What to do? Do meticulously neat and consistently correct work. Use current semester rubrics/instruction to assign appropriate points Return work on time Limit comments on homework to problem solving. Comments on suspected dishonesty should be directed to the instructor, not the student. See Deb if you feel more time is needed to do the work you are assigned.

What is not tolerated In short, the Math Department will not tolerate: Late work, Take advantage of our substitution program both email and call Deb sloppy work, Rule of thumb or the thumb rule : thumb through papers after grading. If you have to pause to read your work, it is not neat. inconsistent work: Grading all problems on each paper through 40 papers can result in inconsistent work Grade one problem through all 40 papers reduces this inconsistency Picking the class curve setter as a model for grading the other papers also helps incorrect work; In order for students to learn, we must provide them with correct grading to their homeworks. changing pickup and return dates without prior approval; altering the current semester coordinator or instructor's directions without prior approval; Coordinators and Instructors have the authority to decide half points, whole points, folded work, not folded work, score on back page, score on front page and other decisions about how the grading should be done. They are always right. The instructions and rubrics for grading may change. So always use the current semester instructions/rubrics. not returning the instructor's or secondary supervisor's calls or email. Note: Your work will be evaluated by your assigned instructor(s) during the semester. Often the coordinator will also provide input.

Conflict resolution Occasionally there are conflicts that seem irresolvable. Here are some ideas for common conflicts and how to resolve these. How to handle triangles: Example: Instructor has given you a deadline of Thursday 8:30 a.m. and it is Wednesday 5 p.m. and the coordinator who normally gives you the problems to grade has not given you any problems to grade. You ve exhausted all means of contacting the coordinator and still you do not have the problems you are to grade. Now it is Friday and the instructor has decided to give you a poor evaluation because the graded work has not been returned on time. (step back in time to Wednesday and contact the instructor, let the instructor know that you have not received the problems to grade and if you will give me the problems I should grade I will grade your section and return it by your deadline. ) Ta da you have just successfully removed yourself from this triangle. Pick up deadlines: The coordinator has decided that students will not be allowed to turn in late work or may have a point reduction for late work so they put a deadline for students to submit work and require graders to pick the work up at this deadline. Occasionally other meetings, tests, etc. require us to be unavailable to pick up homework at the pick up deadline. What should you do? Ask the instructor to put a paper with their name in the box at the deadline time. Every paper above this is late and every paper below this is on-time. Suppose a 280 lb. heavily muscled and mean looking student is hanging around the box suspiciously like they are waiting to pummel the grader. What do you do? Again write your name on a paper, slide it into the box at pick-up deadline and walk away. Come back later when the supposed brute has left and retrieve the work. Every paper above your paper is late, every paper below your paper is on-time. ;) How you are treated is very important to us: Being yelled at, feeling demeaned, or not treated in a professional manner? Ask me to switch you to another instructor. General Solution: Ask for our advise. Dr. Kerr and I can assist in resolving situations that pop up and we want to be there for you anytime you need us.

So how do I get those excellent evaluations? Hints for an excellent evaluation: Work the problems yourself. Try to recognize alternative solutions. Use the current semester coordinator s rubrics/instructions when assigning points in-order-to assign appropriate points for partially correct work. Ask the instructor or coordinator how to handle correct work that is not according to the book or what is being taught in class. Limit your written comments to short observations about the students' work that will help the student learn the material being taught in the class. Include a summary page for the instructor listing the problems that caused difficulties and common mistakes that were made. This will reduce the need for extensive comments on the papers and will help the instructor prepare for class. Grade a problem on all papers before going to the next problem. This will improve consistency. Alphabetize the papers by last name. If instructors have indicated other preferences to you that you feel may be generally good for all graders to know, please send Deb a note to: ugmath@math.ksu.edu.

Confidential Information Do not volunteer to manage grade records. You are not required to manage grade records for courses you grade. If you are asked and agree to manage grade records for an instructor: You must keep grade records confidential Keep personal computing records secured Do not store grade records on a portable device that can be stolen or lost. Backup any grade records stored on a secured computing device K-State Canvas or KSOL can be a way for students to get your name If you are using canvas to grade or record the results of grading you must be listed as anonymous and have an anonymous id for login. You should not contact the students in the class or allow them to contact you. You should not get any calls from irate students at 2 a.m. If you do, please call and email me so I can move you out of that section to another section in order to regain confidentiality. I will talk with the instructor about the breach as well. Homework should not be turned into the main office or the mail boxes in the main office. Use the homework boxes provided. If an instructor insists that you turn homework into the main office. Please see Deb. Do not make copies of grading materials or the keys. Keep all books and grading materials and keys in a secured spot. Do not let anyone see these. If a solution manual is lost, stolen, or otherwise not returnable at the end of the semester, that grader will not receive another solution manual for any of our graded courses in that semester and in all future semesters.

Time Cards Paper time cards indicate math course graded, e-time does not make this distinction and is not useful for monitoring graded hours per course. Record hours in black or dark blue ink on the appropriate line for each course you are grading Edit timecards with AReturn timecards via email. Return your time cards by the Friday before the state payroll deadline printed on each time card. Make any needed corrections with 1 straight horizontal line through the error with the correction written in the box directly below the error along with your initials. Print neatly on time cards, filling them out correctly as hours are worked. Record time in quarter hour increments, in decimal format (see table at right). Minutes Hours Worked 0 - 07 08 - 22 23 - 37 38 - 52 53 - 67 Please do not use fractions, exponentials, derivatives, leading following zeros, or time ranges. Recorded 0.00 0.25 0.50 0.75 1.00 Do not record hours on your time cards that you have not worked in that pay period. Do not shift hours from one week to the next or visa versa. Please write comments about substitutions, extra hours and changes in schedule in the comments area at the bottom of your time card.

Time Cards PDF time cards indicate math course graded, e-time does not make this distinction and is not useful for monitoring graded hours per course. Edit timecards with Adobe or other pdf editor. Record hours in black or dark blue ink on the appropriate line for each course you are grading. Using appropriate pay rate for the work done. Return timecards via email by the Friday before the state payroll deadline printed on each time card. Make any needed corrections with 1 straight horizontal line through the error with the correction written in the box directly below the error along with your initials. Print neatly on time cards, filling them out correctly as hours are worked. Record time in quarter hour increments, in decimal format (see table at right). Minutes Hours Worked 0 - 07 08 - 22 23 - 37 38 - 52 53 - 67 Please do not use fractions, exponentials, derivatives, leading following zeros, or time ranges. Recorded 0.00 0.25 0.50 0.75 1.00 Do not record hours on your time cards that you have not worked in that pay period. Do not shift hours from one week to the next or visa versa. Please write comments about substitutions, extra hours and changes in schedule ect in the comments area at the bottom of your time card.

E-Time Please login and record the hours you worked in the your HRIS account with your E-ID and Password: to get to HRIS is to go https://www.k-state.edu/ click on Sign in and select HRIS to sign in. Your time sheet will be under employee self service | time reporting Your e-time must be submitted before noon on Friday, for each Pay Period Your paper time card will be used to verify your e-time and must match the total e-time recorded on each day. E-time does not substitute for the paper time card and the paper time card does not substitute for E-time. You will need to record both. You may estimate hours for Friday afternoon and the weekend. Please follow the provided instructions for submitting your e-time:

Payroll Information: We are on a state payroll system which is bi-weekly. Timecards must be approved by the department, the campus personnel office and the state office in Topeka in order to pay you. Late timecards cause additional work to print and process a supplemental check for you. HR informed us on March 15, 2012, that they are charged extra for every supplemental check they disburse. Late timecards not only cause additional work for our office, HR and the Topeka office, it also has a additional cost for which we do not receive any reimbursement. E-time and paper timecards are always due in by noon the last Friday of the pay period. Please submit e-time and paper timecards in on-time! Pay periods and due dates are printed on your timecards. If you do not have a timecard for the dates you are working, please see me. Please see "Young, Kelsey" kelseyyoung@phys.ksu.edu if you have questions about your W-2. Your paycheck stub are available to view when you log into employee self service: http://hris.k-state.edu/ Since all pay periods end on a weekend, and our office is closed during this time, you are required to turn e-time and paper timecards in by 12 noon in order for HR to process these prior to the weekend. You may estimate hours for Friday afternoon and Saturday if you have to work then. If our office is closed when you turn your paper timecard in, you may slide the cards under the door to CW 137.

Absences: Email your fellow graders in that same subject to see if they can switch grading / cover for you Write a comment at the bottom of your timesheet noting the substitution arrangement. Email Deb, coordinator, and instructors about substitution arrangement.

Supplies: For those courses requiring grading boxes, keys are available that will open the box you are using to pick up and drop off work. You may request pens, rubber bands and file folders for grading from Deb. Checked out materials (including packaging material) must be returned at the end of each semester. Many of your classes will use on line texts (find these in the course syllabi in Canvas or at: Course Syllabi The person that does inventory requires all books be returned the last Friday of classes in order to have time to order discount books from the publisher for any missing books. By not turning these in or waiting to turn these in you force her to order unnecessary books at extra expense. Please be kind to our inventory personnel and return your books and keys on time.

Update Your Information Please have a phone that allows voice mail and text messages so we can reach you when needed. Contact Deb if you have a change of telephone number or e-mail. Let Deb know if your contact information is given to students by the instructor as quickly as possible. Instructor contact information may be found at People

Vacation and student holidays Graders may be required to grade during mid semester breaks, please discuss this with the coordinator/instructors each semester. All grading should be completed by or before the last day of classes. Syllabi will be on the department home page, Course Syllabi

Employment Opportunities Employment positions vary depending on how many sections of each course is running. For example: Calc 1 has more sections in the Fall and fewer sections in the Spring. Where Calc 2 may have more sections in the Spring. We cannot guarantee specific positions, but we can guarantee a position in the next semester provided: time cards and e-time are submitted on-time grader evaluations from all instructors are good to excellent PS: guard your evaluations and ask me to switch you to a different instructor if there is a chance your evaluation could be negatively impacted by a personality conflict

Please email with phone call follow up if you have any questions. ugmath@math.ksu.edu 532-0557