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[spinnaker]

I've had to get work back from students for many reasons.  Consequently, I disagree that asking the students for the tests back somehow lessens the teacher's authority.  Yes, saying, "I'm under investigation for possible grading" would undermine authority, but simply saying, "Turn back in your tests on <date next week> with revisions attached as separate pages for X points", is good enough to get the tests back with a legitimate pedagogical purpose.

The students could learn something by doing the revisions along with your comments upon their return and you have the tests back to give to whomever.

I see a problem here. Students who haven't saved their tests do not have the opportunity for these extra points.

[polly_mer]

I've had to get work back from students for many reasons.  Consequently, I disagree that asking the students for the tests back somehow lessens the teacher's authority.  Yes, saying, "I'm under investigation for possible grading" would undermine authority, but simply saying, "Turn back in your tests on <date next week> with revisions attached as separate pages for X points", is good enough to get the tests back with a legitimate pedagogical purpose.

The students could learn something by doing the revisions along with your comments upon their return and you have the tests back to give to whomever.

I see a problem here. Students who haven't saved their tests do not have the opportunity for these extra points.

Students should have read my syllabus about keeping all graded work until the start of next semester, as JerseyJay wrote.  I have no sympathy for students who toss papers in the middle of the semester because that's a sign to me that those students aren't serious about their education.

[spinnaker]

I've had to get work back from students for many reasons.  Consequently, I disagree that asking the students for the tests back somehow lessens the teacher's authority.  Yes, saying, "I'm under investigation for possible grading" would undermine authority, but simply saying, "Turn back in your tests on <date next week> with revisions attached as separate pages for X points", is good enough to get the tests back with a legitimate pedagogical purpose.

The students could learn something by doing the revisions along with your comments upon their return and you have the tests back to give to whomever.

I see a problem here. Students who haven't saved their tests do not have the opportunity for these extra points.

Students should have read my syllabus about keeping all graded work until the start of next semester, as JerseyJay wrote.  I have no sympathy for students who toss papers in the middle of the semester because that's a sign to me that those students aren't serious about their education.

Well and good, but we don't know whether carmenjj9 requires this.

[spinnaker]

I am an adjunct in a state institution. This is the first time I teach for this institution. I have over ten years of experience teaching full-time. Now I am teaching the second semester of a language class.   Some of the students have been comparing me to their previous instructors and complaining because they got better grades with them. The chair of the department has asked me to get the exams back from the students so that the coordinator reviews the way I grade.  Is that ethical? What do you think?

Some English speaking students will give the professor a hard time if his/her usage is not just like theirs.

[onthefringe]

Yes, it is ethical and it's an excellent idea.  Since this is a new institution for you, your grading tendencies might not match with the culture of the institution.  If you want to continue to teach there, you'll need to learn how to grade for this department.  It also is useful for students to have their work normed, particularly if they are majors.

Treat this as a learning experience, not an insult.  Good luck and let us know what happens!

This is my position as well.

For what it's worth, my department chair recently did an analysis of how every faculty member--including those of us who've been there for a decade or two--graded a common assignment for one of our core courses. It was indeed a learning experience.

I think this would be interesting, but not necessarily informative (or at least not informative about what the chair is actually trying to assess, perhaps). I'm pretty sure if we did that here, people would not grade the way that they do in real classes. More likely, they would compete to be viewed as "tough" graders.

Or, on re-read, was this a retrospective analysis of something that had already been graded in the context of the class?

[dr_alcott]

Yes, it is ethical and it's an excellent idea.  Since this is a new institution for you, your grading tendencies might not match with the culture of the institution.  If you want to continue to teach there, you'll need to learn how to grade for this department.  It also is useful for students to have their work normed, particularly if they are majors.

Treat this as a learning experience, not an insult.  Good luck and let us know what happens!

This is my position as well.

For what it's worth, my department chair recently did an analysis of how every faculty member--including those of us who've been there for a decade or two--graded a common assignment for one of our core courses. It was indeed a learning experience.

I think this would be interesting, but not necessarily informative (or at least not informative about what the chair is actually trying to assess, perhaps). I'm pretty sure if we did that here, people would not grade the way that they do in real classes. More likely, they would compete to be viewed as "tough" graders.

Or, on re-read, was this a retrospective analysis of something that had already been graded in the context of the class?

It was a retrospective analysis. I'll spare you the mundane details, since they're not so relevant on this thread, but feel free to PM me if you'd like them.

[quietly]

If I were an adjunct, I would find this heartening.  It means they're bothering to check whether student complaints are legit, and, if so, likely give you feedback to align yourself to their standards.  They could more easily just not renew your contract if they were really about customer satisfaction."

More generally, I know of multi-section courses in which all profs assemble at the end of the semester to grade one common final essay (a percentage of the final) multiple times for a random pool of students.  They then discuss their differences in the grades.  The exercise is not punitive, and everyone I know who does it enjoys the opportunity.  It's good for the students and student morale as well.

Q.

[polly_mer]

I've had to get work back from students for many reasons.  Consequently, I disagree that asking the students for the tests back somehow lessens the teacher's authority.  Yes, saying, "I'm under investigation for possible grading" would undermine authority, but simply saying, "Turn back in your tests on <date next week> with revisions attached as separate pages for X points", is good enough to get the tests back with a legitimate pedagogical purpose.

The students could learn something by doing the revisions along with your comments upon their return and you have the tests back to give to whomever.

I see a problem here. Students who haven't saved their tests do not have the opportunity for these extra points.

Students should have read my syllabus about keeping all graded work until the start of next semester, as JerseyJay wrote.  I have no sympathy for students who toss papers in the middle of the semester because that's a sign to me that those students aren't serious about their education.

Well and good, but we don't know whether carmenjj9 requires this.

Try this:

Why would someone who is serious about a course not keep material for that course for the entire term?

Why would someone who is mad about how the test was graded not have a bazillion copies to show everyone on the food chain that "bad" grading to get remedy, especially if the student were a generally good student who has a legitimate complaint about this one class?

People who lose material tend to be the weaker students (students who purposely discard graded assignments during the term are never good students) so anyone who claims "I don't have it any more" is generally someone who wasn't trying hard.  I still feel no guilt over those people not being eligible for extra points.

Oh, and not that it matters for an evaluation of me purpose, but good students who had a freak accident and lost an important paper tend to ask for another copy so that they can turn in something for some points instead of whining, "I don't have it so I can't get those points".

[spinnaker]

Yes, it is ethical and it's an excellent idea.  Since this is a new institution for you, your grading tendencies might not match with the culture of the institution.  If you want to continue to teach there, you'll need to learn how to grade for this department.  It also is useful for students to have their work normed, particularly if they are majors.

Treat this as a learning experience, not an insult.  Good luck and let us know what happens!

After rereading your post and several others I agree that this needn't be taken as an insult, but why should OP adjust his/her grading style to blend with the style of others at the college? They're only hiring him/her for the one semester; he/she is in essence a visitor.
Or do we get into the business of encouraging adjuncts to look forward to continued employment at the same college? If so, let's not call them fools when it doesn't happen.

[anthroid]

Yes, it is ethical and it's an excellent idea.  Since this is a new institution for you, your grading tendencies might not match with the culture of the institution.  If you want to continue to teach there, you'll need to learn how to grade for this department.  It also is useful for students to have their work normed, particularly if they are majors.

Treat this as a learning experience, not an insult.  Good luck and let us know what happens!

After rereading your post and several others I agree that this needn't be taken as an insult, but why should OP adjust his/her grading style to blend with the style of others at the college? They're only hiring him/her for the one semester; he/she is in essence a visitor.
Or do we get into the business of encouraging adjuncts to look forward to continued employment at the same college? If so, let's not call them fools when it doesn't happen.

I read the OP as hinting that she would like to continue to teach for this place.  Different institutions have different missions, and while we all have the opportunity to change the cultures of our workplaces, I do think that there are mission-appropriate grading styles that might not be congruent with other kinds.  If (for instance) students are accustomed to significant feedback, particularly in beginning classes, OP really has to learn to give that kind of feedback if she wants to continue to work for the new place.

If you look at NSSE data, for example, you'll see that first-year students who receive frequent, helpful, and early feedback are much more likely to persist to the second semester, the second year, and beyond, and retention is a major issue for many colleges today--the majority of us are tuition driven, and, if we want to stay open (not just because of dollars but also regional accrediting agencies that do NOT like low retention and 6 year graduation rates), we need to retain students.  Grading style is salient for retention.

OTOH, there's a possibility that I'm overthinking this and taking the potential for larger institutional concerns into account as I read this thread.

[spinnaker]

Yes, it is ethical and it's an excellent idea.  Since this is a new institution for you, your grading tendencies might not match with the culture of the institution.  If you want to continue to teach there, you'll need to learn how to grade for this department.  It also is useful for students to have their work normed, particularly if they are majors.

Treat this as a learning experience, not an insult.  Good luck and let us know what happens!

After rereading your post and several others I agree that this needn't be taken as an insult, but why should OP adjust his/her grading style to blend with the style of others at the college? They're only hiring him/her for the one semester; he/she is in essence a visitor.
Or do we get into the business of encouraging adjuncts to look forward to continued employment at the same college? If so, let's not call them fools when it doesn't happen.

I read the OP as hinting that she would like to continue to teach for this place.  Different institutions have different missions, and while we all have the opportunity to change the cultures of our workplaces, I do think that there are mission-appropriate grading styles that might not be congruent with other kinds.  If (for instance) students are accustomed to significant feedback, particularly in beginning classes, OP really has to learn to give that kind of feedback if she wants to continue to work for the new place.

If you look at NSSE data, for example, you'll see that first-year students who receive frequent, helpful, and early feedback are much more likely to persist to the second semester, the second year, and beyond, and retention is a major issue for many colleges today--the majority of us are tuition driven, and, if we want to stay open (not just because of dollars but also regional accrediting agencies that do NOT like low retention and 6 year graduation rates), we need to retain students.  Grading style is salient for retention.

OTOH, there's a possibility that I'm overthinking this and taking the potential for larger institutional concerns into account as I read this thread.

Not to quarrel with any of this, but I would entertain the possibility that the students were taught by a lax grader and/or ineffective instructor during the first semester and OP is trying to straighten things out.

[anthroid]

Yes, it is ethical and it's an excellent idea.  Since this is a new institution for you, your grading tendencies might not match with the culture of the institution.  If you want to continue to teach there, you'll need to learn how to grade for this department.  It also is useful for students to have their work normed, particularly if they are majors.

Treat this as a learning experience, not an insult.  Good luck and let us know what happens!

After rereading your post and several others I agree that this needn't be taken as an insult, but why should OP adjust his/her grading style to blend with the style of others at the college? They're only hiring him/her for the one semester; he/she is in essence a visitor.
Or do we get into the business of encouraging adjuncts to look forward to continued employment at the same college? If so, let's not call them fools when it doesn't happen.

I read the OP as hinting that she would like to continue to teach for this place.  Different institutions have different missions, and while we all have the opportunity to change the cultures of our workplaces, I do think that there are mission-appropriate grading styles that might not be congruent with other kinds.  If (for instance) students are accustomed to significant feedback, particularly in beginning classes, OP really has to learn to give that kind of feedback if she wants to continue to work for the new place.

If you look at NSSE data, for example, you'll see that first-year students who receive frequent, helpful, and early feedback are much more likely to persist to the second semester, the second year, and beyond, and retention is a major issue for many colleges today--the majority of us are tuition driven, and, if we want to stay open (not just because of dollars but also regional accrediting agencies that do NOT like low retention and 6 year graduation rates), we need to retain students.  Grading style is salient for retention.

OTOH, there's a possibility that I'm overthinking this and taking the potential for larger institutional concerns into account as I read this thread.

Not to quarrel with any of this, but I would entertain the possibility that the students were taught by a lax grader and/or ineffective instructor during the first semester and OP is trying to straighten things out.

I wouldn't disagree.  We don't have enough information--how big is the college, how many sections of the class are being offered, and so forth.  OP is new to the institution, and it seems to be wise to get input from the full-time department members, and especially the chair, about grading standards as they interact with the mission.  OP needs to be working closely with the chair about grading standards.  OP is not automatically right just because OP is a put-upon adjunct. 

I've been in this role myself and I always want to know what the grading norms are for a particular college.  If the norms are "give everyone an A," I know never to work for that college again (and, FTR, I've never worked for a place where that demand was in place).

[oldfullprof]

I'm going to take my usual position and disagree.  I'd be willing to show my gradebook, and have.  But many variables go into a given instructor's methods and grading.  I get very irritated at faculty who play macho grading games with this type of comparison.  I'm not sure you can be "insubordinate" to a chair.  Granted, if you are an adjunct, you don't have much choice, but I wouldn't put up with this as tenured faculty. 

[polly_mer]

I'm going to take my usual position and disagree.  I'd be willing to show my gradebook, and have.  But many variables go into a given instructor's methods and grading.  I get very irritated at faculty who play macho grading games with this type of comparison.  I'm not sure you can be "insubordinate" to a chair.  Granted, if you are an adjunct, you don't have much choice, but I wouldn't put up with this as tenured faculty. 

I'm not tenured, but part of assessment discussions came down to "Polly, why are your numbers so much lower than everyone else's?"

I put up the questions that went into those numbers.  I put up the students' answers.  I showed examples of the homework, quizzes, and in-class lecture problems.  I was not asked again why my numbers were so low; those particular students had biffed those questions, but they should have been able to do them.  Nothing was wrong with my grading.

Something similar happened when I was teaching as an adjunct.  The students complained to the dean.  I had discussions with administration, showed my materials, and was observed during class. The students who then complained again were told to take their complaints to me because I was in charge of the class and I was not doing unreasonable things that required intervention.