Conversations with students about their grades do not have to be a difficult or time-consuming process. Healthy discussions about grades are critical in shaping your students’ trust in you as an instructor. Effective Grading: A Tool for Learning and Assessment in College by Walvoord and Anderson (1998) offers two principles to deal with these types of conversations.
Principle 1: Make Grading Part of Learning
Begin by adopting an assignment-centered approach as a model for course planning that includes clear course goals.
Begin by asking yourself what you most want your students to learn, create well-designed assignments around those objectives, and use grading as a part of the learning process. Tests and assignments should align with course goals and objectives to help students reach those goals successfully.
Providing clear grading criteria and transparency to your students from the start sets them up for success by allowing them to prepare for the assignment or assessment. Students should be aware of how their work will be evaluated. Continue this process by making your teaching interactive and offering ongoing feedback about their work.
Principle 2: Respect Your Students
When communicating with students, begin by respecting them as people who want to learn. Try to understand their arguments and listen carefully. Invite their input and ask questions to open up the dialog. Establish a healthy level of trust and motivation in your classroom to make these conversations easier to manage.
Reference:
Walvoord, B.E., & Johnson Anderson, V. (1998). Effective grading: A tool for learning and assessment
San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.