Notes on Grading: Pacing Ourselves and Blind Submissions

In my current training position, I adminster two "certificate programs," which are a collection of classes that staff members take in order to develop a certain skill area.  The ones I administer develop basic competency in Microsoft Office and more general entry-level competencies for administrative professionals (software and soft skills).  The certificate program requires a final project which attempts to bring together and demonstrate the skills that were gained through the classes, while also providing an additional teaching opportunity, since unlike in the classroom, in the real world, a document is not finished until it is presentable.  Recently, speaking with the person who previously administered one of my certificate programs, I confessed to her that I was rarely ever busy, and she expressed a great deal of surprise:  she was always very busy with the certificate projects.  This puzzled me at first.  I don't get many projects at a time, and when I put my mind to it, I can get through the components and give feedback very quickly.  After all--there's no grade to put on the paper.  And then it occurred to me:  I am used to this.  Much more used to it than she was, since I taught writing, and had to give clear, focused feedback that stressed how to improve--even if the advice was never actually applied.

Thinking about grading, I remember it as the most odious task of teaching.  And yet, here I am, skimming quickly through these documents created for the certificate program, giving feedback, receiving resubmissions.  The one major difference is volume.  There are times, like now, when I do get all three parts of the project at one time, or components from three or four different certificate program participants.  But that's it.  And really?  It's not so bad.  I look through them.  I tell them what changes to make.  I send them back.  They get to them whenever they can.  This would be the ideal model for online distance learning, though of course I would have to assign grades at some point.  But then I wonder--if sitting back and giving feedback is relatively easy, what is it that made grading so odious?

The answer has to be the bulk of essays and the time pressure.  I hate to feel pressured, and yet it is necessary for me to feel pressured or I will accomplish nothing but blog posts or Facebook status updates--sad though that is to write.  So why not stagger deadlines or feedback sessions?  (Feedback sessions were my way of justifying particularly long turnaround times for graded papers.  Feedback on the previous paper and the grade would be given along with advice for the next paper during a session of office hours.  There would be a sign-up sheet.  Sometimes these would replace class for a couple of days.)

This stays with me.  Why do we grade papers in bulk?  It's the dominant method, but whom does it serve?  Not the instructor, who has this mountain of intimidation to face.  Even when I was interested in the topics, or looking forward to reading student responses to an assignment, anticipation of the grading marathon inevitably forced me to procrastination.

Does grading in bulk serve the students?  This is a harder question, because the grading inevitably becomes sloppier, the comments less helpful, the grades more arbitrary the deeper I get into the stack. And yet, I think one reason that we would not give out papers until everyone's paper had been graded was to maintain the semblence (illusion?) of fairness.  But their is always some bias.  The more workshops I attend on "subtle bias," and the longer I work in an office around people who are supposed to be aware of their biases, the more I conclude what I already believed--that bias is inevitable. Most of it, however, is personal.  There were students whose papers I graded harder, though I didn't mean to, because they were pushing my buttons in class, or because they thought they were smart, or because I knew (and I hated it when teachers did this to me) that they could do better.  Maybe I wasn't guilty of each one of these.  I certainly did what I could to avoid it, but sometimes perhaps only blind submissions would have prevented it.

Where I failed in grading was usually through the carelessness of exhanustion.  The last papers came after the previous papers, and looked either a lot better... or else a lot worse by comparison.  I was tired and weary of errors and repetition.  My handwriting got sloppy.  Inevitably, I had promised these grades by the next day and would catch hell or reproving glances if I did not deliver.  My feedback got thin or harsh.  And I probably didn't think as much about the grade, perhaps relying solely on my rubric to avoid the unclouded judgment that 2 A.M. (or 30 minutes before class) would not grant.

So given my insight, what would I do differently?  Well, for starters, I would like to see papers come in at a trickle rather than in bulk.  With a clear head and a clear idea of the objectives of the assignment and how to determine whether those objectives were met, I think the inconsistency of grading would take care of itself without having to "rank" papers and compare A to A and B to B and so on (which I never had time to do anyway, though that was the ideal).

But what about fairness and due dates?  In the real world, different people have different deadlines.  That's just the way of things.  You can't complain of fairness forever, because at some point it breaks down.  It could break down here, but there would be a lot of whining.  So let's randomize it.  Each student gets a number.  Numbers 1-5 turn in their papers on the first day.  Numbers 6-10 on the second day, and so on.  Numbers change with each paper assignment throughout the semester.

And while we're randomizing, keep your name off of your paper!  I'll record your name and number separately, and in the meantime, I will grade your paper blind.  I won't know whether you're a male writing a feminist paper, a light-skinned person writing about minority issues, a female writing a reactionary paper, and so on; I also won't know whether you're the one who sits up front with the sandals and the ingrown toenail or the smart-aleck who amuses me until you overstep the boundaries.  I won't know if you're the one who never says anything or the one who talks incessantly (to your fellow athletes) or texts while I'm talking.  And that will be for the better.  Unless you talk to me during office hourse about you're paper.  Then, I will know you--and that will be to your advantage. So really, it will be like an online class, or like the certificate projects.  I will grade gradually, as the papers come in, and I will know nothing about you, or will have forgotten everything I know.  So much for bias.

Now, about grading and returning papers--basically, workflow.  What would this look like?  Ideally, the grading would begin as the papers are submitted.  If 5 are submitted on Monday, those 5 should be read and comments written by Wednesday's class--or even by Tuesday.  If the grading stops, the papers pile up and the system doesn't work.  Since this system is based on an online process, it is well-suited to online feedback, though it could work with paper as well.  But stacks of papers bother me more than quantities of email, so I would eschew paper and opt for electronic communication.

And yes, classes go on, and someone still has to teach them.  But in between the classes are the office hours, when perhaps someone will grade me with their presence--but perhaps not.  And I will grade.  Because after all, when you're working 40-hours a week, you're pretty much expected to be productive while the clock is ticking.  There would certainly be additional opportunities for flexibility in an academic job as compared to an office job--grading/office hours in the library, for example.  The loss would be working in place.  The gain would be time to research or write, or do the more pleasurable parts of the job, like reading or prepping, or even *gasp* time to spend with friends and family outside of the grading-teaching time frame (whatever it might be).  This is how I would do it.

If it sounds rather like I would be tricking myself into doing work, that's probably accurate.  But might there be good pedagogical reasons for this approach?

Let's take grades.  So far, I have not mentioned them.  Grades could be assessed at the reading and commenting stage.  But why?  So that I would not have to read another round of the same papers? That is a compelling reason.  But it is not making use of the pedagogical potential of the writing assignment.  As I mentioned, the certificate projects are additional teaching and learning opportunities.  Because, while some people are able to make the leap and apply the concepts and use the tools that they have acquired--or even remember the information--most, in my experience, are not.  Why?  Because they are lost in their own minds, in their own obligations and job duties.  They sit through the classes.  They might pick up a thing or two.  But if, when they return to their desks, they do not use what they learned, they forget.  And so with students.  Particularly nontraditional students.

So let's make the first round a learning opportunity.  You submit.  I read.  I comment.  I make suggestions.  Corrections.  I am your boss.  This is what I want.  You comply, or you will not receive a good evaluation.  That is the bottom line.  But of course, you are expressing yourself, at least in part, so the liberal educator in me (liberal in the classical sense) will allow for that individual expression insofar as it represents a coherent part of the essay.  And then, you will show what you have learned.  And I will grade according to what I have seen and according to your final project.  I will assess your learning along with your paper.  You will move forward.  We will move forward together.  Ideally, you will receive your paper and your grade at a conference appointment, where we can discuss what else it might take for you to improve.  Outline goals.  Performance objectives.  Blending the workplace with the classroom.  Did you know that many human resources degrees are housed in education departments?

I've been working in a department under human resources for too long.  It may be that my ideas about teaching are becoming sanitized.  Certainly, I only have the leisure to think about this because I am *not* grading 75-150 papers at a time.  Undoubtedly.  But of the things that are wrong with teaching, I think the utter dread and resentment of grading is a big one.  Papers represent an opportunity to teach, and an opportunity to see into the minds of our students.  Everyone could stand to take them more seriously.  I also know that this model is better for those who are teaching 2-3 classes rather than 5-6.  But--isn't that true of every thorough, student-centered method?  Not the ones that are designed to take the pressure off the instructor under the guise of a decentered classroom.  You know the ones I mean.  And yet, I really am thinking about how I would like to do things.  I would make the workweek a little bit more like the 8-5 crowd, in order to get what I need to do done more efficiently.

Because you know what?  Right now, I would give just about anything to be sitting in an office grading 5 or 10 papers, preparing students for future successes and considering how their minds and their methods are developing in response to what I have set before them.  If I could fit that into my 8-5 day, and reflect at home on how I can improve the next day, or the next week, or the next semester... I would gladly be tied to an office 40 hours a week in service of my real vocation.

Discovering my "Strengths"

So my newest foray into introspection and self-analysis has been to take the "Discover Your Strengths" class offered by my department, which is based on the ideas of Donald O. Clifton, and the book Strengths Finder 2.0 by Tom Rath.  The book amounts to an explanation of the traits identified by the online quiz, which is not unlike the Myers-Briggs quizzes, but often presented pairs of choices that were difficult or simply didn't fit.  However, even with the "Neutral" responses I gave discounted, the results seemed pretty spot-on, and served to explain much of my frustration, and reinforce my opinions of what I want out of my work.

There are other factors, of course.  These "Strengths" are "Themes," and "Themes" are clusters of "Talents," which might be described as attributes, inclinations, or affinities.  Your "Strengths" derive from (or are developed by--the verbage is fuzzy) the application of Themes and result in near-perfection.  As far as I can see, most of mine are innate rather than something that can be developed through practice, but okay.  Being geared toward business, and in my setting, toward the development of nonacademic professionals and staff so that they can perform their jobs with more personal satisfaction to the benefit of the university (as cogs in a wheel), what's missing for me is the consideration of what motivates people.  Is the exercise of one of your "Themes" motivation in itself?  That seems to be the understanding and implication.  So while the upshot is to try to maximize your opportunity to do the things that use your strengths, the motivation seems to be "for the good of the department" or "to grow" in some nebulous sort of way.  Those don't work for me.  Putting myself in the service of others just for the sake of doing so, or to make money or be "part of the team" is not where I blossom--and my strengths sort of attest to that. They don't really lend themselves to utility.  Also, making more money by doing what I'm good at doesn't motivate me--so consulting for others, or using my problem solving to help others overcome their obstacles will only make me feel worse, because I'm using what I have for others' benefits.  Money is not a benefit in itself, particularly right now.

What strikes me in particular is that my particular strengths are the strength-set of someone higher in the heirarchy, or someone working in those free-flowing, idea-tossing work environments like Pixar and Google--or are the strengths of a self-motivated academic who doesn't have to wait for others in order to execute plans and ideas.  I do not work in the former environment, and I do not have the opporunity to be the latter.  Everything has to be ratified by someone here, and it takes 6 months or more.  Even a Facebook page.  By the time the opportunity comes around, I'm bored with the idea--or have realized that I can't tolerate the constraints imposed (like having someone approve every single Facebook post).

What drives me batty is that these "Strengths" or "Themes" are not the same parts of speech, and that some of them are not even real words.  If I were conceptualizing something, there would be an element of linguistic consistency!

Take a look.  I feel validated in one thing:  I am an idea person.  No one can take that away.  I can see different possible paths and outcomes--which sometimes leads to inaction.  I think deeply about things. Thinking fuels my ideas and helps me strategize--so those three are mutually reinforcing.  And I want to take action when I have an idea, and bring people along--so when I have to wait, I give up.  And when I can't get others involved or exceited, I get frustrated.  

Individualization is my favorite, because it takes me into the realm of understanding people rather than ideas and things.  It's right in the middle of my 5 strengths (which are drawn from 34 possible labels), and that seems significant somehow.  I have always admired people who are able to look at someone, understand their potential, and make things happen so that that person can grow and blossom, performing appropriate work that he or she finds interesting and significant.  I have wanted someone to do that for me, but no one ever has.  And now I know that I am that person.  All of the little things that I notice about people are a strength.  And I find that that validates something I believe in--the individuality and uniqueness of people.  It was a teaching strength--and since I have matured since I last taught an academic class, it might be more of one now.  You learn a lot working with staff.  So many faculty never learn to work with people.  I could really contribute a lot...

At the bottom of my five is the desire to make things happen--to get things started.  And considering my struggle with motivation, this might seem odd.  But I don't think so.  Motivation carries you through to the end.  Sometimes, I'm not interested in the end, because I can clearly see what it will or could be.  But mostly, when I have an idea, I want to stop everything and pursue it.  If I don't make it to the end, it's probably because there's nothing to tie me to the idea--no professional gain, no sense of being admired, of being heard, or being appreciated or valued, or of being any use to anyone.  That can be alienating, and can--and often does--take the wind out of my sails.  But it doesn't make me any less excited right at the start.  It just makes me move on or give up more quickly.

So yes, this is me, as much as my Myers-Briggs INFP is me, because that places me in the "starry-eyed dreamer" realm as well.  And this is why my greatest pleasure is to present ideas and see them take root in others and inspire them to have ideas of their own--my ideas interact with the unique qualities that others possess, and create something new.  I need to get back there someday.

Ideation®

People strong in the Ideation theme are fascinated by ideas. They are able to find connections between seemingly disparate phenomena.

StrategicTM

People strong in the Strategic theme create alternative ways to proceed. Faced with any given scenario, they can quickly spot the relevant patterns and issues.

Individualization®

People strong in the Individualization theme are intrigued with the unique qualities of each person. They have a gift for figuring out how people who are different can work together productively.

Intellection®

People strong in the Intellection theme are characterized by their intellectual activity. They are introspective and appreciate intellectual discussions.

Activator®

People strong in the Activator theme can make things happen by turning thoughts into action. They are often impatient.

Source: http://www.strengthstest.com/theme_summary.php

IDEATION

The genius of your Ideation talent begins with your love of ideas and the way you so

quickly learn new ideas, concepts, and principles. But you are not passive. It is as if you

take ideas and then begin spinning them around in your mind. With each new idea you

learn, you tend to think about it over and over—spinning it around with the many other

ideas you already have. The result of this thinking, turning, and spinning around of new

ideas with what you already know does two things. First, you generate new connections

and insights about ideas and their implications. Second, the spinning of your ideas often

results in new ideas. Therefore, the genius of the Ideation talent is the creativity of generating new ideas and insights as a result of contemplating and reviewing the ideas

you have learned.

STRATEGIC

The genius of your Strategic talent involves the way you think and generate alternatives.

When faced with a problem or a dilemma you can quickly generate multiple alternatives

to circumvent obstacles that prevent your progress. Sometimes you think in a backwards

manner by first visualizing the outcome you want to produce and then generating

multiple alternative paths to get to that objective. But your genius of Strategic doesn’t

simply begin and end with generating alternatives. The real genius of this strength is

found in the way that you can quickly sort through the various alternative paths and

determine the one that will work best and most efficiently.

INDIVIDUALIZATION

The genius of your Individualization talent is that you see each and every person and a

one of a kind, distinct individual. But more than that, you see the particular factors,

qualities, characteristics, thoughts, and perception that make each person distinct. You

see each person as a mosaic of highly individual factors each of which contribute to a

person’s distinctiveness. This includes both personal qualities and past events that have

formed the person. You are curious about their individual characteristics and you find

yourself thinking and asking questions about what makes each person so distinct. This

results in people feeling special and prized by your attention. But all of this simply lays a

foundation for the genius of your Individualization. Your genius is that armed with all of

this thinking and question asking, you attempt to interact with each person based on their

individual qualities. This leads to meaningful and very helpful relationships.

INTELLECTION

The genius of your Intellection talents stems from the quality of your thinking. You think

about ideas, concepts, and principles in great depth. It is as if you hold discussions in

your mind about ideas, concepts, observations, and new learnings. This results in deep

learning, deep understanding, and deep appreciation for the best knowledge. Out of this

deep processing, you often come to new insights and understandings. But the greatest

aspect of the genius of your intellection is the wisdom that you gain from your in-depth

thinking and internal discussions. You can think by yourself for hours, but never doubt

what results: wisdom, clarity, and a firm foundation for action planning and decision

making.

ACTIVATOR

The genius of your Activator talent begins with the concept of action. You want action

and you can make things happen. Most of all, the genius of your Activator talent gives

you the ability to see how to make things happen. Whereas others have ideas that only

swim around in their minds, you can quickly see how to turn ideas into actions, programs,

and services. This points to the greatest aspect of the genius of your Activator talent. You

are creative and very innovative. Finally, you have a tremendous amount of motivation,

energy, and personal power when it comes to taking an idea and then putting it into

action. You are particularly motivated to be innovative in turning your ideas into action,

programs, and services. You are a dynamo in turning ideas into actions that generate

revolutionary changes.
Source:  https://www.apu.edu/strengthsacademy/pdfs/genius_beauty_found_within.pdf

Applying Ideation Strengths in Careers

These observations and suggestions will help you consider careers that could best suit Ideation strengths. As you think them over, select those that apply to you best.

• Build on your creativity to find a career that encourages you to think freely and express your ideas.
• Find work in which others like your ideas and in which you are expected to keep learning.
• You will be able to find new and better ways of doing things within the organization.
• Select an organization where the leaders encourage and solicit your divergent thinking, stimulating them to consider some new approaches.

Applying Strategic Strengths in Careers

These observations and suggestions will help you consider careers that could best suit Strategic strengths. As you think them over, select those that apply to you best.

• Consider psychology, as it requires understanding situations and being able to discover or provide effective problem solving.
• A career in law may excite you, as it requires the use of logic to build cases and find creative and effective ways to present them.
• Choose careers that will allow you to be a leader and voice your ideas.
• List the various paths possible in your future so you can give careful thought to each one.
• Consider consulting. The question is, who do you want to consult with, and what do you want them to consult you about?

Applying Individualization Strengths in Careers

These observations and suggestions will help you consider careers that could best suit Individualization strengths. As you think them over, selectthose that apply to you best.

• A career in education would directly use your talents because you would value and treat each student as an individual.
• As a supervisor or manager, you would help individuals determine what they could do what they do best on a regular basis. Your evaluations would be based on who the person is and on what he or she had accomplished.
• Counseling could be a fulfilling role for you. Your ability to see people as distinct individuals will empower them and help them grow.
• Writing a novel would allow you to fully develop the uniqueness of each character.

Applying Intellection Strengths in Careers

These observations and suggestions will help you consider careers that could best suit Intellection strengths. As you think them over, select those that apply to you best.

• Choose work that will challenge you intellectually.
• Choose a work environment that matches your most productive thinking environment. If you think best when it’s quiet, choose a quiet work environment. If working with others stimulates your thinking, choose to work in a team environment.
• Select work where you can share ideas and pose questions.
• Look at careers in which you can interact with colleagues and have philosophical debates.

Applying Activator Strengths in Careers

These observations and suggestions will help you consider careers that could best suit Activator strengths. As you think them over, select those that apply to you best.

• Define what kind of leader you are. A thought leader? A giver of orders? A leader who gives the go-ahead signal? Large group leader?
• Small group leader? A leader with a mission? A profit leader? An athlete leader?
• Identify informal leadership roles within professions, companies, or departments into which you can step. Persuade coworkers that they can increase productivity, solve problems, launch programs, overcome obstacles, and bounce back from defeat.
• Find work that allows you to make your own decisions, and then act upon them.
• Consider becoming your own boss. Make of list of possible businesses you could start, grow, and sell once they show a profit. Understand that you will probably lose interest once an enterprise is so fine-tuned that it runs on its own. Recall how maintaining an operation has led to boredom in the past.
• Choose a career in which “actions speak louder than words” even though your words can propel people into action. Thoroughly research professions, organizations, and companies to identify the ones that are truly results-oriented.
• Understand that some supervisors and managers may feel threatened by your insistence on making decisions and acting without delay.

The Clifton StrengthsFinder and the 34 Clifton StrengthsFinder theme names are protected by copyright of Gallup Inc., 2000. All rights reserved.

Source: https://strengths.southmountaincc.edu/students-strengths/applying-talents-in-career-discovery/