Feedback and Grading

Feedback should be linked to achievable learning goals. It should be timely, specific, nonjudgmental, behaviourally based, and should offer students specific direction regarding how to improve. Feedback must be direct and clear (not biased or humiliating).

It is best when feedback highlights areas for improvement and gives specific suggestions for change. Balancing between support/reinforcement and challenges/criticism is a good approach. The ultimate goal is to improve confidence and clarify next steps for your student to improve.

 (google doc) Best Practices: Feedback to Encourage Resilience (external link) 

A rubric is a document that aids in the evaluation of academic work by concretely articulating the specific expectations of the assignment and clearly defining the criteria required for each level of achievement. Rubrics can be a helpful way to standardize the grading process and ensure that assignments are consistently graded according to concrete and objective criteria. Rubrics can help students to learn by articulating how they might improve future work and by highlighting the criteria corresponding to both their current level of achievement and higher levels of achievement. Rubrics can be used to grade any type of evaluation or assessment, including assignments, essays, presentations, and written examinations. 

See "Grading Assessments with Rubrics" in  (google doc) Best Practices: Creating Effective Assessments (external link)