School or College
College of the Pacific
Department
Psychology
Location
William Knox Holt Memorial Library and Learning Center
Description
Problems with traditional grading include creating stress for instructors and students (e.g., Kohn, 1999), demotivating students (e.g., Butler, 1988),encouraging students to adopt avoidant learning goals (Pulfrey et al., 2011),and fostering competitive rather than cooperative environments (Schinske &Tanner, 2014). Specifications (“specs”) grading (Nilson, 2014) is a system that promises to solve these problems by assessing mastery of course learning outcomes on a satisfactory/unsatisfactory basis. By recommendation, "satisfactory” scores are set at a rigorous “B” level, and higher final grades are earned from completing more and/or higher-level satisfactory work. Advocates of specs grading (Nilson, 2014) argue that several evaluative criteria underscore benefits of specs grading systems, including: 1)encouraging a mastery-driven approach to learning, 2) motivating students to learn and excel, and 3) reducing student stress. However, limited or no systematic research has tested these claims. We conducted a mixed-method(quantitative survey data and qualitative written narratives), pre-post (start and end of the semester/quarter) study at three universities (large public and medium-sized private; two minority-serving; 38-50% Freshman Pell Grant recipients) to compare student perspectives of psychology classes utilizing specs grading and traditional grading. Initial quantitative results suggest that, at the University of the Pacific, students in a specs-graded psychology class reported reduced stress about their grades and reduced stress about meeting their learning goals. In contrast, students in a traditionally-graded psychology class reported similar levels of stress at the start and the end of the semester. Furthermore, students in the traditionally-graded class reported that their sense of personal control over their grades declined across the semester, whereas students in the specs-graded class reported a maintained sense of control. A team of undergraduate research assistants are currently working with the Principal Investigators to qualitatively code the written narratives to further analyze student perceptions of grading systems and their relationship to self-regulated learning (e.g., goal-setting, motivation). Results from this project provide empirical data on the feasibility of using specs in a variety of class types and impact on student learning outcomes.
What's So Special About Specifications Grading? Student Perceptions Across Three Universities
William Knox Holt Memorial Library and Learning Center
Problems with traditional grading include creating stress for instructors and students (e.g., Kohn, 1999), demotivating students (e.g., Butler, 1988),encouraging students to adopt avoidant learning goals (Pulfrey et al., 2011),and fostering competitive rather than cooperative environments (Schinske &Tanner, 2014). Specifications (“specs”) grading (Nilson, 2014) is a system that promises to solve these problems by assessing mastery of course learning outcomes on a satisfactory/unsatisfactory basis. By recommendation, "satisfactory” scores are set at a rigorous “B” level, and higher final grades are earned from completing more and/or higher-level satisfactory work. Advocates of specs grading (Nilson, 2014) argue that several evaluative criteria underscore benefits of specs grading systems, including: 1)encouraging a mastery-driven approach to learning, 2) motivating students to learn and excel, and 3) reducing student stress. However, limited or no systematic research has tested these claims. We conducted a mixed-method(quantitative survey data and qualitative written narratives), pre-post (start and end of the semester/quarter) study at three universities (large public and medium-sized private; two minority-serving; 38-50% Freshman Pell Grant recipients) to compare student perspectives of psychology classes utilizing specs grading and traditional grading. Initial quantitative results suggest that, at the University of the Pacific, students in a specs-graded psychology class reported reduced stress about their grades and reduced stress about meeting their learning goals. In contrast, students in a traditionally-graded psychology class reported similar levels of stress at the start and the end of the semester. Furthermore, students in the traditionally-graded class reported that their sense of personal control over their grades declined across the semester, whereas students in the specs-graded class reported a maintained sense of control. A team of undergraduate research assistants are currently working with the Principal Investigators to qualitatively code the written narratives to further analyze student perceptions of grading systems and their relationship to self-regulated learning (e.g., goal-setting, motivation). Results from this project provide empirical data on the feasibility of using specs in a variety of class types and impact on student learning outcomes.
