|
|
 |
|
| EDLT 485: Criteria to Obtaining a Passing Grade |
|
It is compulsory to attempt all parts of all assessment tasks. You will normally be
expected to pass each assessment task, but I am sympathetic to ‘second chances’
for those of you who work hard but somehow misinterpret the requirements or
otherwise do not manage to pass a particular task. I do not allow resubmissions
because of the sheer numbers enrolled in this unit and the extensive feedback
supplied, and because in the past, I have found some students submit poor quality
work by the due date knowing they will get an opportunity to resubmit, perhaps at
a time more convenient to them. I now believe resubmissions are unfair to those of
you who struggle to complete the work under difficult circumstances (which apply
to all of us at various times). I also believe, however, that any learner should be
given a chance to improve and excellent work in a later assignment has on many
occasions in the past turned a student’s poor result in an early assignment into a
Pass (sometimes higher) overall. I am less sympathetic to cases of an excellent
result in an early task being followed by very poor quality work in a later task. In
such cases, the problem is usually one of time management rather than knowledge
of expectations or difficulties ‘settling back’ to study after a long absence.
A perennial problem for markers is how much weighting to give to literacy and
presentation. I have become increasingly concerned about the standard of literacy
in some portfolios, especially since this unit is designed to be completed by future
teachers. In the past I have avoided allocating percentages to literacy issues
(grammar, spelling, punctuation, paragraphing, referencing) but I have struggled,
as have all my team of markers, over the dilemma of awarding high marks to work
that has some excellent content but which is frustratingly poorly presented.
Sometimes the problem is with proofreading, sometimes with poor language skills.
We cannot always be certain of the cause. What we are certain of is the mental
anguish it causes us as we try to decide what to do about it. In an attempt to give
more guidance to markers (and to you), therefore, I have decided this year that a
portfolio which does not demonstrate a high standard of literacy will not be given
a grade higher than a Credit, no matter how excellent the work. In addition, marks
for assignments displaying a poor standard of literacy or presentation will be
reduced by 5%, 10% or 15%, at the marker’s discretion.
By ‘high standard of literacy’, I mean the following sorts of things:
- writing in proper sentences, not half-sentences and stand-alone clauses or phrases
(dot point lists are an exception);
- evidence of proofreading so that obvious errors are eliminated. Reading out loud
helps here. The sorts of things which can be picked up by proper proofreading are
repetition of words, absence of words, sentences with no ending, words with spaces
in the middle, poor paragraphing, obviously incorrect words being used (such as
‘defiantly’ instead of ‘definitely’);
- grammatical correctness — such things as sentence structure, plural verb with plural
subject, consistency in use of tenses (not present tense mixed incorrectly with past
tense), use of correct words (such as ‘alternative’ not ‘alternate’, ‘got’ not ‘gotten’);
- correct spelling, especially of educational terminology and authors’ names;
- acknowledgement of source of ideas or claims (see note on referencing in the
‘portfolio presentation’ section below).
It is impossible to be prescriptive about how many errors you can make before you
reach the magic ‘cut-off’ but markers will use their discretion based on how
difficult it is to read your work with any sort of ‘flow’. If we constantly have to
stop and reread in order to try to make sense of what you have written, then the
chances are that literacy is a problem in your portfolio. Marking your portfolio in
the allocated time is also a problem under these circumstances, as is the frustration
level of the marker!
Although we normally expect proper sentences in your writing, it is acceptable to
use dot points where these are appropriate (as I have done throughout this Unit
Outline). Breaking your work into sections is also helpful. In general, you should
try to make your presentation as clear as possible. If we can read your work easily,
with no backtracking and rereading in a search for meaning, then what you are
arguing will usually be clear.
|
|
