Title

Contract Grading in the Technical Writing Classroom: Blending Community-based Assessment and Self-assessment

Publication Date

2018

Document Type

Article

Abstract

This article builds from the author’s previously published article, “Contract Grading in a Technical Writing Classroom: A Case Study”. This prior study examined how students in a technical writing classroom collaborated to generate criteria relating to the quality of their writing assignments with the instructor determining whether or not they met this criteria. This study demonstrated that although students perceived more involvement in the grading process, they resisted participation in crafting criteria as a class and preferred traditional grading methods by an expert. Based on feedback from reviewers and additional reflection, this IRB approved study consists of a revised contract grading system implemented in my spring 2017 technical writing classroom. This contract grading system consists of full student involvement throughout the contract grading process, which includes generating classroom-agreed upon criteria for each assignment and self-assessment of each assignment. The results from this study show that students embraced being involved with all aspects of their assessment, specifically in generating criteria and having clear expectations and more autonomy. The study concludes with additional implications and encouragement to continue to experiment with contract grading.

Original Citation

Litterio, L.M. (2018). Contract Grading in the Technical Writing Classroom: Blending Community-based Assessment and Self-assessment. Assessing Writing, 38, 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asw.2018.06.002

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