We four GSIs graded the midterm of 130+ students. In some ways, I think we did the whole thing backwards. But I learned a lot and I don't think any of my students suffered a too-low grade.
The exam was 4 out of 6 short answer questions = 5 points each. And 2 out of 3 exam questions = 40 points each essay. We met and graded some short answer questions together. Then met again to grade essays. We took piles home to finish and later retrieved our section's exams to review, record the grades and return to students.
Things I'd do differently
--When preparing the final questions with the professor, develop the rubric for each question together.
----the very rough rubric we did prepare was extremely useful to me. I referred to it nearly each time I picked up a new exam. I found that I could be fair this way.
--Consider if questions can be rewritten to clarify and save students time. (We had one question that really only needed the students to list for types of immigrants. We didn't expect them to describe them as well. A better-written question could have saved many students valuable time.
--Add a note in the essay questions that says students will be penalized for inserting errors. We had a handful of students that answered an essay mostly correctly, but then added information that was incorrect as they tried to write a longer-than-necessary essay response.
--Assign an essay question to each GSI, or at least encourage reading in batches. While I enjoyed reading many of each of the 4 potential essays, I found that the grading process was more efficient and fair when I read, say 10 essays in a row on question 1, etc.
--Encourage GSIs to review the very lowest graded exams in their own section to make sure that grades were fair and not too harsh.
--Create a review of the exam that can be delivered by each of the GSIs that would include a student sample for each answer.
I have become quite protective of my students... and I want this feeling to lead to a more even grading process. I think it already is.
