Use these resources to design assessments that align with course goals, gather meaningful evidence of learning, provide feedback students can use, and consider grading practices that emphasize growth and demonstrated achievement.
Assessment Design and Checking for Understanding
Use these resources to align assessments with learning goals, gather meaningful evidence of learning, and use low-stakes checks to adjust teaching before high-stakes work.
- AAC&U VALUE Rubrics - Use faculty-developed rubrics to assess authentic student work across broad learning outcomes.
- The Scholarly Teacher: Connecting Assessment and Learning - Design assessments that support improvement while also providing evidence of learning.
- Patricia Cross Academy: Learning Assessment Techniques - Browse practical techniques for gathering evidence of student learning, checking understanding, and supporting student reflection.
- Faculty Focus: "Everybody with Me?" and Other Not-so-useful Questions - Replace vague checks for understanding with brief Classroom Assessment Techniques that reveal student thinking.
Feedback and Student Self-Assessment
Use these resources to give feedback students can understand and apply, and to involve students in interpreting their own progress.
Note: Some Faculty Focus articles may require creating a free account to access the full article.
- The Scholarly Teacher: One Educator's Rationale for Student Self-Assessments - Use reflection and self-assessment to help students interpret progress and take greater ownership of learning.
- Faculty Focus: Why Students Ignore Feedback and Tips to Fix It! - Practical guidance on timing, specificity, access, relevance, and opportunities to ask questions.
Alternative Grading
Alternative grading approaches seek to make grades more closely reflect learning, feedback, and demonstrated achievement. Approaches include standards-based grading, specifications grading, contract grading, labor-based grading, collaborative grading, and ungrading.
- Center for Grading Reform: Resources - Find introductory guides, books, blogs, communities, podcasts, and syllabus repositories for getting started or going deeper.
- Grading for Growth - Free newsletter and article archive on alternative grading practices, implementation, research, and common challenges.
- The Grading Conference - Annual online conference on grading reform; browse current and past programs, presentation abstracts, and conference information.
Selected LMU Faculty Examples
- Giving More Efficient Feedback on Student Writing - Michael Noltemeyer and Morgan Gross offer strategies for focused, dialogic feedback that supports revision and growth.
- Ungrading Resources - Elizabeth Drummond shares readings and materials for exploring ungrading.
- Grading Standards - Susan Scheibler shares a faculty-developed resource on grading standards.