{"id":75,"date":"2018-08-15T00:40:43","date_gmt":"2018-08-15T00:40:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/criticalhacking.localgameslab.org\/2018\/?page_id=75"},"modified":"2018-08-20T21:38:48","modified_gmt":"2018-08-20T21:38:48","slug":"feedback-and-grades","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/criticalhacking.localgameslab.org\/2018\/feedback-and-grades\/","title":{"rendered":"Feedback and Grades"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Grades are often the primary scaffold of a course&#8217;s structure. <em>Not here<\/em>. There are no points. I will not return assignments with grades on them. You are not working for my points, but for yourself and each other. They may help students stay on track, but at too great a cost to the meaningfulness of the learning attempted in this environment. It would be inappropriate to the setting and a lie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Think about it. I&#8217;m expecting you all to come from your many majors, with different skills and backgrounds, to do idiosyncratic, creative work. While I care about communication, this means more than how you fit and compare on a rubric for formal presentation. Ditto for writing. There is not a list of standardized material or skills you need to practice. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One of the benefits in the Honors College is our reduced grading scheme, which is obvious, just, and objective if we give it a chance to be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>A &#8211; Excellent work. You did something majorly above the call of duty, and don&#8217;t have any areas with major deficiencies. There are many ways to do this.<\/li><li>CR &#8211; You did it. You showed up, met expectations, and completed your work to a satisfactory level.<\/li><li>NC &#8211; You blew it. You have one or more major deficiencies in your work. <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"512\" height=\"401\" src=\"http:\/\/criticalhacking.localgameslab.org\/2018\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/told-points.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-76\" srcset=\"https:\/\/criticalhacking.localgameslab.org\/2018\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/told-points.jpg 512w, https:\/\/criticalhacking.localgameslab.org\/2018\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/told-points-300x235.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 512px) 85vw, 512px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">You will decide your own success in this course, and your grade. I reserve the right to change this, but the first and usually last step will be to ask you what you&#8217;ve accomplished and earned. I am always happy to individually wade through these details on a case-by-case basis and privately, and I will always warn you very explicitly if you&#8217;re developing a major deficiency. But other than that, learning tends to be the strongest when we spend our time worrying about the work and not it&#8217;s score. Success in the larger sense is rarely doing just enough to jump through the hoops provided.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Anyone who has found something to actively care about and who can be an active part of our collective journey has never had anything to worry about in the grade department. More importantly, this also makes it super easy to write recommendation letters for me and to share stories about their work in interviews for them. Those who are looking to do enough to get by tend to secure themselves CR. Seeking only my approval is not the name of the game. I&#8217;m old and open-minded enough to recognize excellence in many garbs. And I&#8217;ve never given an NC to someone who didn&#8217;t give it to themself.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Such a hands-off grading procedure is not to leave you alone. Quite the opposite. You will receive regular, frequent feedback on your work, and I encourage you to ask for more. It&#8217;s usually a good sign that you care about what you&#8217;re doing for its own sake rather than mine. I will always provide suggestions for improvement, revision, and further thought. Smaller assignments may not merit editing along these lines, and the comments should be taken to heart for next time. On the other hand, do take some of your work seriously to reconsider, revise or extend in response to audience reception. This is one of the many signs of excellence. Good work never begins as flawless. It looks like something that is worth engaging with further. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The questions I ask take some time to get used to. If you see a document with a bunch of comments, take a deep breath. Unless this is a very final draft about to go public, think about it like a conversation rather than a bunch of edits to make. I may point out some forms of proof-reading because I think there&#8217;s something to learn, but by and large I&#8217;m concerned with expression of ideas. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Moreover, I will create opportunities for you to provide feedback on each others&#8217; work. Each classmate is essentially your first audience member, someone who cares about this work and wants to see you do your best. Their reception of your work matters too.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Grades are often the primary scaffold of a course&#8217;s structure. Not here. There are no points. I will not return assignments with grades on them. You are not working for my points, but for yourself and each other. They may help students stay on track, but at too great a cost to the meaningfulness of &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/criticalhacking.localgameslab.org\/2018\/feedback-and-grades\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Feedback and Grades&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":8,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-75","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/PaaYyq-1d","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/criticalhacking.localgameslab.org\/2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/75","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/criticalhacking.localgameslab.org\/2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/criticalhacking.localgameslab.org\/2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/criticalhacking.localgameslab.org\/2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/criticalhacking.localgameslab.org\/2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=75"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/criticalhacking.localgameslab.org\/2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/75\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":77,"href":"https:\/\/criticalhacking.localgameslab.org\/2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/75\/revisions\/77"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/criticalhacking.localgameslab.org\/2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}