Effective Learning Strategies: Grading Rubric to Enhance Student Learning

Homework is a formative assessment to provide feedback to students regarding the new concepts learned on a weekly or biweekly basis. It also acts as a tool for the instructor to gage student learning outcomes. It provides real-time information to the instructor to design the coursework for effective student learning. This study aims to center a conversation about homework grading for new educators and provide one example of a homework grading rubric that is efficient and effective at providing feedback. A grading rubric was created to achieve the objective. To effectively understand the dynamics of varying student populations and backgrounds, the homework grading rubric study spans multiple classes at two higher education institutions to provide a comparative analysis of the outcomes. Time studies as well as student surveys are conducted to assess two outcomes; efficiency of the rubric and, effectiveness of feedback regarding the strengths and weaknesses in learning the course content. The study showed a decrease in grading time spent on the homework as well as the feedback helped in getting higher exam scores. Student surveys are being conducted during the 2019-2020 academic year.