From Objective to Informed Grading: Hermeneutics to Guide Grading in STEAM Education Classrooms

• In Event: Evolving Approaches to Classroom Assessment

Abstract

Addressing calls to develop assessment theories for integrated teaching and learning, this paper proposes an evidence-informed perspective on grading in Science Technology Engineering Arts and Mathematics (STEAM) education. We leveraged a qualitative collective case study design to generate rich profiles of three exemplary STEAM teachers’ grading approaches and practices. Our teachers pushed back against “objective” views of grading, whereby grades are composites of pseudo-standardized summative assessments, in favor of informed and contextualized grading, which aims to document and deeply understand students’ learning journeys. By applying professional judgement, activating students as agents in grading, and collecting a wide range of evidence, teachers characterized grading as a process of accounting for all available evidence, blurring the boundaries between formative and summative assessment.

Authors

• Christopher DeLuca, Queen's University - Kingston
  Presenting Author

• Michelle Dubek, OISE/University of Toronto
  Presenting Author

• Nathan H. Rickey, Queen's University - Kingston
  Presenting Author