Grading the Cognitive Tutor

I do believe several weeks ago I mentioned the fact that we needed to talk about grading the Cognitive Tutor, one of the most debated aspects of the entire Carnegie way!! I’ll never forget the first time I sat in on a Carnegie User Group meeting. There were thirty or so middle and high school teachers from all over central Kentucky literally arguing about how to give students a grade for their work (or lack of work) on the Tutor. By the time we took a break a few of the female teachers were more red-faced then my husband gets at a close ballgame!

I was floored by the number of opinions there were over this seemingly simple process! Some teachers were giving grades based solely on progress in the tutor (by looking at the number of problems or units completed). Others were awarding points based on time-logged in a semester. Others were simply doing a checklist each day students were in the lab based on their observations of student “effort.” Some were setting individual goals with students every so-many weeks and giving grades based on whether or not they met their goal. One teacher had even developed his own formula for calculating grades based on the students rate per problem and the number of units and sections they had completed!! And a few teachers were even arguing that you should never give students a grade for what they do in the lab because it is individually paced and you cannot penalize students who don’t move as quickly through the content as others.

At the end of that afternoon, I remember going home thinking “there has GOT to be a way I can combine the best of all of these grading practices and get some BALANCE in the way I give my students a grade for their work.” So that’s exactly what I did! I created a 40 point rubric that included the four most important things I wanted to see my students strive toward...

# of minutes logged on the tutor (I wanted them to BE at school and make up their work if they missed.)
# of problems completed (I wanted them to use their time efficiently and get as much done as possible.)
# of units/sections completed (I wanted them to be concious of their mistakes and to use the example problems so that they could move more quickly through sections and units.)
behavior/effort (I wanted them to be on task and to keep from distracting other students as well.)

I decided that I would use the rubric every four days that we were in the lab (that’s 2 weeks for me) which amounts to about 4 times every grading period. (You can find my rubric in the Resource Center on Carnegie’s website). I also give my students a test grade at the end of each grading period depending on the number of units they have gained during that grading period.

Last year I also had a “Lab Quiz” for the first 20 units. After they completed a unit, they would come and take the Lab Quiz for that unit. I really liked the fact that students had to connect what they were doing each unit with similar problems on paper, but overall, the quizzes were taking way too much time away from the work they needed to be doing in the lab. This year I went back to just the rubric and test grade.

Overall, I think my students are satisfied with the way they are graded. At this point in the year I can print their detailed student report and they can figure their rubric score for me, which saves time AND helps them to self-reflect!! I’m thinking about MAKING them fill it out all of the time next year. I have really seen a difference in their level of effort and motivation when they really examine those reports for themselves.

I’d really like to hear from you all as well. How do you grade YOUR students? I am always looking for ways to improve. Please feel free to share with us in the comment section. We would LOVE to hear from you!!