grading rubric for homework and exams this is not meant to give exhaustive prescriptions for all kinds of answers that might appear on a ho
Grading Rubric for Homework and Exams
This is not meant to give exhaustive prescriptions for all kinds of
answers that might appear on a homework paper, but rather a guideline
for how students responses will be evaluated.
Each homework problem will be graded on a scale of 0 to 3, with
half-point grades allowed. I strongly encourage you to use explanatory
phrases and words. As the guidelines below make clear, the quality of
organization and explanation in your work is important. Being clear
wbout what you are doing at all times is a great way to ensure success
in these two areas. You do not need to re-explain material developed
in class, but you should make clear when you are using such tools. For
instance, you don’t need to restate the entire chain rule each time
you use it, but write “chain rule” when you do use it, and you may
also want to write specifically the two functions that are involved.
On exams, the number of points each problem is worth will be stated at
the beginning of the problem. A similar rubric as on the next page
applies. The standards for neatness, and to a lesser extent for
organization and detail of explanation, are typically relaxed somewhat
on tests because of the time pressure. On the other hand, fewer points
may be awarded for effort.
Work meriting a grade of 3 has a sequence of clearly stated steps that
lead to the right answer, and the reason for each step is made clear.
Only the most insignificant errors are present. All tools from the
course are applied appropriately, and the work is at least fairly
neat.
Work meriting a grade of 2 has a sequence of clearly stated steps that
go towards the right answer, but contains one or two minor errors,
often of algebra. It is apparent that without these errors the
student’s strategy would have produced the right answer. Tools from
class are applied appropriately, and the work is fairly well organized
and at least fairly neat.
Work meriting a grade of 1 shows some understanding of the ideas
needed to do the problem, but either tools from class are misapplied
or an error occurs so early in the problem that it is hard to know if
the student would have gotten the right answer without it. A grade of
1 may also apply to work where the idea seems to be there, but there
are several computational errors. This grade may also apply to work
where the steps are very unclear, or where there are significant parts
of the problem where no explanation of any kind is given.
Work meriting a grade of 0 may be completely off on the wrong track,
incomplete, or impossible to understand.