Grading and Assessment

Assessment and grading can cause considerable anxiety for students, teaching fellows, and professors alike. So why test and assess? After listening to a lecture or watching a TedTalk video, we might feel that we completely understand the topic. But mere familiarity with content can provide a false sense of mastery. It is only through testing one’s knowledge — by applying it in problem solving, by teaching it to others, or by formal testing itself — that we truly gain mastery. Psychological studies have revealed that frequent testing is better for learning and retaining information than an equivalent amount of time spent studying.

Rationale

In the past iterations of this course, I administered two midterms and a final exam. I discovered that doing well on the high-stakes midterms became the focus of the course for too many students, causing them great stress. The midterms had also become a disincentive for non-majors to take the course. I also felt that the long intervals between midterms were encouraging, in some students, a pattern of falling behind in the reading and in understanding core concepts followed by intense cramming before each exam. This is a poor learning strategy, particularly since the concepts covered in this course build upon each other week to week.

Weekly assessments

My goal is to balance the work load across the semester in a way that encourages steady engagement and learning and avoids the spikes in stress and effort at exam time. I will assess student progress with weekly question sets (qSets) and quick qizzes (QQs).

Question Sets (qSets)

The qSets will be administered using the Gradescope module in Canvas and will be taken by each student outside of class time. The qSet are weekly tests that are timed and will be open-book. Students can use their course readings, notes, posted slides, and online research to answer the questions. Students cannot work with any other individual on their answers. Students cannot share or discuss the test questions with any others (including past and present students). Sharing questions and/or collaborating on the qSets will constitute cheating and will be referred to Ex Comm (unfortunately, this situation has occurred with severe consequences for the involved students). Students must answer questions in their own words, or with their own drawings or diagrams. You must not plagiarize nor can you answer with another’s words even if you appropriately cite the writer.

How will qSets work in practice?

Our class meets on Monday and Wednesday. Let’s consider the content of lectures 1 and 2 covered in week 1. After lecture 2 is presented on Wednesday of week 1, students have until Wednesday of week 2 to use office hours, the Ed Discussion forum, ad-hoc study groups, and my weekly review session to thoroughly understand the material of week 1.

At the conclusion of Wednesday’s lecture on week 2, a qSet will be posted on Canvas (using Gradescope) that tests the content of week 1 (lectures 1 and 2, and associated readings). Students will have from Wednesday of week 2 until the start of Monday’s lecture of week 3 to complete the qSet on week 1’s content. In other words, you will have a full week after the material is presented to avail yourself of help to understand the content. They will then have four days over which you can take the test.

The test may include factual questions that may only require a single phrase answer, short answers that require 2 or 3 sentences, and longer form answers that may require a paragraph or more. You may be asked to give an opinion, compare two concepts, or extrapolate from one concept to a new instance. You may be asked to make a drawing illustrating the sequence of events related to a neural process, or a concept map that shows the relationship among concepts. You will be asked to label anatomical figures. You may be asked to compare some concept you learned this week to a concept learned in a prior week.

The qSet will be open-book and all sources of information can be used to answer the questions. However, you cannot plagiarize a source or simply paste from my online notes or slides or from online sources. Integrate information over different sources (i.e., text, notes, lecture slides, other readings) and be clear to distinguish your ideas from others’ ideas when appropriate.

While you can initiate the qSet at any point over the four-day window, you must complete it within a proscribed window of time (usually three hours) once you begin. You cannot stop the clock and restart later. This time limit is designed to encourage you to read and study the material before beginning (you don’t want to be learning the material for the first time while taking a timed test).

Students registered with the resource office for disabilities and who normally get extended test time should contact me so appropriate accommodations can be made at the start of the semester.

How often will qSets be assigned?

The fall semester includes 13 weeks of instruction. As the tests lag the coverage of the material, and tests cannot be given during reading period, there could be at most 12 tests. I plan to give 11 tests, but only count your top 10 scores.

Missing a qSet submission deadline

Given the flexibility afforded to you in when you decide to take the qSet, and given that your lowest score is not included in your grade, I am not inclined to make allowances for missed work. If you wait until the morning of the Monday a qSet is due to begin work, and then your laptop battery dies before you complete it, I will not be sympathetic (yes, this is a true example). If you fail to turn in a qSet at the assigned time, you will lose one point per day it is overdue (e.g., 1 point for the first 24 hours, 2 points beginning at 24 hours, etc). Once the qSet is

If you miss a lecture due to illness, an athletic event, interview, or other reason, it is up to you to make-up that material. As I post notes and slides for every lecture, and often post my recorded lectures, this should be straightforward. If you miss significant class time due to an extended illness, please have your dean contact me so that appropriate accommodations can be made.

Anatomical labeling or drawings

I will include some anatomical labeling (and require simple drawings) in some qSets. For example, I will link an anatomical drawing on the Canvas test screen that you would download, markup in a paintbrush or drawing program, and then upload the marked up version.

There are many drawing programs for Mac and Windows that can be used for this purpose. We have tested a browser-based drawing program that works well called onpaste. Please be sure you know the mechanics of submitting a drawing before starting your first qSet. You don’t want to waste time sorting this out during the timed interval.

Quick Quizzes (QQs)

The Quick Quizzes (QQs) are a relatively new feature of the class and I have been experimenting with different approaches for administering them. The QQs are low stakes test that test comprehension of topics covered in the Monday and Wednesday lectures, and from the lecture notes or slides that were assigned for the Monday and Wednesday lectures.

My current plan for Fall 2022 is to administer a weekly QQ at the conclusion of the Wednesday class. There will be 10 QQs over the course of the semester. The QQs will be short (5 to 10 questions) that have a single word, letter, or number answer. The QQs will utilize the Canvas quiz module that students can access using the Canvas Student smartphone app for IOS or Android. Please download this app and become familiar with it before our first QQ.

How often will QQs be assigned?

The fall semester includes 13 weeks of instruction. I plan to give QQs on 10 of those weeks.

Missing a QQ

QQs will be given at the end of the Wednesday lecture using a smart device to record your answers. If you miss a QQ due to illness, you may take an alternative QQ at any office hours before the following Wednesday.

Potential problems

The QQ format for Fall, 2022, is new. If it proves unworkable, then I may substitute a different low-stakes assessment method in its place.

Final exam

Your ten highest scoring weekly tests will compose 70% of your grade. Quick quizzing will account for 10%. I will also administer a comprehensive final that will account for 20% of your final grade. This will be a traditional closed-book exam given during the exam period. Prior to the final exam, I will hold one or more comprehensive review sessions.