Essay Grading#
Your essay will be graded between 0 and 5 in the following four dimensions.
Was the essay well structured, stating a thesis, supporting it with argument(s) that are clearly related to this point and (if relevant) distinct from one another, and linking these arguments in a logical way?
Did the essay do a good job of making its case, choosing relevant arguments, backing them up with evidence and examples at an appropriate level of detail, and responding to contrary views as appropriate?
Did the essay demonstrate a good understanding of the course’s subject matter, including both the topic and the wider context?
Was the essay presented clearly and in correct English?
Evaluations on this five point scale will be translated into grades as follows.
Grade |
Percentage |
|---|---|
0 |
0% |
1 |
25% |
2 |
50% |
3 |
65% |
4 |
80% |
5 |
100% |
For each essay, you’ll receive at least 3-5 peer reviews of your work (and will perform such reviews yourself; the number will depend on your participation in class the previous week, as described below). These reviews will be double-blind: neither an essay’s author nor its reviewer will know the other’s identity. Reviews will explain the rationale for your grade in each dimension, using at least 20 words.
Many, but not all, essays will be graded by TAs. Whenever a TA grades your essay, only the TA grade will matter to your essay score, though you will still see your peer grades. Our system will select essays for TA evaluation based on a range of different factors. Every time your peer graders have not yet demonstrated sufficient reliability, TAs will grade alongside them (thus overruling the grades they assign). TAs will also conduct spot checks: when reviewers’ scores substantially disagree; when essays receive unusually high scores; and entirely at random.
When no TA grades your essay, your grade will be computed as a weighted average of the grades assigned by your peers, where each peer’s weight is proportional to our assessment of their “dependability”: our belief about how much we can trust each score based on each grader’s behaviour so far in the course (see below). In cases where we consider a peer grade unreliable, we may assign it a weight of zero. We will round your weighted average to the nearest integer grade in each dimension.
If you disagree with the grade you receive on any essay, you can appeal, explaining your concern in 100 words or more. If you do not provide a convincing argument, a TA may reject your appeal without regrading your essay; however, you can refine your argument and resubmit the appeal. If a TA regrades your assignment, you will receive the TA’s grade regardless of whether it increases or decreases your score. You can also flag rude or careless reviews and endorse high quality reviews if you’d like to bring them to the attention of TAs without asking for a change in your grade.
Even if your essay was not initially graded by a TA, we may flag it for later review, in which case we will override your peer grade with the TA-assigned grade. There are two key reasons we may do this. First, if our inference algorithm updates its beliefs about your graders’ dependability to an extent that your grade would change by two points or more, a TA will override your peer graders. Second, if we become suspicious of a student’s grading behaviour (e.g., because of appeals or other spot checks) we will go back and regrade other assignments this student has handled.
Tip
Essays and resubmissions will be held in the Computer-based testing facility (CBTF).
Resubmissions#
This term we will be providing students with an opportunity to resubmit each Essay after receiving feedback from your peers. The purpose of the resubmission is to engage with feedback you receive from your peers and address the comments with a resubmission. In addition to submitting a new version of your essay, the resubmission process will also require you to formally reflect on the process and provide a detailed description of what you changed (see below for the questions you’ll need to consider). Resubmissions are optional - if you are happy with the feedback you received, you do not need to make a resubmission.
Important
Grades for your submissions are intentionally not released until after the resubmission period is over so you can do your resubmission based on the feedback you received. Your final submission scores will be released once the resubmission phase is complete and TAs have completed their reviews.
Resubmission reflection#
Please answer questions A, B, C, and D all in the one submission box that appears after prompt D.
A. Summarize the feedback you received#
In few sentences (point form is okay), summarize the feedback that you received on your initial submission from all of your peer-reviews. Be sure to include the strengths and weaknesses. Please do not copy/paste rubric items directly, we’re interested in seeing your synthesis of the feedback.
B. Summarize the changes you’ve made in this resubmission#
In a couple of sentences (point form is okay), summarize the changes that you have made to your submission that warrants a resubmission request. Note: if your submission has not substantially improved, we reserve the right to reject the resubmission request and ask you to try again.
C. Self-Assessment#
What score do you feel you deserve on this essay? Add a score for each of the 4 rubric items.
Structure: Was the essay WELL STRUCTURED, stating a thesis, supporting it with argument(s) that are clearly related to this point and (if relevant) distinct from one another, and linking these arguments in a logical way?
Argumentation: Did the essay do a GOOD JOB OF MAKING ITS CASE, choosing relevant arguments, backing them up with evidence and examples at an appropriate level of detail, and responding to contrary views as appropriate?
Subject matter: Did the essay demonstrate a good UNDERSTANDING OF THE COURSE’S SUBJECT MATTER, including both the topic and the wider context?
English: Was the essay presented CLEARLY AND IN CORRECT ENGLISH?
D. What have you learned from the feedback?#
In few sentences, summarize what you have learned as a result of resubmitting your work. If your reflection here is not suitable, your resubmission request will not be accepted.
Frequently Asked Questions (about Resubmissions)#
Q: Where do I do my resubmissions?
A: Just like essays, resubmissions are also done in the CBTF.
Q: What is the character limit for the resubmission reflection?
A: The limit for the whole of the resubmission reflection is 2500 characters.
Q: What happens if my Peer Reviews are not helpful/useful - should I still resubmit?
A: If you are unhappy with the quality of the peer reviews you received, you can appeal your grade and a TA will re-grade your essay. You are still welcome to resubmit your essay and improve on it, it will be evaluated independently. You can think of this as giving yourself feedback on your own essay and addressing it.
When you request an appeal and a TA grades your essay, they will also look at your peer reviews and evaluate those. Students who submit problematic peer reviews will have their dependability scores reduced.
Q: Will students be able to refer back to the peer review feedback and the original of the essay in the CBTF ?
Yes, you will be able to see all feedback, as well as your original submission.
Tip
Resubmissions to the essays will also be held in the Computer-based testing facility (CBTF).