Culturally Responsive Teaching Fall 23-Spring 24

Bio 132: Neurophysiology

reframe/ assessment / progressive

I decided to implement an alternative grading practice in my course. The practice I choose was minimum grading. Instead of using a 0-to-100-point scale, I used a 50-to-100-point scale on my first lecture exam in the course. I did this in part to weight the first exam less than subsequent exams since students often are intimidated by the first exam in a course – not knowing a professor’s style, approach, etc. I suppose an alternative strategy would just be to weight each exam differently (first exam less, subsequent exams more) but continue to use the 0-100 point scale. Anyways, the minimum grading strategy I incorporated in my course was an approach advocated in the book “Grading for Equity.”

I tried this grading strategy out, first, in a course in the fall of 2023 – neuroanatomy. For this course I implemented the strategy across all assessments. In the current spring 2024 semester I took a different strategy. I have just implemented the minimum grading strategy for the first exam. The later exams I am grading with a 0 to 100 point traditional grading approach. I will informally survey students at the end of the course to get a sense of their opinions regarding this grading approach.

The second strategy I implemented was to try and soften a bit some of the wordage in my course syllabus, something I hadn’t thought about before. I did not completely change the whole syllabus but tried to make the wording more inviting, less threatening, and less punitive sounding in parts. I removed wording that I might have incorporated in the past – such as no late submissions accepted etc. I made these changes based on my take aways from this course/learning community and my readings of the book “Grading for Equity.” One of the take aways I got was that our words in a syllabus can be inviting or off-putting. Off-putting words can lead to dis-engagement in a course which in turn can lead to poor performance in the course.

I have already changed the syllabus in parts – especially those related to assessment and the policies regarding late work etc.

Image one:

minimum grading paragraph from my syllabus neurophysiology

Caption image one: screenshot from my syllabus illustrating the minimum grading strategy I have incorporated into this course

Long description: I would like to institute a minimum grading policy for the first exam. Often times I have found that the students are more intimidated by the first exam in a course because they may not be familiar with the professor's exam style, etc. So that you aren't penalized in this way I would like to make the minimum grade possible for the first exam 50/100, not the usual 0/100. Many educators argue that shifting the 0 to 100 point scale to a 50 to 100 point scale is more equitable. For this reason, if you score on the first exam below 50 I will update your exam score to 50, the minimum grade.

Image two:

rewording example from my neurophysiology syllabus

Caption image two: screenshot from my syllabus illustrating an example of rewording related to assessment that is more inviting

Long description: There will be three written lecture exams given during the semester, the third exam will count as the final. The third exam will not be comprehensive-yea! :-). Each exam will be worth 100 points and may include multiple-choice, matching, and true and false questions, as well as drawing questions, and will cover the material for that unit. Each exam will also include drawing questions. I will give you a list of potential drawing questions prior to each exam - and then I will select a few of these drawing questions to use on the exam. I draw a lot during lecture and you can follow me and use this as a kind of guide as to what I expect in the drawings. I'm also more than happy to look over some of your drawings prior to each exam to see if you are on the right track, incorporating enough information, etc. There will be approximately 30 to 35 questions on each exam, plus 3 to 4 drawings. Total lecture exam points possible will be 300.

Faculty bio:

photo of me with an elephant

I am a neuroscientist and neuroanatomist by training with a passion for teaching. One of my deepest professional desires is to get more students interested in and passionate about science. I also am deeply interested in the intersection between the arts and sciences. I hope to make my teaching and assessment more equitable in the future.

link to syllabus

bio 132 syllabus neurophysiology spring 2024(4).docx