Student and Faculty Attitudes on Grade Appeals in Crop and Soil Science Classes.

Grade appeals are not discussed and researched as often as other pedagogical issues, but students very often ask teaching assistants and professors to change their grades, from small quizzes, to large exams, to course final grades. This project will be composed of an anonymous student survey of an introductory soils course, and a small set of faculty interviews. Students will be surveyed about how often they’ve asked for a grade change, their motives (e.g. they believed their answer was correct, or they need a higher score), and their professors’ use of strategies to decrease grade conflicts (e.g. rubrics, online grade posting). After reviewing the results, volunteer faculty will be asked follow-up questions about how often they receive grade appeals, what they might think might be student motivation behind appeals, and what they do to make their grades understandable or transparent. This project will aim to relate students’ and professors’ general attitudes on grade appeals, and to report on any discrepancies that might be present.