Professors: how do you get over the horror of grading essays?

Question

I've been teaching for over 15 years. Each semester, it gets harder and harder to get up the nerve to mark a stack of essays. I love teaching and am lucky to have some very bright 1st- and 2nd-year university students. Still, I procrastinate. I will talk myself into avoiding it. Eventually, of course, I do; but I wonder if you have any strategies to make it more palatable, less onerous.

Thanks.

Answer 1

I use the 6+1 trait writing rubric which allows me to be more objective about what I am reading. Before that, I had the same dread of not being able to detect "quality writing" as discussed in "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values" (Robert M. Pirsig). So I procrastinated etc. etc.

While 6+1 was developed for K-12 writing assessment, I find it useful when I have to grade college level essays. Thank God I am not an English teacher, (I instruct teacher certification post-baccalaureate students) but I still find essays a useful way to see if my students can explain back to me what I have attempted to teach them. Professional writing is necessary at all levels, so this allows them to develop those professional level skills.

6+1 really does work at any level to objectify writing assessment. I use the 5 point scale given in the rubric and evaluate each trait. I arrive at a grade by multiplying the "Ideas" score by 5 and summing the product with the rest of the trait scores and double the result to arrive at 100% based score to meet grading standards. On most five paragraph essays I simply assign an "idea" score for each paragraph and a score in general for the other 5 traits (which should be perfect 5+'s at this level) which sums to 100% when perfect. Anything that does not meet "Presentation" trait standards at the 5 level is an automatic "F" because it means I don't even waste time reading it. This will make more sense if you take a minute to read the rubric given in the reference below.

Answer 2

Do you have someone to help you? Not a professor, but used to date an palentology professor. He and I would sit down and review the papers. As I was proofreading Ph.D. papers for publication at the time, I would read over the essays and mark spelling and grammatical errors. I would also make sure all quotations were cited properly. My ex would then read them solely for content. The grade would then be based upon a combination of the two. I know it helped my ex not to have to bother looking for style in papers.

Answer 3

Take the stack, and throw them across the room. Those which fly the furtherst get A's, less further B's and so on. Those closest to you get D's. 8-) Just kidding.

Get TA's to read them?

I'm not a teacher (but I play one on TV--not quite but I read alot of technical documents) I'd say read thru 1st paragragraph and skim thru key points of the essays to get the gist of the writing and supporting points.

Answer 4

Who the hell assigns essays?!?!?!?!? They are pretty much useless ... a form of 'educational regurgitation'. I am lucky enough to teach a subject in which about 95% of what I am teaching is observable in the students abililties / actions / knowledge AFTER I've taught it to them. No need for essays...and they don't have time to write them.

Answer 5

Assign them 2 weeks before you normally do, to ensure you have plenty of time to grade them all