It’s not too late to make changes to your assessments. Consider the following:
- group assignments instead of individual ones
- fewer # of assessments
- changes to grading, such as moving to a rubric or rounded grades (90%, 80%, 70%, etc.)
- grading X out of Y questions (for example, marking questions 1 and 4 of the assignment, which has 6 questions in total. Of course, your students won’t know in advance which questions you’ll be grading!)
- offering less/no written feedback, only a number grade
Whatever changes or decisions you make, ensure it is consistent and clearly communicated to your students. Let them know why these changes are necessary (I am given X minutes per week to grade your work).
We also recommend that you send a note to your supervisor letting them know of your existing time constraint challenges. Here’s a sample message you can send:
Dear [Associate Dean],
I’m really dismayed that because of insufficient marking time, I wasn’t able to provide students with the feedback I would usually provide. In some cases, all they got was a grade.
Students and faculty deserve better.
Regards,
[Your Name]