2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Classification of Alternative Grading Approaches: Review and Reflections from Practice

Presented at MECH - Technical Session 7: Assessment and Evaluation in Engineering Education

The purpose of this paper is to review and categorize how alternative grading has been practiced in higher education and reflect on how we, as instructors in a university, apply it in their courses. In this paper, the potential issues of traditional grading are characterized in three aspects: (1) judgemental, (2) high stakes, and (3) authoritative. After conducting the literature review, we classify three categories of alternative grading practices: (1) reduction of grade granularity, (2) standardized and iterative formative assessments, and (3) democratization of grading processes, which can potentially address the issues of traditional grading. Then, we report and reflect on how alternative grading is applied in three different courses (i.e., software development, engineering dynamics, and mechanical systems in buildings). As one takeaway message of this paper, while the general principles of alternative grading are known and shared among instructors, they can imply a wide range of possibilities for testing and implementation. At the same time, despite the diverse practices, common values can emerge to support instructors for better grading practices.

Authors

Dr. Simon Li University of Calgary [biography]

Dr. Simon Li is an associate professor of the Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering at the University of Calgary. His research interests include mechanical systems of buildings and engineering education.
Yves Pauchard University of Calgary
Dr. Ahmad Ghasemloonia University of Calgary [biography]

Dr. Ahmad Ghasemloonia received his BSc in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Tabriz in 2003 and his MSc in Applied Mechanics from Tarbiat Modares University in 2006 with a research focus on vibration condition monitoring and fault diagnosis. Between 2003 and 2009, he served as a Technical Engineer, Quality Control Engineer and Vibration Analysts at TSA, Pars Khazar, SAPCO and MAPNA Group.

Dr. Ghasemloonia received his PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Memorial University of Newfoundland, graduating with distinction in 2013 with a specialization in structural vibrations. Following the completion of his PhD, he had an Industrial Post-doctoral Fellowship at Subsurface Imaging Technology on the feasibility study of excavating salt caverns in Newfoundland.

In 2014, he joined Project neuroArm at the University of Calgary as a Post-doctoral Scholar, where he worked on biomedical engineering research projects (surgical tool design, cell vibration analysis, vibration simulation in surgical drills and surgical skill assessment using motion quality). He lectured as a Sessional Faculty at Memorial University in 2013 and at the University of Calgary in 2015 and 2016 before joining the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Calgary, where he teaches courses in the areas of dynamics and vibrations.

Dr. Ghasemloonia joined Office of Dean of the Schulich School of Engineering in March 2021 as the Assistant Dean – Academic Programs and Students. In June 2022, he was appointed to the Associate Dean – Student Success and Interdisciplinary Academic Programs. In this role, he is working on students’ related matters and policies. He is also the Academic Coordinator of the first year engineering program (Schulich Studio) since June 2023.

Dr. Ghasemloonia is a registered Professional Engineer (P.Eng.) in Alberta.

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