This article is prompted by the contrast we have observed between our own experiences with the grading process and the remarks made on this subject in several recent issues of Exchange (e.g., Mezoff, Cohen, and Bradford, 1979). Our primary objective is to describe two major causes of student and/or instructor anxiety, and to outline an approach that we have found to be highly effective in coping with these sources of conflict in a variety of
33We have found this approach to be highly effective in reducing much of the anxiety about grading for both our students and ourselves. Our description of the dilemma, admission of self-interest, and statement of intent about the grading distribution is reassuring for several reasons. Specifically, students (1) learn that we are aware of and sympathetic to pressures they face, (2) see that we are willing to openly discuss our own motivation, (3) know that the distribution of grades for the class will be &dquo;normal,&dquo; and (4) are informed that the nature of the course itself tends to reduce the risk of devastatingly low grades. As a result, they seem to relax and adopt the perspective that the course will be an adventure rather than ordeal.With respect to our own anxiety, we capitalize on the fact that conformity to organizational norms provides both anonymity and security. Thus, when we comply with the most visible aspect of the norms of the grading process, we are then free to design grading systems that effectively promote our particular learning objectives.Coping
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