ONLINE ADJUNCT FACULTY TIP #31 - Hand-Grading Assignments & Returning Them in a Digital Format

The extended weekend allowed me to catch up on several past-due home projects. I restored the rotting wood pillars on our front porch - although that project was far from predicted as our house was built during the Great Protractor Embargo of 1979 -- hence the house has few right angles. Efforts to hand-miter the framing proved unsuccessful and I had to borrow my neighbor's Craftsman power miter saw in order to complete the project by sunset. The good news is that I now I have the perfect anniversary idea for my wife (our anniversary is June 2). I wonder where I'll put my new miter saw (hint, hint).

In thinking of miter joints, I still prefer to do some things by hand. There's just a certain feel and reward to something that takes elbow grease -- and doing something the way ancestors did it. What's the best part of going to a baseball game at Wrigley Field -- you got it, the vintage hand-turned wood scoreboard... For those of you who answered, "the food" - hmmm. (really?)

For the love of nostalgia, I still hand-grade all student assignments in my college courses. No, I'm not anti-technology. No, my wife is not the heiress to the Pilot Pen Company. No, I don't draw comfort from torturing my printer.

The screenshot above is a page from a hand-graded student assignment. The student's returned paper is a PDF file - and yes, it is hand-graded. It takes a little more time, and costs me a little bit more, but it sets me apart as an instructor - and there are always comments in my student course reviews regarding the appreciation for hand-graded papers.

Maybe this isn't for you - or maybe it is. You could, perhaps, start small and grade only one paper by hand. If you really want to make a contextual connection with your students - I believe that nothing speaks more directly to the student than reading an instructor's handwritten feedback. With all of the "electronic auto-comment" features available today, it is increasingly common for instructors to insert pre-fabricated responses into student papers. When a student sees my chicken scratch, she knows I've taken the time to actually read her paper versus trying to find places to insert rote responses. Trust me, this is important to students!

So, did I convince you? If so, here's what you'll need to do...

Acquire a printer/scanner/copier unit with topload scanner feeder tray. The unit must withstand the rigors of printing all student assignments for your course. I own a HP C7280 and it works fine –

1. Print student papers (yeah, I know this will take ink and paper, but use “fast draft” mode and discount copy paper.
2. Hand-grade papers with purple ink (I like purple – avoid red!)
3. Scan the graded paper and save as a PDF document. I set my resolution at 300 dpi.
4. Return saved file to student