Writing for Engineering: Grading Contract
For this course, we will use a grading contract, a system of grades that are based primarily on your labors and efforts. That means that your final course letter grade will be the result of your participation, attendance, and completion of homework, assignments, and revisions. Thus, your grade will not be based on a subjective evaluation of your final assignments in comparison to the writing of your peers, which is how grades are usually assigned in writing and other courses.
Grading contracts are valuable for a number of reasons, including the fact that they:
- Offer you the opportunity to be experimental and exploratory in your writing—to take risks, rather than only producing writing that is thought to be “correct” or doing exactly and only “what the assignment requires” or “what the teacher wants”;
- Value the time, effort and, labor you decide to commit to the class;
- Provide you with a clear and concrete understanding of your grade at all times throughout the semester (grades are simple and easy to calculate);
- Do not unfairly penalize or reward you for how much experience with writing and language you have prior to entering our class (all students have the same potential to earn an A);
- Privilege students who invest the time, energy, and effort into their learning.
While grading contracts focus on quantifiable outcomes (attendance, participation, completed work), quality matters too: you are expected to carefully write and revise your writing assignments to meet certain goals and criteria. Grading contracts function on the belief that quality writing is the result of one’s efforts at drafting, getting and understanding feedback from others, and revising.
Below, this contract outlines the terms for earning grades and successfully completing this course.
General Terms of Agreement
- Attendance & Lateness. You agree to strive to attend required classes and to be on time. Being a few minutes late a few times in a semester is understandable, but we may need to talk if lateness becomes a problem. If extenuating circumstances prevent you from attending class, do not hesitate to contact me so that we can determine how to proceed.
- ****CLASS STARTS AT 3:30pm PROMPTLY. At 3:30pm, I will close the door. If you are late, you MUST knock on the door and WAIT for me to let you in.
- Participation & Collaboration. You agree to participate in ways that best fit you and that are most appropriate for each day’s goal (by actively listening, taking notes, asking questions, offering comments, etc.). You agree to work cooperatively and collegially in groups, to share your writing, to listen supportively to the writing of others, and, when called for, to give full and thoughtful assessments that help your colleagues consider ways to revise.
- You agree to come prepared for every class. While this class can be lighthearted with jokes and fun activities, when it is time to work, it is time to work. When I ask you to get into groups or work independently, you will have your laptops, ipads, and/or notebooks out, taking notes, and providing written and verbal feedback to your peers. Workshop is a critical component in this course and failure to provide written and verbal feedback to peers will impact your grade.
Homework/Blog Posts & Assignments. You agree to strive to turn in on time all homework and assignments. All should be completed fully and meet all assignment requirements. If you face extenuating circumstances, please email me ahead of time. If you are absent, you are still responsible for submitting on time any work that’s due.
IMPORTANT: Drafts of major essays cannot be submitted late. If drafts are submitted late, they will be considered “ignored.” PLUS, if an assignment is not completed fully, it may be marked as “ignored.”
Completion:
Projects will not qualify as “complete” unless they have achieved all of the goals of the assignment as discussed in class or explained on handouts. This means that projects are not just to be “done” but “done in the manner discussed.” If I find that a given project is not “complete,” I will contact you about redoing it and how this will affect your final grade.
Improvement:
While you do not have to worry about anyone’s judgments or standards to meet the grading contract, you are obligated for all of your class work to carefully listen to and consider your colleagues’ and my comments. Feedback is essential to improvement. In this class, you won’t just correct errors or touch up pieces here and there. Each major essay and project will be substantially reshaped, extended, or complicated based on the feedback you receive. You will also make efforts to improve your copy editing skills. I certainly do not expect error-free texts, but I do ask that you take an active role in developing your language uses. If too few revisions are made to your drafts over the course of the semester, I will contact you so that we can make a plan and/or determine how this will affect your final grade.
All assignments should be submitted on time. However I understand that life happens. Everyone will be granted one extension on a blog post and one extension on a major assignment. However, you must email me in advance, preferably, 24 hours before the due date.
