Standards-Based Specifications Grading in a Hybrid Course

Abstract

Standards-based grading is being used increasingly in engineering courses in place of a traditional points-based grading system. Benefits of standards-based grading include clearly matching course assessments to the learning objectives and putting more focus on learning instead of grades. In specifications grading, students are given detailed requirements with all assignments, which are graded pass/fail. The course grade is based on the number of assignments successfully completed. As more undergraduate courses are offered in online or hybrid formats, there is little documentation of the use of standards-based grading or specifications grading in these course delivery methods in engineering. This work describes the implementation of standards-based specifications grading (SBSG) in a hybrid (approximately 80% online) undergraduate thermodynamics course.