The first time I graded as a TA, I came in with my pile of papers and the first thing the professor made me do was mark up all the grades.
I thought I was generous *before* I marked them up. But he made two good points: 1) Cs (or lower) on the first exam tend to cause students to lose hope and simply give up; 2) maybe if they all performed equally poorly, then that's perhaps they best they can do (and it may be *your* fault that that's the best they can do), so perhaps you shouldn't be too hard on them.
The first I took his word for, since I don't have enough experience to know. As for the second--maybe. But I did have a few excellent exams, so it seemed like everyone had the potential to perform better than they did.
One thing's for sure, grading isn't a science, it's an art.
no subject
I thought I was generous *before* I marked them up. But he made two good points: 1) Cs (or lower) on the first exam tend to cause students to lose hope and simply give up; 2) maybe if they all performed equally poorly, then that's perhaps they best they can do (and it may be *your* fault that that's the best they can do), so perhaps you shouldn't be too hard on them.
The first I took his word for, since I don't have enough experience to know. As for the second--maybe. But I did have a few excellent exams, so it seemed like everyone had the potential to perform better than they did.
One thing's for sure, grading isn't a science, it's an art.