Implementing Mastery Grading in Large Enrollment General Chemistry: Improving Outcomes and Reducing Equity Gaps
Specifications and mastery grading schemes have been growing in popularity in higher education over the past several years, and reports of specifications grading and other alternative grading systems are emerging in the chemistry education literature. The general goal of these alternative grading ap...
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MDPI AG
2024-11-01
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| author | Joshua D. Hartman Jack F. Eichler |
| author_facet | Joshua D. Hartman Jack F. Eichler |
| author_sort | Joshua D. Hartman |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Specifications and mastery grading schemes have been growing in popularity in higher education over the past several years, and reports of specifications grading and other alternative grading systems are emerging in the chemistry education literature. The general goal of these alternative grading approaches is to reduce the reliance on high-stakes exams and give students a more transparent pathway to achieving the course learning outcomes. More importantly, relying less on infrequent high-stakes exams may help reduce historical equity gaps in introductory gateway STEM courses. Herein, we describe the implementation of two versions of mastery grading systems in large enrollment general chemistry courses at a public R1 institution. Class-wide course outcomes, equity gaps in performance on a common final exam, and student feedback on their experience navigating these grading schemes are presented. We show that combining mastery grading with interactive courseware tools improved the average performance on a common final assessment for under-represented minority (URM) students by 7.1 percentage points relative to an active control course that used infrequent high-stakes exams. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-aed0853e4d4949589732010ad68ecb34 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2227-7102 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-11-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
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| series | Education Sciences |
| spelling | doaj-art-aed0853e4d4949589732010ad68ecb342025-08-20T01:53:45ZengMDPI AGEducation Sciences2227-71022024-11-011411122410.3390/educsci14111224Implementing Mastery Grading in Large Enrollment General Chemistry: Improving Outcomes and Reducing Equity GapsJoshua D. Hartman0Jack F. Eichler1Department of Chemistry, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521, USADepartment of Chemistry, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521, USASpecifications and mastery grading schemes have been growing in popularity in higher education over the past several years, and reports of specifications grading and other alternative grading systems are emerging in the chemistry education literature. The general goal of these alternative grading approaches is to reduce the reliance on high-stakes exams and give students a more transparent pathway to achieving the course learning outcomes. More importantly, relying less on infrequent high-stakes exams may help reduce historical equity gaps in introductory gateway STEM courses. Herein, we describe the implementation of two versions of mastery grading systems in large enrollment general chemistry courses at a public R1 institution. Class-wide course outcomes, equity gaps in performance on a common final exam, and student feedback on their experience navigating these grading schemes are presented. We show that combining mastery grading with interactive courseware tools improved the average performance on a common final assessment for under-represented minority (URM) students by 7.1 percentage points relative to an active control course that used infrequent high-stakes exams.https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7102/14/11/1224mastery gradingtesting effectsecond-change testingalternative grading |
| spellingShingle | Joshua D. Hartman Jack F. Eichler Implementing Mastery Grading in Large Enrollment General Chemistry: Improving Outcomes and Reducing Equity Gaps Education Sciences mastery grading testing effect second-change testing alternative grading |
| title | Implementing Mastery Grading in Large Enrollment General Chemistry: Improving Outcomes and Reducing Equity Gaps |
| title_full | Implementing Mastery Grading in Large Enrollment General Chemistry: Improving Outcomes and Reducing Equity Gaps |
| title_fullStr | Implementing Mastery Grading in Large Enrollment General Chemistry: Improving Outcomes and Reducing Equity Gaps |
| title_full_unstemmed | Implementing Mastery Grading in Large Enrollment General Chemistry: Improving Outcomes and Reducing Equity Gaps |
| title_short | Implementing Mastery Grading in Large Enrollment General Chemistry: Improving Outcomes and Reducing Equity Gaps |
| title_sort | implementing mastery grading in large enrollment general chemistry improving outcomes and reducing equity gaps |
| topic | mastery grading testing effect second-change testing alternative grading |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7102/14/11/1224 |
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