Grading & feedback
As part of your role as TA, you may be responsible for assessing student work. Assessment is an integral part of learning as it provides feedback to the student on how they are doing.
Assessment can generally be classified into two types: formative and summative. When assessing student work, understanding the differences between formative and summative assessment can inform the level of feedback you provide. The table below compares these assessment types:
| Criteria | Formative Assessment | Summative Assessment |
| When it occurs | During and throughout the course | Often at the end of the module or course as the ‘sum’ of learning |
| Purpose | Provides information on how the student is doing relative to course expectations | Provides information on how well the student has mastered information (in relation to the course learning outcomes) |
| Elements | Can involve descriptive feedback and opportunities to improve upon or re-submit work | Can be periodic in nature, such as end of module, midterm and final |
| Grading | Often is not graded | Is graded for evaluative feedback |
| Examples | Tutorial activities (e.g., discussions, practice problems), participation activities, reading reflections, paper outlines and drafts, and proposals for future work | Final exams, final papers or lab reports, projects, and artistic works |
In this section, we’ll introduce how to grade including what rubrics and grading criteria are and how to assign grades. Next, we’ll look at how to write good feedback. We’ll then go over some tips on how to efficiently manage your time while marking. Finally we’ll cover what academic integrity and misuse of Generative AI might look like and what to do when you suspect it while grading.
