How to Grade Reflective Writing
STEP 1
Decide What You Want to Grade
When we build reflective practice into the everyday culture of our courses, it follows that not all reflection needs to be graded. Much reflective practice will happen in discussion, dialogue, student notes, or quick and informal writing.
However, you will likely want to know how reflection is helping your students, and formal assignments will probably be used as basis for part of the course grade. And that means assessing reflective writing.
Some research shows that students are more cautious and guarded when they know someone will read and assess their reflections—and that can work against the power of reflection. But there’s also research showing that ongoing, formative feedback on reflective writing can alleviate some of the stress associated with grades and can help students be more focused, attentive, and effective in their reflections.
STEP 2
Model Reflective Practice and Highlight Examples
Help students see what reflection looks like and how it supports learning by making it visible in the classroom. You might pause a discussion to point out how the conversation has been an example of collectively reflecting or to invite students to collaboratively reflect. You might point out examples of reflective thinking in the readings you assign. The discussion sections of traditional research papers are good examples of reflective thinking and writing. You might share examples from prior students (with permission) to show students what you expect in their written reflection assignments.
STEP 3
Provide Clear Asessment Criteria
For reflective activities that will be graded, clearly outline the criteria you will use for grading. We’ve provided some sample rubrics and general ideas for creating your own rubrics. For informal, ungraded reflective activities, consider ways to hold students accountable for completing the reflective activities in class, such as discussing what they wrote with the class or a partner, asking for volunteers to share their reflection for class discussion, or self-reporting completion.
