What kinds of feedback can I expect to receive?
During your composing process, you can expect to receive specific assignment guidelines and evaluation criteria, and you can expect to receive feedback and grades on your assignments based on these criteria in a timely manner. Instructors are required to provide you with feedback by the seventh week of the course. Feedback may be delayed in extraordinary circumstances, such as instructor illness.
You will receive feedback from your instructor in the form of written and/or verbal comments on your work that will help you revise and improve your writing and composing. Initial feedback is not always accompanied by a grade for the assignment or activity, but at some point, your instructor will assign a grade to your work. Most instructors grade your projects with either the number of points you earned for the assignment (and out of how many points) or with a percentage grade. Your instructor will include on your syllabus how much each assignment or project is worth, and you can expect to receive an explanation of why your assignment earned the grade that it did.
Assigning grades is how instructors give you an evaluation of your work and progress in the course, and you will receive grades throughout the semester. You should have an idea of where you stand grade-wise at any time during the semester. If your instructor does not use Brightspace or display your grades on a course management system, you can keep track of the graded work that’s been returned to you.
Sometimes, your instructor may require you to come to their office hours to discuss your grade.
Grading Posting Policies
While it would be nice to have your instructor remind you of your grades via email from time to time (or to share that information with curious parents) neither of these is actually possible because of FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act) which prevents instructors from emailing or posting grades in nonsecure locations such as office doors (even if they are listed by anonymizing numbers). For this reason, you can expect your grades to be shared with you only through secure, university approved means such as MyPurdue or Brightspace.
What Grades Mean
The following section offers you some meaning behind the letter grades and points your instructor will use while assessing your work. Your instructor will include on the course syllabus whether your final course grade will be a regular A, B, C, D, F letter grade or whether you will be on the +/ grading system.
The A range: You did what the assignment asked at a high quality level, and your work shows originality and creativity. Work in this range shows all the qualities listed below for a B; but it also demonstrates that you took extra steps to be original or creative in developing content, solving a problem, or developing a verbal or visual style.
The B range: You did what the assignment asked of you at a high quality level. Work in this range needs little revision, is complete in content, is organized well, and shows special attention to style and visual design.
The C range: You did what the assignment asked of you. Work in this range tends to need some revision, but it is complete in content and well organized. The style, verbal and visual, is appropriate but unremarkable.
The D range: You did what the assignment asked at a low level of quality. Work in this range tends to need significant revision. The content is often incomplete and the organization is hard to discern. Verbal and visual style is often non-existent or chaotic.
F: A grade of F is generally for students who don’t show up or don’t do the work. If you feel you put in your best effort and still received an F, you might talk to your instructor or advisor about dropping the class.
Grades of Incomplete: A grade of incomplete is given to a student only under extenuating circumstances beyond a student’s control, such as a serious illness or accident. Purdue’s University Regulations states, “A grade of incomplete is a record of work that was interrupted by unavoidable absence or other causes beyond a student’s control, which work was passing at the time it was interrupted and the completion of which does not require the student to repeat the course in order to obtain credit. The incomplete grade is not to be used as a substitute for a failing grade.” If you are in a situation in which you do need an incomplete, you should first talk to someone in the Office of the Dean of Students to have your extended absence recorded.
More information on university grade policies can be found in the University Catalog under Academic Regulations & Student Conduct.
Grade Appeals
University Regulations states that:
Procedure for Grade Reviews
For students in English 10600 or 10800
If you wish to challenge a final course grade, you must first discuss the situation with your instructor. If you are not satisfied with the results of that meeting, you may then request an ICaP Grade Review. If you are not satisfied with the decision made by the ICaP Grade Review, you may then appeal your grade through the College of Liberal Arts (CLA).
This text explains the steps you need to take for a department Grade Review before you may appeal your grade with the College of Liberal Arts.
Step One: Contact your instructor.
Contact your instructor to discuss your grade. In some cases, a scoring error may have happened, which can be easily fixed. Or, your instructor can explain how he/she arrived at the grade you received. Please remember that your instructor must follow FERPA regulations, which may prevent them from discussing specific things about your grade.
Step Two: Fill out the Grade Review Form.
Fill out the Grade Review Form. Be sure to answer all questions on all pages of the form and click Submit when finished.
Step Three: Wait for a reply.
We will respond to your grade review in written form within two weeks. If we determine a higher grade is warranted, we will make the change through the Office of the Registrar.
ICaP (departmental) Grade Review requests must be submitted before or during the second week after the start of the following regular semester. We will not accept requests that arrive after Friday at 3:00pm of the second week of the following semester in which you received your grade.
A CLA Grade Appeal must be initiated within 30 calendar days after the start of the regular semester following the one in which the questioned grade was given.