Docking

Today I received a comment or concern from a student that her grade had been "docked a lot of points" because she had not used complete sentences. This alleged "docking" occurred in an exercise for which a form is used in evaluation. The form is as follows:

Listening exercise evaluation
Student name:
Exercise:
Date:

Please note that the overall grade is not an "average" of the scores below, which may be weighted differently for different exercises. The numerical scores in this rubric reads from 1 (deficient) to 5 (exemplary).

Completeness of content (how much of the material presented is in your notes)

1 2 3 4 5

Accuracy of representation (how close your notes are to the material presented)

1 2 3 4 5

Essentiality of representation (how much of the most important information from the presentation is in your notes)

1 2 3 4 5


Mechanics of representation (whether you have used complete sentences, and whether the spelling and other mechanical elements are correct)

1 2 3 4 5


Overall grade:


The note before the evaluation form clearly indicates that the value of "points" in this exercise is variable. Were there really "a lot of points" docked for incomplete sentences?

But before I respond to that question, let me ask another: What is implied by the term "docked"?

What does "dock" mean? It means "cut, clip, reduce", as for example to dock the tail of an animal -- either to shorten, or to completely remove, the tail.

Applied to grading, clearly the implication must be that in a scale of 1 to 5, the initial assumption of the grader is that the grade is a 5. Then, if problems arise, the grade is reduced or "docked" in proportion to the degree of severity of the problem.

This sounds great, from the students' perspective: we all start as "fives". Perhaps "five-hood" is even perceived as a "right". Let me assure you, first, that we do not, and second, that it is not, save as a potential: a potential towards which I heartily encourage you to reach!

In point of fact, children do not leap forth from their mothers' wombs endowed with full command of language. Most have the mental equipment to acquire language, it is true, but that is not the same as having command of language.

Consider the possibility, then, that no "docking" has occurred at all, but that, instead, the student in question managed to demonstrate only (in this case) an achievement of 2 on the scale. Likely, she is capable of a 5, but this possibility cannot be considered a "right" to a 5 in the absence of evidence to the contrary.

Evaluation must be based upon evidence, on demonstration, not on assumption. Neither I, nor any other instructor, should assume knowledge or technical facility, as I am often reminded by students -- as I have been reminded, indeed, by the very student in question here. Rather, we should begin with assessment of demonstrated capacity (hence the writing exercise during orientation, and the first research paper prepared last semester). All along, it is the student who must make the demonstration of capacity, not the instructor. Oh, rest assured, instructors also must make demonstrations of their capacity, though the demonstrations are of a different sort than those the students must make.

So, let me make clear, I do not "give" grades: I observe and record grades. If any "giving" is happening, it is the students giving themselves grades. Neither do I "dock" grades; I start from a baseline of zero and work up as I find demonstration of ability. I expect to find a demonstration of a "C" level, which is average. I often encounter work which rises above that into the "B" range. Occasionally, I observe work which expresses an "A" level; this is rare -- not necessarily so, but expectedly so.

On this particular matter of complete sentences, I do not believe I have faltered from a basic position, frequently expressed, that to be logically complete, in English a statement must be a complete sentence, consisting of a subject and a predicate. This pairing should be followed by either a full stop (period), a question mark, or an exclamation mark (exclamation point). I do not believe this to be a difficult concept to master, or a difficult task to achieve.

Any skill is developed primarily through frequent practice. Construction of logically sound argument relies upon construction of complete statements. In English, this means the construction of complete sentences. Only through practice in writing sentences, then, can one gain facility in expressing sensible statements in English, which, fundamentally, is a goal of this course.

I trust that this rather lengthy explanation clarifies any uncertainty about the rationale behind the evaluation of the listening exercises.