You may have heard the old adage “Work smart, not hard”, but it takes on new meaning when you’re marking student work. Last week we introduced some resources on grading compiled by Beth Koontz at Vanderbilt University. But at the end of the day, when we’re faced with a stack of students’ assignments and a stack of our own class work, and when both are due at the same time, what we really want to know is how we can make our grading more efficient.

We aren’t alone, either. In fact, marking efficiently was such a huge concern to the University of California Berkeley that they wrote a guide specifically for graduate student instructors called “Tips On Grading Efficiently”. Some of these strategies (or versions of them) already happen to be part of my own grading repertoire:

• Make notes to yourself as you grade. As the guide suggests, this is a great way to make sure you’re being consistent in your grading. I sometimes used two sets of notes: one with comments for each individual assignment and another with more general comments for the class as a whole. It can also be helpful to assign grades on these notes first before assigning the grade to the assignment itself. That way, if for some reason you change your mind about the grade you’ve assigned a student, you won’t need to scratch it out on their assignment.
• Time yourself. Not because marking is a race, nor because you should be quick about it. You just have to budget your time. My supervisor used to tell me that every paper I read should take about 30-45 minutes to grade. When I found that I was taking upwards of an hour or an hour and a half on some, I began to get worried. When I started timing myself, I realized that it made the whole process more equitable because I was giving each assignment roughly the same amount of attention (AND I was getting to bed on time). Some assignments will require more attention than others, but as Berkley’s guide suggests, it’s best to save these for last when you already have a good sense of the work you’re grading.
• Throw grading parties. I can’t count how many times I had a colleague read an assignment to make sure my evaluation was fair, and often these colleagues were returning the favour for advice that I had offered them. Your fellow GA/TAs are a tremendous resource, and consulting on specific issues you’re having in your grading can make the process more efficient for all of you. Think of this as an investment in efficiency.
• Type out your comments and attach them. If you’re like me, you probably type faster than you write. Typing can save a lot of time for summative comments especially.

For more on Berkeley’s guide to efficient marking, head to http://gsi.berkeley.edu/teachingguide/grading/efficiency.html.