Meaningful Grading: A Guide for Faculty in the Arts

College and university faculty in the arts (visual, studio, language, music, design, and others) regularly grade and assess undergraduate student work but often with little guidance or support. As a result, many arts faculty, especially new faculty, adjunct faculty, and graduate student instructors, feel bewildered and must “reinvent the wheel” when grappling with the challenges and responsibilities of grading and assessing student work.

Meaningful Grading: A Guide for Faculty in the Arts enables faculty to create and implement effective assessment methodologies—research based and field tested—in traditional and online classrooms. In doing so, the book reveals how the daunting challenges of grading in the arts can be turned into opportunities for deeper student learning, increased student engagement, and an enlivened pedagogy.

Natasha Haugnes, currently at the Academy of Art University and California College of the Arts, has worked in art and design university settings for twenty-three years, and has authored two ESL textbooks.

Hoag Holmgren has worked in the field of faculty and educational development for over twenty years. A former creative writing instructor, he is the author of the poetry collection p a l e o s  and No Better Place: A New Zen Primer, both published in 2018.

Martin Springborg is a faculty member in the Minnesota State system of colleges and universities, where he teaches photography and art history.