Grading for Understanding – Standards-Based Grading

Standards-based grading (SBG), sometimes called learning objectives-based assessment (LOBA), is an assessment model that relies on students demonstrating mastery of learning objectives (sometimes referred to as standards). The goal of this grading system is to focus students on mastering learning objectives rather than on accumulating points. I have used SBG in an introductory physics course for the past five years and worked with several physics faculty members to implement SBG in the first and second semester of algebra-based and calculus-based introductory physics courses at a primarily undergraduate comprehensive public university with class sizes of 48 students. In this article I will discuss methods for implementing SBG in a physics class.