Pondering zeros: Uncovering hidden inequities within a decade of grades
written by
Cassandra A. Paul, David J. Webb, Mary K. Chessey, and James Lucas
When assessing student work, graders will often find that some students will leave one or more problems blank on assessments. Since there is no work shown, the grader has no means to evaluate the student's understanding of a particular problem, and thus awards zero points. This practice punishes the student behavior of leaving a problem blank, but this zero is not necessarily an accurate assessment of student understanding of a particular topic. While some might argue that this grading practice is "fair" in that students know that they can't receive points for answers they don't submit, we share evidence that different student groups engage in blank-leaving behavior at different rates and are therefore unequally impacted. We analyze 10 years of UC Davis introductory physics course databases to show that different groups of students skip problems and entire exams at different rates. We also share some implications for grading practices.
Physics Education Research Conference 2018
Part of the PER Conference series Washington, DC: August 1-2, 2018
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![]() <a href="https://www.compadre.org/portal/items/detail.cfm?ID=14837">Paul, C, D. Webb, M. Chessey, and J. Lucas. "Pondering zeros: Uncovering hidden inequities within a decade of grades." Paper presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2018, Washington, DC, August 1-2, 2018.</a>
![]() C. Paul, D. Webb, M. Chessey, and J. Lucas, , presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2018, Washington, DC, 2018, WWW Document, (https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=14837&DocID=4984).
![]() C. Paul, D. Webb, M. Chessey, and J. Lucas, Pondering zeros: Uncovering hidden inequities within a decade of grades, presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2018, Washington, DC, 2018, <https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=14837&DocID=4984>.
![]() Paul, C., Webb, D., Chessey, M., & Lucas, J. (2018, August 1-2). Pondering zeros: Uncovering hidden inequities within a decade of grades. Paper presented at Physics Education Research Conference 2018, Washington, DC. Retrieved May 2, 2025, from https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=14837&DocID=4984
![]() Paul, C, D. Webb, M. Chessey, and J. Lucas. "Pondering zeros: Uncovering hidden inequities within a decade of grades." Paper presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2018, Washington, DC, August 1-2, 2018. https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=14837&DocID=4984 (accessed 2 May 2025).
![]() Paul, Cassandra, David Webb, Mary K. Chessey, and James Lucas. "Pondering zeros: Uncovering hidden inequities within a decade of grades." Physics Education Research Conference 2018. Washington, DC: 2018. of PER Conference. 2 May 2025 <https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=14837&DocID=4984>.
![]() @inproceedings{
Author = "Cassandra Paul and David Webb and Mary K. Chessey and James Lucas",
Title = {Pondering zeros: Uncovering hidden inequities within a decade of grades},
BookTitle = {Physics Education Research Conference 2018},
Address = {Washington, DC},
Series = {PER Conference},
Month = {August 1-2},
Year = {2018}
}
![]() %A Cassandra Paul %A David Webb %A Mary K. Chessey %A James Lucas %T Pondering zeros: Uncovering hidden inequities within a decade of grades %S PER Conference %D August 1-2 2018 %C Washington, DC %U https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=14837&DocID=4984 %O Physics Education Research Conference 2018 %O August 1-2 %O application/pdf ![]() %0 Conference Proceedings %A Paul, Cassandra %A Webb, David %A Chessey, Mary K. %A Lucas, James %D August 1-2 2018 %T Pondering zeros: Uncovering hidden inequities within a decade of grades %B Physics Education Research Conference 2018 %C Washington, DC %S PER Conference %8 August 1-2 %U https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=14837&DocID=4984 Disclaimer: ComPADRE offers citation styles as a guide only. We cannot offer interpretations about citations as this is an automated procedure. Please refer to the style manuals in the Citation Source Information area for clarifications.
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