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Following several leading philosophy professors, I will be using specifications, or specs, grading for this course. For many of you, this may be something new. So to ease any potential anxiety and confusion, I would like to explain what this is, why I am using it, and how it will work for this class.

• What is Specs Grading?
• Here’s Why I’m Using It
• Here’s What You’ll Need to Do
• Here’s How Your Final Course Grade Will Be Calculated

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What is Specs Grading?

In specs grading, each submitted item of coursework is evaluated as Accepted or Incomplete. This is similar to pass/fail grading, though my standards may be higher for what I will “Accept”. Free passes may be used to automatically have Incomplete negotiation preparations Accepted and/or to revise and resubmit Incomplete self-reflection assignments.

A submission is marked as Accepted when it satisfies everything on a detailed list of criteria, or specifications. The criteria for each submission are provided to you in advance so that you may check your own work against them before submitting.

A submission is marked as Incomplete when it does not satisfy each and every one of its specifications. In such cases, I will provide you with the list of criteria not met. That list will guide you if you decide to use a free pass to revise and resubmit a self-reflection assignment.

All in all, specifications set up the standards that help me assess the quality of your work. And after I have finished grading your submissions, you will know exactly the extent to which you have met those standards.

Photo: Colleen Hayes / NBC.

Here’s Why I’m Using It

My primary goal with specs grading is to encourage you to focus on what really matters: your learning and mastery of fundamental negotiation and conflict resolution skills.

That is, in a traditional letter-grading scheme, students are often anxious about whether their assignments earned enough points for an A, A−, B+, B, B−, etc., etc. In this Quest for More Points, the achievement of the course’s learning outcomes is often forgotten. Sad!

However, with specs grading, students are now more concerned about meeting all the criteria and specifications for each assignment. When you satisfy those expectations, great! I can comfortably say that you are achieving the learning outcomes for this course and beginning to master those important negotiation and conflict resolution skills that this course seeks to impart.

But if you don’t meet those expectations, there’s no need to panic. Free passes and the opportunity revise and resubmit self-reflections allow you to recover from Incomplete work

Through hard work, and by heeding my guidance, I firmly believe it is possible for everyone here to achieve my learning outcomes for this course!

Understood this way, specs grading is further supported by adult-based learning theory. This theory maintains that students learn best in a challenging yet supportive environment. Philosophy definitely poses challenges, but I will support you in overcoming them. For instance, there are no letter grades on your work to distract you, the requirements for Accepted submissions are made clear, and the chance to use free passes to excuse Incomplete preparations and/or resubmit Incomplete self-reflections. All that gives you the opportunity to perform at your very best.

Finally, it’s worth noting that specs grading models how things are often done in the “real” world. When you submit a project to your boss or for a client, you are expected to meet their criteria. If your work is not “up to spec”, your boss will not accept it, saying, “Okay, that’s 78% there, that’s good enough”. On the contrary, your work is not complete and must be revised or abandoned. (By the way, this is essentially how licensing works for nurses, doctors, lawyers, accountants, and other professionals.)

Your professors all know this process very well, since they also go through it whenever they submit their own work for publication. Indeed, this course embraces that idea, where Incomplete work may be revised and resubmitted.

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Here’s What You’ll Need to Do

Each negotiation preparation and self-reflection assignment in this class has a detailed list of criteria, or specs, that I expect it to satisfy. So when looking over an assignment, you need to make sure that you understand those criteria, letting me know if anything is not clear. Then, when working, you should continually consult the specifications, making sure that you are on track. Finally, before submitting anything, do one last check to make sure that your have attempted to meet all those specifications.

Upon receipt of your submission, I will do my utmost to get it back to you quickly with my written feedback along with a checklist indicating which specifications were or were not satisfied. In most cases this will take about a week, though I will try to get them back sooner whenever possible.

If your submission is Accepted, then you are all set. However, keep in mind that this class has a “scaffolded” structure where the skills developed in your earlier work are further expanded upon later in the course.

However, if I mark your self-reflection assignment Incomplete, then please consider using a free pass to revise and resubmit it. You will have the checklist of all unsatisfied specifications, so you should know what sort of changes are needed. Feel free to also schedule an appointment with me to get further details about what you may need to do. Unless I tell you otherwise, you will have one week after I return your work to revise and resubmit it.

Keep in mind that there is no guarantee that a resubmission will be Accepted. Even so, past experience shows that most second attempts—when done diligently and seriously—are up to spec.

If your self-reflection is still Incomplete after a revision, don’t give up: you may continue to use free passes to revise and resubmit until it is Accepted (or you run out of free passes).

Photo: Colleen Hayes / NBC.

Here’s How Your Final Course Grade Will Be Calculated

Four things determine your final letter grade in this course:

1. Your negotiation preparations.
2. Your self-reflection assignments.
3. Your unexcused absences.
4. Your participation points.

The way in which these come together to determine your final course letter grade is presented in Table 1 below.

Table 1: Determining Your Final Letter Grade in this Course

To earn a particular letter grade, you must satisfy all its requirements. So, for instance, to get a B+, you must have at least 9 Accepted negotiation preparations, at least 7 Accepted self-reflections, and no more than 3 unexcused absences. In that case, having 10 or 11 Accepted negotiation preparations is not sufficient to raise your grade, unless you also have 8 or 9 Accepted self-reflections.

Your total number of participation points at the end of the semester will also influence your final letter grade:

• If you earn at least 90% of the possible participation points, your final letter grade will move up 1 step (e.g., from a B− to a B or from a B+ to an A−),
• If you earn less than 75% of the possible participation points, your final letter grade will move down 1 step (e.g., from a B− to a C+ or from a B+ to a B),
• If you earn less than 60% of the possible participation points, your final letter grade will move down 2 steps (e.g., from a B− to a C or from a B+ to a B−), or
• Otherwise your final letter grade doesn’t change (this occurs when you earn between 80% and 89% of the possible participation points).

Look all this over carefully, thinking about what grade makes sense for you, and put together a plan for completing the necessary requirements. Do not hesitate to chat with me further about any of this!