Standards-Based Grading in Undergraduate Courses for Technology Majors

Lamprecht, Ruth; McCurdy, Jonathan; Butler, Melanie; Heinold, Brian; Salinas Duron, Daniel

doi:10.4230/OASIcs.ICPEC.2025.10

Abstract

This paper outlines the methods employed by several instructors within a single department to implement standards-based assessments. The authors began integrating standards across multiple courses in their computer science, cybersecurity, data science, and mathematics programs. This shift was driven by a desire to promote equity in grading and to address the growing influence of artificial intelligence, which can obscure a student’s true understanding. In this work, the authors examine the supporting research that guided their motivation and informed their implementation of various grading techniques. With an emphasis on courses involving technology, they also detail the processes they use to manage the new assessments, provide examples of assessment questions, and share key lessons learned in making this transition successful for both instructors and students. This work addresses a significant gap in the literature, as there appears to be a notable lack of resources on the application of standards-based grading in technical disciplines.

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Ruth Lamprecht, Jonathan McCurdy, Melanie Butler, Brian Heinold, and Daniel Salinas Duron. Standards-Based Grading in Undergraduate Courses for Technology Majors. In 6th International Computer Programming Education Conference (ICPEC 2025). Open Access Series in Informatics (OASIcs), Volume 133, pp. 10:1-10:14, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025) https://doi.org/10.4230/OASIcs.ICPEC.2025.10

Author Details

Ruth Lamprecht

Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, Mount St. Mary’s University, Emmitsburg, MD, USA

Jonathan McCurdy

Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, Mount St. Mary’s University, Emmitsburg, MD, USA

Melanie Butler

Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, Mount St. Mary’s University, Emmitsburg, MD, USA

Brian Heinold

Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, Mount St. Mary’s University, Emmitsburg, MD, USA

Daniel Salinas Duron

Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, Mount St. Mary’s University, Emmitsburg, MD, USA

Supplementary Materials

Software https://figshare.com/collections/Standards-based_Grading_in_Technology_Courses/7900184

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Standards-Based Grading in Undergraduate Courses for Technology Majors

Authors Ruth Lamprecht , Jonathan McCurdy , Melanie Butler , Brian Heinold , Daniel Salinas Duron

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