In a course graded with Standards-Based Grading, students are given multiple opportunities to demonstrate proficiency in the course standards, often on exams where each problem is labeled with which standard it assesses. One drawback of Standards-Based Grading is that even though each problem is easier to grade than when using points-based grading, the increased number of exams can lead to a significant burden on the instructor’s time. Another concern with Standards-Based Grading is that since there is no partial-credit, students who have a basic but not a deep understanding of many of the standards may not meet enough standards to earn a passing grade. To address both of these issues, I chose a selection of standards to become “Double-M standards,” which are standards that appear twice on each exam, allowing for fewer total exams. Often, one of the problems would focus more on the basics of the standard and the other require a deeper understanding. In order to earn an A, students would sometimes need to answer both problems, to show they had a deeper understanding of the material. In this presentation, I will discuss how I implemented this strategy and how it worked out during the Fall 2024 semester in my Precalculus courses.

Here is a link to my slides and resources for SBG and Precalculus: https://tinyurl.com/SBG-Precalc