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OFFPHD-Offentlig sektor-ph.d.

Inconsistencies in grading, is co-grading the answer?

Alternative title: Samsensur og vurderingskvalitet

Awarded: NOK 1.9 mill.

Ensuring high quality in grading is an important aspect of higher education. In order to ensure high levels of trust in the system students, policy makers and future employers should be confident that grades adequately reflect students’ qualifications and level of competence. However, inconsistencies in grading is well established in the international as well as the Norwegian literature. Currently the Norwegian higher education system stands at a crossroad regarding how to manage grade inconsistencies. Recently, a proposal for a revision of the “Act relating to universities and university colleges” suggested that two raters should mark all exams in higher education, where one should be affiliated with an external institution. The increased use of external examiners intention is to calibrate examiners between institutions and ensure that the students legal rights are preserved. The proposal was met with resistance, primarily by the institutions themselves as it would require substantial economic and human resources. Resources that could have been used to improve educational services. Due to the backlash the revision will not be implemented in the near future. The challenge of inconsistencies in grading has not been solved and the discussion of external examiners are likely to emerge in the future. Many questions regarding co-examining with external examiners remain. How will the increased use of external examiners affect the quality in grading? And are there possible threats to grade quality posed by the social interaction between graders? The field needs more research, especially in a Norwegian context. Studies are few and far between and often rely on small sample sizes. This thesis aims to explore some aspects of these questions in further detail.

Ensuring high quality in grading is an important aspect of higher education. In order to ensure high levels of trust in the system students, policy makers and future employers should be confident that grades adequately reflect students’ qualifications and level of competence. However, inconsistencies in grading is well established in the international literature. A Norwegian study Raaheim (2000) found substantial differences in the grading of an introductory psychology class. Furthermore, recent studies have document inconsistencies in several other subject fields. Currently the Norwegian higher education system stands at a crossroad regarding how to manage grade inconsistencies. Recently, a proposal for a revision of the “Act relating to universities and university colleges” suggested that two raters should mark all exams in higher education, where one should be affiliated with an external institution. The increased use of external examiners intention is to calibrate examiners between institutions and ensure that the students legal rights are preserved. The proposal was met with resistance, primarily by the institutions themselves as it would require substantial economic and human resources. Resources that could have been used to improve educational services. Due to the backlash the revision will not be implemented in the near future. The challenge of inconsistencies in grading has not been solved and the discussion of external examiners are likely to emerge in the future. Many questions regarding co-examining with external examiners remain. How will the increased use of external examiners affect the quality in grading? And are there possible threats to grade quality posed by the social interaction between graders? The field needs more research, especially in a Norwegian context. Studies are few and far between and often rely on small sample sizes. This thesis aims to explore some aspects of these questions in further detail.

Funding scheme:

OFFPHD-Offentlig sektor-ph.d.

Funding Sources