Contract grading yields more total work from students, especially skilled writers who previously skipped learning tasks¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · design r1 · q1
Currency · newest study 2009 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person
Evidence quality · No study behind this claim is a peer-reviewed article with a DOI: it rests on a source with no registered publication record (a web page, book or unpublished report). It is kept because a design page cites it; treat it as a lead to check, not an established finding.

Subclaims¶

q1 i? The contract creates a frank link between grades and work, yielding more tasks done thoroughly by more students, with the effect most striking among skilled writers. → Danielewicz 2009

Evidence¶

Danielewicz 2009¶

Danielewicz, Jane and Peter Elbow. (2009). A Unilateral Grading Contract to Improve Learning and Teaching. College Composition and Communication 61(2). https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14394/23309

q1 · i? · design · r1

The authors' experiential claim from using contracts in first-year writing: even papers that do "no more than" fulfill the requirements represent a gratifying amount of work, and students tend to get more skilled by term's end. No quantitative data are printed.

"As a result, we find the contract yielding more total work: more tasks done thoroughly by more students—more "student ergs." The effect is most striking with skilled writers who must now engage in learning tasks they used to skip."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• A unilateral grading contract guarantees students a course grade of B based solely on completion of specified activities, not on judged writing quality — related
• Strategy Instruction Improves Writing Quality — related
• Collaborative Writing Improves Text Quality — related
• The authors report that fourteen weeks of contract-required work improves writing quality enough to warrant a B — related