Narrative Evaluation Example
Myth number one: An academic program without grades can't be very rigorous.
Just the opposite is true. Flip the question and consider the many ways grades fail the learning process.
Grades tend to inhibit curiosity by encouraging students to do only what is required to earn an A. Without an arbitrary stopping point, students excited about their work often push beyond expectations for an A, at times surprising even themselves with what they accomplish.
Example Course Evaluation*
Name: Joe
Course Number and Title: NS-0143 Integrated Sciences: Designing a Net Zero Building
Instructor: Steven Roof
Description:
This course is part of an integrated science learning experience combining water resources, mathematical modeling, and energy using the Hampshire College Kern Center, built to the Living Building Challenge Standard, as a case study.
Students will meet twice a week to explore the science behind the systems of the living building in their specific discipline. Once a week, three classes will meet together to complete interdisciplinary projects, share expertise, and form a collaborative science learning community.
Students will read and share primary literature and work collaboratively on projects. We will learn about the campus living building from the architects and design engineers, take field tours, and meet faculty across campus engaged with the project. Students who complete this course may choose to continue their work using the living building in NS280, Collaborative Project Design.
Students will assess how the Kern Center is meeting the Living Building Challenge "net zero" energy requirement, which requires the building to generate all the electricity it uses. Students will learn about electrical power and energy, solar photovoltaic systems, energy efficiency features of modern buildings, and behavioral strategies for conserving energy. Student work in this class will help ensure the Kern Center achieves Living Building Certification.
Evaluation:
Joe did excellent work in this class. He worked hard and developed good skills analyzing innovative energy and water system's in the Kern Center building. Students first learned about electrical energy and solar photovoltaic systems and then taught these basics to other students. Student teams analyzed the energy budget of the Kern Center, wrote reports, peer reviewed other classmates' reports, and finalized their reports based on feedback. Later in the semester, student groups analyzed the grey water treatment system in the building. As they had for the energy project, they completed and revised reports.
Joe cheerfully invested strong effort into these projects, working very well with several teams of students to successfully complete their projects. Joe and a classmate also completed an analysis of “vampire” loads in the Kern Center — that is, appliances using electrical energy when they are turned off. Their final report contained solid recommendations, but supporting quantitative analyses were not included. Overall, Joe showed great ambition, responded well to feedback, and completed fine analyses and presentations. He has good analytical skills and is well prepared for more advanced work.
*This is an actual course evaluation, but the name of the student is changed
Narrative Evaluations are Teaching Tools
Grades don't tell a student anything about what they have done well, or might have done better.
Characters in the letter grade A: 1
Characters in this narrative evaluation: 182
Who was Joe's Professor?
Steven Roof, professor of earth and environmental science, holds a B.S. from UC Santa Cruz, an M.S. from Syracuse University, and a Ph.D. from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Narrative Evaluations Make a Difference
65% of our alumni earn advanced degrees within ten years of graduating.
1 in 7 alumni holds a Ph.D. or other terminal degree.
Hampshire ranks in the top 3% of the nation's colleges whose graduates go on to earn a research doctorate.
26% of our graduates have started their own business or organization.