Book Review: Specifications Grading by Linda B. Nilson

Summary

Change is made more accessible with the thoughtful explanations and helpful examples provided by Dr. Linda B. Nilson in “Specifications Grading: Restoring Rigor, Motivating Students, and Saving Faculty Time.” After hearing her interview on the Teaching in HigherEd podcast about adopting applied grading strategies and course structures, I picked up this book. The book is a quick read, broken into 10 Chapters that deliver on the title's promise. In under 2 hours, I felt empowered to adopt specifications grading and believe in the claims it can, if appropriately applied, restore rigor while saving me time.

Read the Book

Book Details

Nilson, L.B. (2014). Specifications grading: Restoring rigor, motivating students, and saving faculty time. Stylus Publishing.

Price: $32.50 on Amazon

Pages: 131, sans References and Index

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Impact by Chapter

The Need for a New Grading System

The 16-page introduction sets up the need for more applied grading by expanding on the timeline of grading systems in higher education with the impacts on faculty and students. The data tells a story of arbitrary evaluation systems that impact levels of stress for students (45% reported academic work as “traumatic”) and faculty. The chapter ends with 15 elements for rigor and value to grade our own grading systems.

Learning Outcomes and Course Design and Linking Grades to Outcomes

Chapters 2 and 3 pack a punch by outlining the purpose, value, and theory behind effective learning outcomes. Dr. Nilson provides plenty of examples and frameworks for verbs we can attach to our learning outcomes to help build more robust assessments.

Beginning on page 34, we visualize how grading can assess outcome achievement. We have strategies for “more hurdles” (students complete additional activities), “higher hurdles” (students complete more cognitively challenging activities), and a combination of “hurdles” to measure effort, practice, and achievement.

Pass/Fail Grading for Rigor, Motivation, and Faculty Peace of Mind

Chapter 4 revisits some big questions and a driving why behind specifications grading through the perspective of faculty. We receive historical context on pass/fail systems and research to argue that specifications grading benefits faculty and students.

Essentials of Specifications Grading and Converting Specs-Graded Student Work into Final Letter Grades

Chapters 5 and 6 provide the actionable core to the book. Dr. Nilson explains how to configure our specs, rubrics, and evaluations with stories, examples, and research. These chapters are where I started getting excited and imagining my course design differently.

Examples of Specs-Graded Course Designs

This chapter provides examples from diverse disciplines to put specs grading in concrete terms. In addition, we receive samples of the requirements students received to earn various letter grades in actual classes.

The Motivational Power of Specs Grading

Suppose you aren’t onboard with the system quite yet. In that case, Dr. Nilson provides another chapter of research and argument for using specs grading in classrooms. The motivational power comes down to increased choice and control for students.

Developing a Course with Specs Grading

Chapter 9 provides detailed instructions to build a course with this system. There are steps and questions to answer regarding your class, as well as examples. I adapted one model for how to explain spec grading on my syllabus.

An Evaluation of Specs Grading

The last chapter makes a final argument for specs grading using the evaluation framework introduced in chapter 1. Dr. Nilson assesses the grading framework on elements of motivation, rigor, efficiency, simplicity, and more to show the system's value.

Conclusion

The major to career pathway is a growing desire among the students I encounter as an advisor and success coach. They want to know and clearly understand how course materials, assignments, and structure might apply to their professional experience one day. For my courses in strategic communication, the specs grading stood out as the structure to assess students in ways that mirrored my experiences in the workplace. While some courses can be more readily converted, Dr. Nilson provides diverse examples to help most professors adopt the structure across disciplines and course levels.

Specifications Grading was a quick read with a high-value impact.