Determining if There is a Relationship Between How Much Time a Faculty Member Spends Assessing Student Assignments and Final Grades at a Rural University: A One Year Analysis

Abstract

[This research paper was an extension of a previous study that evaluated if there were statistically significant relationships between the amount of time students spent on course assignments and final course grades. The focus of this exploratory investigation was to ascertain if there were statistically significant associations between the amount of time a faculty member spent reading, assessing and grading student assignments and the final grade given. In this investigation the researcher utilized data recorded from the University’s Canvas Learning Management System (LMS) regarding his total activity time spent evaluating student assignments for the same 11 courses (5 face-to-face, 6 online) taught by this researcher during the 2018 academic year. The total student population consisted of 308 students enrolled in a small, liberal arts, rural public university located in the Pacific Northwest. Four main discoveries were derived from this exploratory research investigation; a) data derived from this study supports the premise that when a faculty member allocates more time to carefully review student assignments, greater grade variations occur with a Chi-Square of 289.5 significant at the .005 level; b) statistically significant differences were found between the instructor’s total activity time spent in the Learning Management System and grades assigned to undergraduate male and female students enrolled in Principles of Management courses taught by the faculty member, with a Chi-Square of 56.7 significant at the .05 level; c) no statistically significant difference was found between the instructor’s total activity time spent in the Learning Management System and course grades of Masters degree students enrolled in face to face and online courses and d) a statistical significant relationship was found between the instructor’s total activity time spent in the Learning Management System and course grades of students enrolled in face to face courses taught by the faculty member, with a Chi-Square of 26.89 significant at the .05 level. Two suggestions for future research on this topic are suggested; more research needs to be conducted on how much time faculty spend evaluating student assignments and expanding the number of subjects in the research population (faculty and students) that can enlarge the amount and diversity of courses and disciplines observed to create a baseline from which further research can be conducted and perhaps drive improvements regarding student study and faculty grading methodologies.