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Specifications and mastery grading schemes have been growing in popularity in higher education over the past several years, and reports of specifications grading and other alternative grading systems are emerging in the chemistry education literature. The general goal of these alternative grading approaches is to reduce the reliance on high-stakes exams and give students a more transparent pathway to achieving the course learning outcomes. More importantly, relying less on infrequent high-stakes exams may help reduce historical equity gaps in introductory gateway STEM courses. Herein, we describe the implementation of two versions of mastery grading systems in large enrollment general chemistry courses at a public R1 institution. Class-wide course outcomes, equity gaps in performance on a common final exam, and student feedback on their experience navigating these grading schemes are presented. We show that combining mastery grading with interactive courseware tools improved the average performance on a common final assessment for under-represented minority (URM) students by 7.1 percentage points relative to an active control course that used infrequent high-stakes exams.
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This content will become publicly available on January 14, 2026
Implementation of a Specifications Grading System in Four Upper Division Chemistry Courses
Specifications (specs) grading systems use a “checklist” approach to assessing students that asks them to demonstrate a high level of proficiency in course content, often coupled with multiple attempts at revision. Students also must demonstrate mastery in some specs to earn high letter grades. There have been several reports in lower division college chemistry courses that use specs grading systems (e.g., general and organic chemistries), but there remains a dearth of accounts of specs grading systems in upper division courses. In this manuscript, we report on the use of specs grading systems at a primarily undergraduate women’s college in four upper division chemistry courses: biochemistry, inorganic chemistry, thermodynamics, and quantum mechanics. The conceptual framework for designing specs tailored to upper division chemistry courses and their use to assess student understanding of course content are shared along with student outcomes and feedback. The upper division students generally had a positive view of the specs grading system with students viewing themselves as working hard on assessments that were tough but fair. Finally, instructor comments are presented in an effort to highlight the perceived benefits and challenges of specs grading to future adopters.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2320718
- PAR ID:
- 10634099
- Publisher / Repository:
- ACS
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Journal of Chemical Education
- Volume:
- 102
- Issue:
- 1
- ISSN:
- 0021-9584
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 207 to 215
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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