Recognition of student variability comes in the form of a threefold attack on each set of readings, recognizing differences in student learning styles, and involving them centrally in the process of teaching each other. For each topic, the students learn by reading, by listening to a lecture focused directly on the reading material, by at least participating in and occasionally leading small group discussions of the reading in which students teach each other, and finally by bringing back to the teacher unresolved questions that arise in the group discussions. In my view, the major function of a grading system is the shaping of student and teacher behavior in the teaching-learning process, and it is therefore essential that one give considerable thought to what is all too often treated as a secondary matter, a matter only of certification that the process has or has not worked in the case of any particular student. To illustrate the diversity of grading systems required for different courses and clienteles, I will return to the two courses discussed above. There is not a specific, narrowly-defined body of knowledge that must be mastered, but rather a set of analytic frameworks and methodological tools that are useful beyond the specific content areas covered in the course.
Students also have the option of writing longer papers on books.
Feature number one is attained by providing the students with enough reading choices and classroom events that they need only do half of what is available to receive an A in the course. All are exposed to a variety of analyses and are pushed to demonstrate mastery of general theoretical perspectives, methodological approaches, and styles of research and analysis. By way of contrast, the goal of the upper-level theory course is to guide all of the students to a mastery of each of the core theoretical perspectives in social psychology. As noted above, the materials are very challenging for most Penn State students. Students are graded on the quality of their participation in group discussions on all of the assigned topics, the quality of their preparation and performance as group discussion leaders on selected topics, and the quality of their performance on midterm and final essay examinations.