  Many instructors choose to assess their students using open-ended written
exam items that require students to show their understanding of physics by
solving a problem and/or explaining a concept. Grading these items is fairly
time consuming, and in large courses time constraints prohibit providing
significant individualized feedback on students' exams. Instructors typically
cross out areas of the response that are incorrect and write the total points
awarded or subtracted. Sometimes, instructors will also write a word or two to
indicate the error. This paper describes a grading method that provides greater
individualized feedback, clearly communicates to students expected performance
levels, takes no more time than traditional grading methods for open-ended
responses, and seems to encourage more students to take advantage of the
feedback provided.
