Student essay feedback for a large class

Here are some options/ideas to consider:

• Giving just a grade and asking to come to office hours is certainly defensible. I've read that most students don't read extensive feedback.
• Commit to giving a grade and very short feedback.
• Create a written rubric with check-off categories for various scoring criteria. Require students to staple this as a cover sheet on their submissions. Grade by checking appropriate boxes.
• If you have an online learning management system, it may support rubric grading as above, so you can do the check-off grading without additional paper. (e.g., I do this on Blackboard for computer programming assignments).
• Set a budget as far as time you can legitimately devote to this task. Keep written records (e.g., spreadsheet) of how much actual time is spent on this overall task. Have the TA track time as well. If time spent is over budget, iterate and cut/modify/streamline something.

When grading assignments for large classes it is common for large groups of students to make the same mistakes. Therefore during the next class period you can give some general feedback to the whole just.

You simply point out the common mistakes that most made and often the majority of the class is happy with this.

It is also reasonable to discuss potential answers and or share how you would address the essay questions. If anybody is still dissatisfied they can come to your office

There are apps that let you record feedback. My students loved listening to my thoughts as I read their papers. It was extremely helpful and less time consuming.