Insights from the Perspective of Examiners on the Justification of Grades in Higher Education in Norway

Abstract

Students in higher education in Norway have the right to ask for justifica-tion for and/or complain about the grades they receive. Drawing on an online survey of examiners (n = 54) at a Norwegian university college, we report in terms of numbers and open-ended comments about justifications given to students. Guided by Winston and Boud (2020), we contribute insights that fill a gap in the literature. Our results show that the examiners experienced many requests for justification, which they perceived as time-consuming. They suspected that the information system for exams and grades (WISEflow, in our case) made it easy for students to request justifications. At the same time, they were positive that feedback should be given to stu-dents. We conclude that there is a need for more research on the usefulness of the justification of a given grade in higher education. Our findings reveal that the examiners requested better guidelines for the purpose and content of justifications (descriptive feedback only or advice on how to improve grades) and how to motivate students to be receptive and learn from justifications. Thus, there is great potential for future studies pertaining to this topic.