Congratulations Dr. Neha Raikar!

UMBC is proud to announce the projects selected to receive grants in the 2021-2022 rounds of the Hrabowski Fund for Innovation competition.

Dr. Raikar has received the IMPLEMENTATION & RESEARCH AWARD (Spring 2022). 

Feasibility of Anonymous Grading for Reducing Performance Discrepancies across Student Demographics (Implementation and Research Grant) — A multidisciplinary team led by Dr. Neha Raikar (Chemical, Biochemical, and Environmental Engineering) will build an anonymous grading tool for in-class paper exams and quizzes. This tool will allow the team to test its hypotheses that anonymous grading can lead to reduction, if not elimination, of implicit bias during grading and improve the fairness perception amongst students, especially underrepresented minority students. The grading methods used for exams and quizzes are central to determining student rank, letter grade, and GPA. Unfortunately, grading by a teaching assistant or an instructor may suffer from implicit bias while grading, which can have a detrimental effect on student morale and performance. The team plans to collect data on anonymous grading in six Chemical, Biochemical, and Environmental Engineering and Computer Science and Electrical Engineering classes, collect feedback from students, and perform statistical analysis on that data and historical data.

The Hrabowski Fund for Innovation exemplifies UMBC's commitment to investing in faculty initiatives that fuel creativity and enterprise and also create opportunities for student engagement.

Proposals for the next round of Hrabowski Fund for Innovation grants are due by October 28, 2022. For more information and to apply, visit UMBC's Faculty Development Center website.