One concern about adopting specifications grading is instructor time commitment. While some publications do indicate an increase in the time spent grading , the majority of adopters of specifications grading reported that they spent about the same amount of time , or less time grading under the new system than they spent using a traditional points-based grading system (Table ). The most common reason cited for saving time was the removal of partial credit . Without partial credit, the cognitive load associated with choosing the appropriate allocation of points is reduced. Instructors who did not experience time savings noted that the time they spent on grading was allocated differently; they could spend more time providing feedback because they spent less time deciding how much partial credit to award. Aside from removing partial credit, reducing the number of LOs being assessed and removing assignments from the course that did not map to the LOs were cited as contributing to the time saved when grading. Although not explicitly stated, it can be inferred that time may have also been saved from students choosing to not submit work for assignments that were not required for their target letter grade . Table . Number of publications that reported the time commitment required to design and implement a specifications grading system in a course.