The worst offenders are the ones that don't communicate. A couple of course back, I had one instructor who docked my discussion posts in the grammar category, but in the comments said that it was very well written. When I asked why points were deducted, the answer was that there were errors, but when I asked which errors, I was then told that my writing could have been "stronger." As I still had an A, I didn't belabor the point, but this shows me that I need to be better about how I communicate with my students.
I understand it from the teacher's end. Especially when writing is concerned, grading takes an enormous amount of time, even with minimal to no comments. Still, how can I expect my students to improve if I am not clear with how they are being graded?
I have some ideas for next year (assuming I get a job) that I would like to try in this area. Specifically, I am looking at creating digital badges (think merit badges that are online) for various skills and accomplishments. This will be along with, but not a part of, their normal grades. There are a lot of kinks to work out, but I'm hoping that this will help with both this communication issue and with student engagement. I just need to think about how it will look from a student's perspective.