An open discussion thread, and a book club
Join us to discuss alternative grading, here and in our book!
After a big January with two great guest posts — Jayme Dyer’s thought-provoking post on implicit bias in ungrading, and Keith Graham’s look at using alternative grading when language is a barrier — we’re taking a short break.
But read on! Here are two opportunities to talk alternative grading with us and our readers.
1. Post your questions and thoughts
Alternative grading generates questions — lots and lots of questions! So this week, let’s use the comment section of this post as a Q&A. What questions do you have about alternative grading — big, small, practical, philosophical, anything at all? Tell us in the comment section of this post!
No question is too big or too small, from anyone new to alternative grading and from those who’ve been using it for years. You could tell us what topics you’d like to see in upcoming posts, too!
Feel free to respond to other comments with your own experiences and advice, and we’ll chime in with our thoughts as well. You can use this button to make it happen:
2. An online Grading for Growth book club
If you’ve been wanting to read our book Grading for Growth but haven’t made it happen yet, this is your chance!
We’ve partnered with Perusall, a social annotation tool, to offer a “slow and close read” of our book through an online asynchronous self-paced book club. Participants use the Perusall website to read an electronic copy of our book and comment on it, share ideas, ask questions, and engage in discussions.
The book club started on January 15th, but registration remains open though this Friday. If you enroll by Friday February 9th, for $15 you’ll have a full 8 weeks of online access to the book and the ability to engage with other participants.
Robert and I check in frequently, discuss ideas with participants, and answer questions. At the end, you’ll also receive a coupon code toward a physical copy of the book.
We’d love to have you join us! This button will auto-enroll you in the course:
You won’t need to pay $15 (and gain access to the book) until you start the first reading assignment that’s labeled “Week 1.”
We’ll be back next week with a new post. Until then, I hope we’ll hear from you, here and on Perusall!
I'm interested in a conversation around alternative grading and wellness - for both faculty and students. We often hear why it's good for students ... but why is it good for faculty.
I’ve been exploring alternative grading for a while, but every semester brings new questions, especially when students come from such different backgrounds. I’d love to see a future post on how alt grading translates across disciplines like STEM vs. humanities. Also, anyone else ever try explaining alt grading to a skeptical parent or admin? It’s harder than finding the eBay phone number https://ebay.pissedconsumer.com/customer-service.html (seriously, I once had to check this page just to get answers when I waited for a new book).