I agree, concept inventories are a great place to start. Also, grades are *not* a great place to start. Not because of any "grade inflation" bogeymen so much, but rather because there's no real reason to think that final grades from two completely different systems should be comparable at all. They may go up or down, and learning may go …
I agree, concept inventories are a great place to start. Also, grades are *not* a great place to start. Not because of any "grade inflation" bogeymen so much, but rather because there's no real reason to think that final grades from two completely different systems should be comparable at all. They may go up or down, and learning may go up or down, but those are not necessarily linked.
Also, asking students is a legitimate way to approach this. Students can report accurately about their study habits, the incentives they feel, and their learning experience.
Finally, separate from learning, we have pretty good data that alternative grading decreases test anxiety and reduces cheating. Even if those were the only changes (and learning stayed the same), that would already be a big win.
Yep -- definitely not intending to dismiss students' experiences of their learning, just noting that, to a certain subset of instructors, such evidence might be less compelling than "scores on test T rose by X%"....
The key is that it does compare apples to apples -- that is, it compares the grades of students within the *same* class, but who had taken a *prerequisite* class under different grading systems (some traditional, some alternative). The students who had completed the alt-grading prerequisite averaged 0.25-0.33 grade points higher in the traditionally graded follow-up class.
I agree, concept inventories are a great place to start. Also, grades are *not* a great place to start. Not because of any "grade inflation" bogeymen so much, but rather because there's no real reason to think that final grades from two completely different systems should be comparable at all. They may go up or down, and learning may go up or down, but those are not necessarily linked.
Also, asking students is a legitimate way to approach this. Students can report accurately about their study habits, the incentives they feel, and their learning experience.
Finally, separate from learning, we have pretty good data that alternative grading decreases test anxiety and reduces cheating. Even if those were the only changes (and learning stayed the same), that would already be a big win.
Yep -- definitely not intending to dismiss students' experiences of their learning, just noting that, to a certain subset of instructors, such evidence might be less compelling than "scores on test T rose by X%"....
Oh yes, for sure. Maybe the best data I know on this is 4th (and final) one I mention here: https://gradingforgrowth.com/p/four-key-research-results
The key is that it does compare apples to apples -- that is, it compares the grades of students within the *same* class, but who had taken a *prerequisite* class under different grading systems (some traditional, some alternative). The students who had completed the alt-grading prerequisite averaged 0.25-0.33 grade points higher in the traditionally graded follow-up class.