I'm not a fan of the term "ungrading" for many reasons, and you've identified some of them! In particular, essentially nobody "doesn't grade" as in "no final grade", so the term actively communicates the wrong idea (I've seen this happen when administrators first hear about "ungrading", it's not fun).
I'm not a fan of the term "ungrading" for many reasons, and you've identified some of them! In particular, essentially nobody "doesn't grade" as in "no final grade", so the term actively communicates the wrong idea (I've seen this happen when administrators first hear about "ungrading", it's not fun).
That said, there is a lot of power in de-emphasizing grades on assignments. Removing or reducing those, and/or making them less important (through reassessments) really does have an effect on how students think about a class. Even though there's still a final grade, these changes help them feel less stress about it, and also feel more in control of it.
I have not done a lot with peer assessment. I've never figured out a way for that to make sense in math (although I have occasionally tried). Self-assessment makes a bit more sense to me, as it can help reveal aspects of student learning that I couldn't see otherwise. But still, there is an expert aspect to evaluation that students, by definition, don't have while they are still learning.
I really value this exchange between you and Terry—thank you! I just wanted to add a note on peer assessment (something I’m also not comfortable with). I teach writing and music history and have moved to what I call “peer responding” modeled a bit on Peter Elbow’s Writing Without Teachers. It is interesting to see how they struggle with just reporting their own responses to the writing of their peers rather than “critiquing” and “evaluating” but I think it is invaluable. The students who are responding learn to be more self-aware and realize how a piece of writing impacts us as readers (even boring, technical, or academic writing), and the student author understands that their words trigger responses—some of which they might anticipate, others they never dreamed of.
Rebecca, that's quite interesting - I'm going to have to look into "peer responding" more carefully. It sounds like something that might be valuable for my students too, especially when they are writing proofs and trying to understand what information is important to include or leave out.
Absolutely. And they need that expert eye, what I call the eye from nowhere. That’s what I love about what little I know about ungrading. I’ve seen those online repositories of target bundles, and I think that idea is powerful. Twenty years ago I worked on a statewide portfolio assessment design team at Stanford which had an aspiration to create a “shopping cart” where professors could contribute a “signature assignment” with an assessment categorized in useful ways for rhetorical level and subject matter. It didn’t go very far, but the idea was great. Having taught middle school and then middle school teacher credential candidates, I’ve seen firsthand how grades begin to reduce their own expectations for themselves. I wrote my dissertation on assessment at a middle school. Thanks for this, David. You’re helping me clarify my understanding.
Hi Terry,
I'm not a fan of the term "ungrading" for many reasons, and you've identified some of them! In particular, essentially nobody "doesn't grade" as in "no final grade", so the term actively communicates the wrong idea (I've seen this happen when administrators first hear about "ungrading", it's not fun).
That said, there is a lot of power in de-emphasizing grades on assignments. Removing or reducing those, and/or making them less important (through reassessments) really does have an effect on how students think about a class. Even though there's still a final grade, these changes help them feel less stress about it, and also feel more in control of it.
I have not done a lot with peer assessment. I've never figured out a way for that to make sense in math (although I have occasionally tried). Self-assessment makes a bit more sense to me, as it can help reveal aspects of student learning that I couldn't see otherwise. But still, there is an expert aspect to evaluation that students, by definition, don't have while they are still learning.
I really value this exchange between you and Terry—thank you! I just wanted to add a note on peer assessment (something I’m also not comfortable with). I teach writing and music history and have moved to what I call “peer responding” modeled a bit on Peter Elbow’s Writing Without Teachers. It is interesting to see how they struggle with just reporting their own responses to the writing of their peers rather than “critiquing” and “evaluating” but I think it is invaluable. The students who are responding learn to be more self-aware and realize how a piece of writing impacts us as readers (even boring, technical, or academic writing), and the student author understands that their words trigger responses—some of which they might anticipate, others they never dreamed of.
Rebecca, that's quite interesting - I'm going to have to look into "peer responding" more carefully. It sounds like something that might be valuable for my students too, especially when they are writing proofs and trying to understand what information is important to include or leave out.
Absolutely. And they need that expert eye, what I call the eye from nowhere. That’s what I love about what little I know about ungrading. I’ve seen those online repositories of target bundles, and I think that idea is powerful. Twenty years ago I worked on a statewide portfolio assessment design team at Stanford which had an aspiration to create a “shopping cart” where professors could contribute a “signature assignment” with an assessment categorized in useful ways for rhetorical level and subject matter. It didn’t go very far, but the idea was great. Having taught middle school and then middle school teacher credential candidates, I’ve seen firsthand how grades begin to reduce their own expectations for themselves. I wrote my dissertation on assessment at a middle school. Thanks for this, David. You’re helping me clarify my understanding.