As you can tell from our last few blog posts, it’s midterm time here at Grand Valley State University. Midterms are a good time to reflect on how classes are going and make mid-course adjustments, and that’s especially true when you’re trying a new assessment system.
I am a high school math teacher. My brother, a history professor at UNC-Chapel Hill, sent this to me and asked me if I liked this approach. My response was: "Yes, very much so. I'm going to read it a few more times. The one thing that concerns me is the reliance on homework. Homework is different in college than in high school. My students have 7 classes and spend every weekday at school, after which many of them have extracurricular activities and/or sports. College students have a lot more discretionary time. I do my best to keep the homework load (which I call practice problems and which I don't collect or grade) to a minimum. Still, I like this approach and could probably figure out a way to implement the essence of it." Have you any thoughts how this might work in a high school environment?
Hi Glen, I'm glad you found this post! I was heavily inspired by the book "Ungrading" (ed. by Susan D. Blum). It has several chapters by high school teachers, including one who is a math teacher (Chu). I really recommend it.
Chu's solution is to use Standards-Based Grading. I don't actually consider that to be ungrading, but I *do* like it! SBG works nicely with any kinds of assessments, including in-class quizzes or exams. The focus on feedback loops via reassessment gives students more opportunities and incentive to fully learn material, even things they struggled with.
You can choose some things to be ungraded (like your practice problems) and others to be graded (like quizzes). Students tend to see the value even in the ungraded parts, since they know they still have the ability to reassess and earn credit for older things.
Another advantage is that there are lots of resources on SBG in secondary education (Matt Townsley has a ton of them on his website).
I am a high school math teacher. My brother, a history professor at UNC-Chapel Hill, sent this to me and asked me if I liked this approach. My response was: "Yes, very much so. I'm going to read it a few more times. The one thing that concerns me is the reliance on homework. Homework is different in college than in high school. My students have 7 classes and spend every weekday at school, after which many of them have extracurricular activities and/or sports. College students have a lot more discretionary time. I do my best to keep the homework load (which I call practice problems and which I don't collect or grade) to a minimum. Still, I like this approach and could probably figure out a way to implement the essence of it." Have you any thoughts how this might work in a high school environment?
Glen Janken
Hi Glen, I'm glad you found this post! I was heavily inspired by the book "Ungrading" (ed. by Susan D. Blum). It has several chapters by high school teachers, including one who is a math teacher (Chu). I really recommend it.
Chu's solution is to use Standards-Based Grading. I don't actually consider that to be ungrading, but I *do* like it! SBG works nicely with any kinds of assessments, including in-class quizzes or exams. The focus on feedback loops via reassessment gives students more opportunities and incentive to fully learn material, even things they struggled with.
You can choose some things to be ungraded (like your practice problems) and others to be graded (like quizzes). Students tend to see the value even in the ungraded parts, since they know they still have the ability to reassess and earn credit for older things.
Another advantage is that there are lots of resources on SBG in secondary education (Matt Townsley has a ton of them on his website).
Let me know what you think!
I will buy the book today. Thanks!
This is awesome, and I appreciate you doing this. Could you post all of the grade criteria (not just for an A)?
Keep us posted on how this goes!
Yes! I added them in a footnote just now. I'll be sure to report back at the end of the semester.
Thanks so much! They read like a specs grading system evolving into ungrading.
They are very helpful, and I appreciate you posting them!