I totally agree with the point about it feeling better to teach a class with alternative grading. The act of assessment feels much more positive, and everything just feels more fun and supportive. I'm noticing a clear and tangible difference in how I feel as I provide feedback, and this change in feeling is significant. Now if I can just get my students to understand that they don't need to rely on Grammarly/AI to hyper-proofread their rough drafts, since I am not docking points for grammar. . .
I appreciate this post, esp. now, as I just became part of a faculty development group that is reading your co-authored book! I'm generally always curious about how we manage our own excitement for 'grading' differently with our structural constraints -- teaching 150 students in a term, or teaching 3 or 4 different preps a semester, or working in a discipline that seems to have fuzzier specs (generally), or ____ and ____ (fill in any other constraints!). I've got a bent toward overworking, overdoing, so I'm eager for the benefits of alt grading and also, mindful of trying not to do everything all at once.
I hope you find our book helpful in doing this -- we definitely aimed it at answering those kinds of questions (and encouraging a simple and non-overwhelming approach to making it happen!). Also, I'm a big fan of your name!
I'm like the slowest workaholic I know. My middle name is possibly 'centrifugal force.' Hence 'the tortoise...'. [Also: my undergrad college had no grades. Never did, never would.]
The main point of this post -- that alternative grading benefits instructors -- is so true and so important. I too like and use the analogy that I can spend less time as the referee (or scorekeeper) and more time as the coach. And in terms of encouraging adoption by others, I think the strongest possible pitch we can make is not necessarily "students will learn more this way" but rather "this will make your job more fun!" They go hand in hand, of course, but one has an emotional resonance that the other lacks.
This is an interesting point. I usually *mention* benefits for faculty when I talk about alt-grading, but I don't dwell on it. (Mainly because there are many who want the "hard data".) But I think you are right that the emotional resonance is a way to promote alt-grading that could be more effective.
This is based more on intuition than on empirical experience, but I believe that if you find an instructor who says that they hate grading, or that grading is their least favorite part of the job -- and in either case can articulate why -- then you are in a fantastic position to swoop in and gently say, "What if I told you that this horrible aspect of your job doesn't have to be so horrible?" Let's notice the visceral revulsion they feel, and offer relief!
I totally agree with the point about it feeling better to teach a class with alternative grading. The act of assessment feels much more positive, and everything just feels more fun and supportive. I'm noticing a clear and tangible difference in how I feel as I provide feedback, and this change in feeling is significant. Now if I can just get my students to understand that they don't need to rely on Grammarly/AI to hyper-proofread their rough drafts, since I am not docking points for grammar. . .
I appreciate this post, esp. now, as I just became part of a faculty development group that is reading your co-authored book! I'm generally always curious about how we manage our own excitement for 'grading' differently with our structural constraints -- teaching 150 students in a term, or teaching 3 or 4 different preps a semester, or working in a discipline that seems to have fuzzier specs (generally), or ____ and ____ (fill in any other constraints!). I've got a bent toward overworking, overdoing, so I'm eager for the benefits of alt grading and also, mindful of trying not to do everything all at once.
I hope you find our book helpful in doing this -- we definitely aimed it at answering those kinds of questions (and encouraging a simple and non-overwhelming approach to making it happen!). Also, I'm a big fan of your name!
I'm like the slowest workaholic I know. My middle name is possibly 'centrifugal force.' Hence 'the tortoise...'. [Also: my undergrad college had no grades. Never did, never would.]
Thanks David for this. All of these points have described my experience too!
Love that quote from Linda Nilson about the movement from evaluative foe to coach. That's golden and so good for both instructors and students.
The main point of this post -- that alternative grading benefits instructors -- is so true and so important. I too like and use the analogy that I can spend less time as the referee (or scorekeeper) and more time as the coach. And in terms of encouraging adoption by others, I think the strongest possible pitch we can make is not necessarily "students will learn more this way" but rather "this will make your job more fun!" They go hand in hand, of course, but one has an emotional resonance that the other lacks.
This is an interesting point. I usually *mention* benefits for faculty when I talk about alt-grading, but I don't dwell on it. (Mainly because there are many who want the "hard data".) But I think you are right that the emotional resonance is a way to promote alt-grading that could be more effective.
This is based more on intuition than on empirical experience, but I believe that if you find an instructor who says that they hate grading, or that grading is their least favorite part of the job -- and in either case can articulate why -- then you are in a fantastic position to swoop in and gently say, "What if I told you that this horrible aspect of your job doesn't have to be so horrible?" Let's notice the visceral revulsion they feel, and offer relief!