Why not to use alternative grading
It's not a magical fix for all that ails
Alternative grading is great. It’s something I believe in (you might have gathered that from this blog). There’s lots of evidence to support it.
But alternative grading is not right for everyone in every situation. Over the years, I’ve learned about alternative grading “fails” – when someone gives it a try and then reverts to traditional grading. In some cases, this is due to institutional pushback or untenable workload. But in others, there are deeper reasons that start with the instructor’s choice to use alternative grading.
Today, let’s look at some of those bad reasons to use alternative grading.
Don’t use alternative grading if…
… you want to spend less time engaging with student work. It’s true that alternative grading usually involves faster, easier decisions about each individual grade on an assignment (perhaps no time, if you remove assignment grades entirely). But that’s not the whole story. Helpful feedback – the core of a feedback loop and an essential part of alternative grading – takes time. Alternative graders often find that their total amount of “grading” time stays roughly the same, but shifts from assigning points to giving feedback.1
I’ve heard about more than one instructor who decided to “use alternative grading” but gave no helpful feedback (often this involves an online homework system). That can turn out to be just as bad, or even worse, than traditional grading. Without feedback, students have no guidance on how to engage in a feedback loop. They may see reassessments as pointless extra work, and the instructor as deliberately obtuse, a “picky grader” and an opponent in their quest for a grade. Alternative grading without feedback can feel, for the student, like the instructor is looking at them and yelling “just do better!” All of this can lead to (understandable) frustration, a lack of buy-in, and even rebellion against the system.
Feedback is, in my opinion, a lot more fun to give than a traditional grade, but it’s not always easy. Feedback should be specific, actionable, and forward-looking – intended to help students improve, rather than to justify your grade decisions. It should reflect the clearly defined standards or specifications that you’re assessing. It takes time to really engage with a student’s work and give them relevant, useful feedback. If you just want to reduce your workload, this isn’t the way to do it.
Corollary: Alternative graders are not lazy instructors who just don’t want to grade.
… you just want to see what happens. Tossing alternative grading into your class because it’s the Current Hotness is a recipe for disaster. This is true for any changes to a class, especially those that generate a lot of buzz: flipped learning, inquiry, gamification… these work best when they are grounded in your goals and philosophy.2 That in turn requires intent and lots of careful thought. If you grab an approach to alternative grading from some random person on the Internet, plop it into your class unchanged, and don’t invest in making it succeed, then it shouldn’t be a surprise if you struggle and don’t like the results. If you want to use alternative grading, make sure you know why first.
Corollary: It’s important to engage in your own personal feedback loop as an instructor. Spend time reflecting on how your alternative grading setup is working, take notes, and make changes based on them (stop-start-continue is a great format to structure your thinking on this!).
… you don’t have time to make a careful plan. This is the flip side of the last item. Even if you have a strong goal, purpose, or philosophy that’s driving your use of alternative grading, it’s also critically important to take time to plan. Jumping into the semester with good intentions and deciding to make it work on the fly… won’t fly. You’ll need time to think through the consequences of your changes, which can help you avoid common pitfalls like the reassessment avalanche. You might also need time to design new assignments, pre-write reassessments, create specifications, and otherwise take care of planning that is better done before, not during, the semester. Rushing it or trusting to improvisation can lead to a bad initial experience, unintended consequences, and a lot of confusion and frustration as students feel the ground shifting under them.3
Corollary: Alternative grading is never a “plug and play” change to a class. While it can be helpful to see concrete examples of what others have done, what worked for them might not fit with your philosophy. There isn’t one right way to use alternative grading.
… you think alternative grading is a panacea. Alternative grading, even done well, is not a magical fix for all education problems. For example, while alternative grading can be much more equitable than traditional grading, depending on how it’s implemented it can also exacerbate existing inequities. Alternative grading paired with punitive policies for late work or absences might send a mixed message that makes students doubt whether you really mean what you’re saying about grades. Alternative grading is independent of your pedagogical style – it won’t and can’t make an hour-long lecture more engaging. Even the best parts of alternative grading still aren’t magic fixes. Anyone who claims, for example, that alternative grading will lead to all students being fully engaged with learning and completely forgetting about grades is probably selling something. Yes, many students will often spend more time focusing on learning and less on grades. That takes intentional effort to achieve, and even then students have other classes and live in a world of GPAs, financial aid requirements, and dozens of other things that pull away from your carefully honed class.
Corollary: Look for people who share realistic and nuanced views of what alternative grading can and can’t do. We have lots of advice, as do many others.
… you want to keep getting what you’ve been getting. It may sound silly, but if you change how you grade, your grades will change. Are you ready for your final grade distribution to look different? Will that come as an unwelcome surprise to you… or colleagues… or your chair/dean/provost? Likewise, student behavior absolutely changes when faced with different grade incentives, which can lead to things like busier office hours, surprising changes in how students take tests (“oh, I’ve already completed this standard, so I can skip this problem”), and a plethora of other differences large and small. Changing grades – such a large and central part of a traditional class – sends off a shock wave that affects so many other things. Be ready!
Corollary: Read around to learn about possibly unexpected consequences of using alternative grading.
So should I use alternative grading?
Yes! Alternative grading can make a big difference for students and instructors. But go in with your eyes open. Know your philosophy or principles in order to ground your decisions. Set aside time to make clear, detailed plans. Read up on others’ experiences to help set reasonable expectations. Alternative grading, like any big change you may make in a class, works best with intent, careful planning, and support from colleagues or others (and we’re here to help!).
Special thanks to Hannah Burson and John Golden for sharing ideas that made their way into this post.
Some alternative graders are overwhelmed by grading, usually through a reassessment avalanche, which can be avoided through careful planning!
This isn’t to say that you must have the deepest philosophical thoughts about the nature of grades, education, and the state of the modern world. I first got into alternative grading because I was annoyed by how prerequisites work. Our philosophy and goals can evolve over time. But, start with a purpose that drives your use of alternative grading.
This post resonates with my experience and that at my secondary school. I have been iterating for years to grow and perfect the process to align with my objectives and those of my students. As other teachers have seen the results (!!) and asked to model mine they have found it incredibly difficult, bailing and blaming “the system“ rather than acknowledging the inherent challenges or their lack of willingness to self examine their own practices.
As an educator, I've explored alternative grading methods and their practical implications. While I understand there is no perfect solution, I've encountered the term 'ungrading,' which seems confusing. I like alternative grading better. Those who are ungrading are still grading.
I'm seeking clarification on the following points, which most people do not want to entertain.
1) I use a points-based grading system. However, I often find that people assume I don't provide feedback. In reality, I give triple feedback, even in a class of 80. This feedback includes what was wrong, what is correct, and where they can find an equivalent example or theory to what they missed. I also provided an equivalent problem from the textbook. People may say students only look at points, but my research says otherwise. Also, the student translates it into points even if one says "not there" in alternative grading.
2) I tried multiple-chance testing (a subset of SBG), and it worked out well (https://www.ijee.ie/latestissues/Vol40-2/09_ijee4434.pdf). But it took time off the class meetings. I see people giving many chances for retakes in class. Where do they find time to do instruction? They provide them during office hours—are they proctored? How do they even have a quiz ready for retake? Are the same questions repeatedly given in the quiz? Wouldn't the student know then what will be asked?
3) How do we check for cumulative knowledge or synthesis of knowledge or check for the interleaving effect of not knowing what standard a question belongs to? Why is the final exam not given?
4) Deadlines are critical. Forget the argument of behavior vs. learning—it gets old after a while. Some ungrading advocates give grades based on students' own assessments. An extrovert can convince one to provide them with a better grade than an introvert. Are we grading personality or learning? Students must do things by a deadline if future topics depend on previous topics. This prerequisite knowledge is especially true of STEM classes.
5) LMSs do not help much when using SBG. Students get confused about their current grades, and so do I when keeping track of them. I even made a foolproof Excel sheet for students. They still complained, and that was just when I was using multiple-chance testing. Students deserve to know where they stand in an uncomplicated way – we want that in our own jobs.
6) If the latest score is used to meet a standard, many students who should not be will continue to procrastinate. The only thing that helps them meet deadlines is that in an LMS, the deadline shows up on their calendar; the "open until" date does not.
7) Is it equitable that only students who have time, are not working, and are taking fewer classes can take higher advantage of repeated testing?