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Jul 24, 2023Liked by Timothy Budde

Are there any examples of this working in a freshman level major course?

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I would encourage you to read our book, where we have case studies of alternative grading across the curriculum! There are also some good examples in Susan Blum's "Ungrading".

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Thank you for the advice.

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I cannot speak to a major, but I teach in a "program" which is more intensive than any major at my institution--the students have 19 compulsory courses in History, Philosophy, English Literature, etc. I taught both the first semester and second semester students this year. While both classes were successful, it is true that I had to spend more time on "buy-in" with the first semester students. But there was something rewarding about taking that time to build trust with them. Hopefully someone else can weigh in on this as well.

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Just to clarify, you used the numerical grades that the students self-reported? I tried this several years ago while teaching high school sociology at an international school. The first term I found students to be quite honest in their self-assessment but the second term they seemed to inflate their own efforts in order to get a high grade.

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