{"id":773,"date":"2022-10-31T12:23:33","date_gmt":"2022-10-31T16:23:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/groups.etown.edu\/studionews\/?p=773"},"modified":"2022-10-31T12:23:33","modified_gmt":"2022-10-31T16:23:33","slug":"ungrading-a-post-by-erica-dolson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/groups.etown.edu\/studionews\/2022\/10\/31\/ungrading-a-post-by-erica-dolson\/","title":{"rendered":"Ungrading, a post by Erica Dolson"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>For the last year, I\u2019ve read about, reflected on, and even tried ungrading practices in some of my classes.<\/p>\n<p>Ungrading removes grades from a course to emphasize learning.\u00a0 The goals\/hopes of this practice are two-fold:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>That removing the reward of a grade will help students find intrinsic motivation in their coursework.<\/li>\n<li>That removing the pressure of a grade will give students the freedom to take risks and fail.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Instead of grading each assignment, instructors provide feedback and opportunities for revision.\u00a0 Throughout the semester, students also reflect on their learning and course engagement.\u00a0 At the end of the semester, the instructor and student meet to discuss the student\u2019s work and decide on a grade that reflects their learning.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ve used ungrading in two creative writing courses (a survey course and my creative writing-themed First-Year Seminar).\u00a0 In many ways, the practice has reinvigorated my teaching, especially when students talk about the freedom they feel as they write.\u00a0 In other ways, the practice has posed challenges; I sometimes struggle to trust students\u2019 own assessment at their learning and wonder how much I should intervene in the grading process.<\/p>\n<p>The new ungrading module in the Faculty Development Canvas course is designed for anyone interested in trying ungrading or just looking for more information.\u00a0 The module includes the following sections:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\u201cHow and Why to Ungrade\u201d\u00a0 &#8212; This section provides background and answers questions on ungrading. It also provides some research on traditional grading practices.<\/li>\n<li>\u201cExpert Practitioners\u201d &#8212; This section links to the websites of Susan Blum and Jesse Stommel. These two teachers and researchers have written about their own experiences with ungrading and provide many resources on the practice.<\/li>\n<li>\u201cReflections on Ungrading\u201d &#8212; This section shares articles addressing the benefits and downsides of ungrading practices.<\/li>\n<li>\u201cUngrading in STEM Courses\u201d &#8212; While ungrading seems like a more natural fit for creative classes, this section provides information about and first-hand accounts on integrating ungrading practices in the STEM fields.<\/li>\n<li>\u201cBook Recommendations\u201d &#8212; <em>Ungrading: Why Rating Students Undermines Learning (And What to Do Instead)<\/em>, edited by Susan Blum, was an important resource for me as I began the practice of ungrading.\u00a0 It includes advice, reflections, and first-hand accounts from teachers in all disciplines.<br \/>\nThis section links to the book and includes a sample chapter.<\/li>\n<li>\u201cResources to Download and Adapt\u201d &#8212; In the courses where I practiced ungrading, I used surveys and reflections to check in with my students about their learning and their reactions to ungrading.<br \/>\nThis section includes those resources for you to download and adapt as needed.<\/li>\n<li>\u201cDiscussion on Ungrading\u201d &#8212; Finally, this section includes a discussion board to share your questions, thoughts, and experiences with ungrading.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For the last year, I\u2019ve read about, reflected on, and even tried ungrading practices in some of my classes. Ungrading removes grades from a course to emphasize learning.\u00a0 The goals\/hopes of this practice are two-fold: That removing the reward of a grade will help students find intrinsic motivation in their coursework. That removing the pressure [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":141,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-773","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-teaching-ideas"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/groups.etown.edu\/studionews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/773","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/groups.etown.edu\/studionews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/groups.etown.edu\/studionews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/groups.etown.edu\/studionews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/141"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/groups.etown.edu\/studionews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=773"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/groups.etown.edu\/studionews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/773\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":774,"href":"https:\/\/groups.etown.edu\/studionews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/773\/revisions\/774"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/groups.etown.edu\/studionews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=773"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/groups.etown.edu\/studionews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=773"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/groups.etown.edu\/studionews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=773"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}