Ungrading: My Hopeful Future
Hi everyone! This week I did a (rather lengthy) 'reading response' (from my own readings) about the concept of "ungrading". This concept essentially refers to the idea of getting rid of all grades in the classroom and, when required to give a grade at the end of the semester, requiring the student to give themselves a grade based on the reflections and work they've done throughout the semester or co-creating a grade in a one-on-one meeting with your student (ideally having frequent reflections and checkins throughout the semester). There's a lot of evidence to support the effectiveness of this, but I thought I'd give you a really cut-down version of my paper to explain why I'm really eager to try incorporating this into my classroom. You can read the full paper here.
-If I decided to entail scaffolded assignments into the full assignment grade
trained to game the system will be forced to grow.
-Again, I believe it will facilitate a more equitable classroom.
-My primary desire is for students to go beyond acquiring “discrete” blocks of knowledge or completing
Ungrading
One of the most difficult pedagogical conversations is assessment. Everybody either thinks they know how to do it, or fully admits they have no idea how to do it. We read readings, have conferences, meetings, and have developed an entire discourse community JUST ON ASSESSMENT, but no one has perfected it. I feel a lot of this may come from the inevitable truth that grading is antithetical to what many of us feel our values are as FYC instructors. It is in direct opposition to the culture of trust and freeness that we hope to cultivate in our classrooms.
This semester I have adopted a very minimalist grading style. The grades that I DO have in the
classroom (only 5) are contract-based.I chose to do this to help alleviate some of the stress my
students expressed about passing in general. I had hoped that this would give them the room and freedom
to focus less on the grade and focus more on the process. What I found, instead, is two things:
-If there were still grades, and fewer, they then assumed that the only important or necessary tasks
to complete were the ones that had a grade
students expressed about passing in general. I had hoped that this would give them the room and freedom
to focus less on the grade and focus more on the process. What I found, instead, is two things:
-If there were still grades, and fewer, they then assumed that the only important or necessary tasks
to complete were the ones that had a grade
-If I decided to entail scaffolded assignments into the full assignment grade
(e.g. your final paper grade will be impacted by your participation in the drafts) they cared more,
and then the classroom reverted to punishment for not completing tasks (grade penalty).
So, no matter what style I used, it ultimately boiled down to “everything has some point value assigned
to it”, “students only prioritize things that have direct point values assigned to it”, and “all students
have tasks that all have the same point values”. Regardless of what steps happened to lead my
grading to this (again), it still ended up here. My students are extrinsically motivated and the
classroom is unequitable.
to it”, “students only prioritize things that have direct point values assigned to it”, and “all students
have tasks that all have the same point values”. Regardless of what steps happened to lead my
grading to this (again), it still ended up here. My students are extrinsically motivated and the
classroom is unequitable.
In many fields, studies on intrinsic vs. extrinsic motivation generally don’t show any difference in result. However, the major issue I notice in these studies is that they’re actually finding that a difference in motivation does not have a significant effect in an unequitable classroom. More privileged students are more likely to “succeed” in accomplishing a checklist of tasks that they have been groomed for, and less privileged students are less likely to “succeed” in the same tasks, regardless of how they are motivated. I hypothesize that an intrinsically motivated classroom and an equitable classroom go hand in hand.
My intense interest in fostering intrinsic motivation in my classroom stems from a couple of things:
-I believe students will turn in more authentic work; I believe even privileged studentstrained to game the system will be forced to grow.
-Again, I believe it will facilitate a more equitable classroom.
-My primary desire is for students to go beyond acquiring “discrete” blocks of knowledge or completing
a “check list” and being done; when you’re extrinsically motivated, you often become bound by these
“checklists” and “point values”. In your mind, if you’ve checked everything off, you’re “done”.
This prevents critical thinking, application, and reflection.
Enter the concept of “ungrading”. On his website, one of the pioneers of modern
Enter the concept of “ungrading”. On his website, one of the pioneers of modern
grade, students accept they have to be graded, students are made to feel like they should care a great
deal about grades, and teachers are told they shouldn't spend much time thinking about the why,
when, and whether of grades. Obedience to a system of crude ranking is crafted to feel altruistic,
because it's supposedly fair, saves time, and helps prepare students for the horrors of the “real world.”
Conscientious objection is made to seem impossible. (Stommel, 2018).
Of course, there’s always going to be naysayers, especially in the development of a method that
seemingly opposes everything that our system has considered fundamental. However, he
combats these questions of “fairness” and “rigor” with his own thoughts and
further research on the effectiveness of grading. Ultimately, we must acknowledge that we
DON’T ask “should we grade?”, we only ask “how should we grade?”.
seemingly opposes everything that our system has considered fundamental. However, he
combats these questions of “fairness” and “rigor” with his own thoughts and
further research on the effectiveness of grading. Ultimately, we must acknowledge that we
DON’T ask “should we grade?”, we only ask “how should we grade?”.
In an article on the integrity of ungrading, Trisha Bertram Gallant writes: “if students (and parents)
were not so focused on extrinsic motivators like grades and degrees, learning might be able to
take the front seat in their lives and within our educational institutions” (Gallant, 2019).
Truthfully, most students are not here to engage in the intellectual thrill of a new field or
the challenge of developing critical thinking skills. Even more truthfully (and painfully such),
FYC is often treated as the epitome of the “just here to check this off my list” space. As such,
we must work even harder to justify ourselves and our spaces to our students, not so that they
can respect us or our field (though that would be nice), but just so they can take pause to
participate in meaningful learning in our classrooms. This past semester has been incredible,
and awful, and life-changing, and though I probably don’t give myself enough credit for
what I’ve done *right*, I do feel like a lot of this semester was myself and my students
engaging in some strange dance around what effort means. They felt frustrated that
they “check off” the list and didn’t get an A (even though I watched them speed through the
assignment in 5 minutes), and I felt frustrated that they didn’t care enough to go even give
careful consideration to what they wrote. Ungrading, in my eyes, will force them to start
from where they are and grow, rather than rapidly bullshitting their way to an A.
were not so focused on extrinsic motivators like grades and degrees, learning might be able to
take the front seat in their lives and within our educational institutions” (Gallant, 2019).
Truthfully, most students are not here to engage in the intellectual thrill of a new field or
the challenge of developing critical thinking skills. Even more truthfully (and painfully such),
FYC is often treated as the epitome of the “just here to check this off my list” space. As such,
we must work even harder to justify ourselves and our spaces to our students, not so that they
can respect us or our field (though that would be nice), but just so they can take pause to
participate in meaningful learning in our classrooms. This past semester has been incredible,
and awful, and life-changing, and though I probably don’t give myself enough credit for
what I’ve done *right*, I do feel like a lot of this semester was myself and my students
engaging in some strange dance around what effort means. They felt frustrated that
they “check off” the list and didn’t get an A (even though I watched them speed through the
assignment in 5 minutes), and I felt frustrated that they didn’t care enough to go even give
careful consideration to what they wrote. Ungrading, in my eyes, will force them to start
from where they are and grow, rather than rapidly bullshitting their way to an A.
Before I explore how I would even begin to incorporate this in my classroom, I want to really
explain why I feel like “ungrading” works symbiotically with the equitable classroom. We
cannot treat students equally, because they do not exist in equal contexts. The notion of
equality vs. equity is something that most naysayer’s of “ungrading” will likely be stuck on.
“Ungrading”, instead of assigning equal point values amongst all students, allows students
to make goals for themselves based on the time that they have, their current living
situation (job? children?), and where they perceive themselves to be in terms of writing and
critical thinking. It allows for an entirely individualized experience, which not only benefits
students who have been systemically underprivileged (so they aren’t being compared to
students who have mastered gaming the system), but also benefits students who have
learned to write what the teacher wants to read because they will be pushed and challenged
beyond where they have settled and accepted as “complete”.
explain why I feel like “ungrading” works symbiotically with the equitable classroom. We
cannot treat students equally, because they do not exist in equal contexts. The notion of
equality vs. equity is something that most naysayer’s of “ungrading” will likely be stuck on.
“Ungrading”, instead of assigning equal point values amongst all students, allows students
to make goals for themselves based on the time that they have, their current living
situation (job? children?), and where they perceive themselves to be in terms of writing and
critical thinking. It allows for an entirely individualized experience, which not only benefits
students who have been systemically underprivileged (so they aren’t being compared to
students who have mastered gaming the system), but also benefits students who have
learned to write what the teacher wants to read because they will be pushed and challenged
beyond where they have settled and accepted as “complete”.
So? How does this work? How do we (I) incorporate ungrading into the classroom?
What will I say to the anxious students who have grown familiar with the sinister comfort of
quantitative assessment? I believe that I will take the approach of, “at the end of the semester,
each student and I will decide on an appropriate grade together, with a lot of their input”.
Because of this, it is important to assure my students that their final grade will not blindside them.
It’s hard to remove the obsession with a grade, without providing assurance that they don’t
need to be obsessed with their lack of a grade. I will explain to them that there are several
tasks that we will engage in during class that they can use as evidence to contribute to their final grade:
What will I say to the anxious students who have grown familiar with the sinister comfort of
quantitative assessment? I believe that I will take the approach of, “at the end of the semester,
each student and I will decide on an appropriate grade together, with a lot of their input”.
Because of this, it is important to assure my students that their final grade will not blindside them.
It’s hard to remove the obsession with a grade, without providing assurance that they don’t
need to be obsessed with their lack of a grade. I will explain to them that there are several
tasks that we will engage in during class that they can use as evidence to contribute to their final grade:
*Attendance and daily writing prompts
*Majors projects
*In-class activities
*Drafts and other homework
*Revisions and feedback
*Goal meeting and conferences
*Participation and engagement/attitude
*Writing Center appointments
*Preparedness (reading checks)
*Our class Twitter account
While I would never expect any one student to go above and beyond in every category, these
areas give students an idea of how and where to succeed in the course. It will also give them an idea
of what I value as important, so they can appropriately construct their own classroom experience
(e.g. if they are frequently late to class because of a job, then maybe they post extra tweets or take
appointments at the WC). I will also remind them that they are always welcome to meet with me
and discuss their (lack of) a grade.
areas give students an idea of how and where to succeed in the course. It will also give them an idea
of what I value as important, so they can appropriately construct their own classroom experience
(e.g. if they are frequently late to class because of a job, then maybe they post extra tweets or take
appointments at the WC). I will also remind them that they are always welcome to meet with me
and discuss their (lack of) a grade.
The big question I keep coming back to is, “how then, will we decide what an appropriate
grade is?” I have a few ideas, a beginning of semester grade goal and frequent reflections for one,
but I’m mostly just kicking myself that I keep coming back to the grade. Why am I (why are we) so
fixated on this concept? Why do I feel the need to conflate assessment and grading? The big question
I should really be foucsing on is “how am I going to use this freedom to facilitate my students
optimizing their situation and becoming intrinsically motivated?” Even the intellectual freedom
I gave my students this semester (while having a fairly structured classroom) seemed to be too
much overload. Stommel himself gives some advice and says that he scaffolds the rigidity of his
course very deliberately throughout the semester. For example, he has them write reflections,
which at the beginning of the semester are responses to specific questions and at the end of the
semester are entirely open. This allows them to develop metacognitive skills instead of expecting
them to have these skills or know this genre from the get go. I feel like incorporating this technique
along with applying this same scaffolding concept across different areas of my course would be
extremely effective in allowing students the time and space to develop their ability to write and
think without prompts (they’ve been trained to write from prompts from a very young age). In
“ungrading”, it seems like there is a heavy focus on playing the late game (the second half of
the semester is much more fruitful than the first half).
grade is?” I have a few ideas, a beginning of semester grade goal and frequent reflections for one,
but I’m mostly just kicking myself that I keep coming back to the grade. Why am I (why are we) so
fixated on this concept? Why do I feel the need to conflate assessment and grading? The big question
I should really be foucsing on is “how am I going to use this freedom to facilitate my students
optimizing their situation and becoming intrinsically motivated?” Even the intellectual freedom
I gave my students this semester (while having a fairly structured classroom) seemed to be too
much overload. Stommel himself gives some advice and says that he scaffolds the rigidity of his
course very deliberately throughout the semester. For example, he has them write reflections,
which at the beginning of the semester are responses to specific questions and at the end of the
semester are entirely open. This allows them to develop metacognitive skills instead of expecting
them to have these skills or know this genre from the get go. I feel like incorporating this technique
along with applying this same scaffolding concept across different areas of my course would be
extremely effective in allowing students the time and space to develop their ability to write and
think without prompts (they’ve been trained to write from prompts from a very young age). In
“ungrading”, it seems like there is a heavy focus on playing the late game (the second half of
the semester is much more fruitful than the first half).
I would really like to do this next semester. Fortunately, it won’t require me to change my
schedule too heavily (it will mostly stay the same), it will only adjust how I assess these
tasks and where I place the most focus (growth). It will require a lot more attention on my
part and really require me to strategically set up student conferences and maintain in-depth
relationships with each of them, but I feel it will be worth it.
schedule too heavily (it will mostly stay the same), it will only adjust how I assess these
tasks and where I place the most focus (growth). It will require a lot more attention on my
part and really require me to strategically set up student conferences and maintain in-depth
relationships with each of them, but I feel it will be worth it.
BRB editing this so it doesn't do the weird thing
ReplyDeleteAlright, I fixed it to where the lines aren't running over but I can't figure out why it decides to format it like this, sorry for the ugliness.
DeleteJJ,
ReplyDeleteI like the idea you're presenting about how you plan to "grade" next semester. I, too, have struggled with wanting to bring my students to a point of critical thinking and participation beyond simply "checking it off the list." I think that's why I've struggled with the idea of contract grading. While I can certainly see the benefits of it, I worry that students will approach it with the idea that if they simply check each thing off the list, they're done, and they might stop short of the critical thinking and development we're hoping to get at in these writing assignments. (And I don't think that's an unfounded fear--that's exactly what contract grading does, in that it fosters checking off a list).
I'm glad you've shared your less-than-ideal experiences with ungrading so far. I do find this interesting that your students weren't motivated when points weren't attached, because as you said and as we discussed in ID 601, students aren't really motivated extrinsically. Maybe the question becomes, are they motivated at all, if they don't want to be??
I like your point about how FYC is set up to be a check off the list. When many of our students come in with preexisting negative feelings about writing and required courses, it's hard to convince them our courses are worthwhile and that they aren't just something they need to get through to move on to what they really care about in their education. I'm finding myself looking for ways to connect my course and activities to the bigger picture of writing and why it matters . . . (if) when I figure that out, I'll be sure to update you all . . .
Hey Shelbi...that's a really good question... "are they motivated at all, if they don't want to be?" and I think that's why Stommel and so many others conceptualize this as a "late game" tactic, because half of the semester is helping them develop that authentic motivation, which comes with a lot of trial and error. Who knows how it will work out in practice!
DeleteJJ,
ReplyDeleteI applaud you for taking the leap with this intimidating—yet potentially extremely rewarding—method of grading. In an ideal world, I think all of us would shift our students to an intrinsically motivated mindset rather than grade based motivation, but as you mentioned, it’s hard when they already have that preconceived notion of 103 and 104 as boxes to check off on their degree. I might find myself in the naysaying category not from lack of doubting the benefits that would come from this approach, but from a cynicism that comes from observing many students who are not even extrinsically motivated—and it seems impossible to motivate them at all. I guess my question for you, then, is how do you plan to foster that intrinsic motivation? I’m not asking to play devil’s advocate; I would genuinely love to know what works.
While I still used a rubric to grade major assignments, I took a completion/effort-based approach to any smaller activities and assignments, and have also found myself participating in that “strange dance around what effort means.” How do I know what constitutes putting forth effort for each individual student without veering back into a qualitative assessment? I can rely on my gut instinct, of being sure they only spent five minutes on the assignment and didn’t even take the time to fully read the instructions, but how am I even sure that is accurate? I think you've addressed that individual communication with students is important in assessing each of them on an individual basis, but some students are even resistant to that.
-Jessie
That's a really good question Jessie, and something I'm going to have to spend a lot of time this summer thinking about. I think how I'm feeling is that I'm seeing them be motivated by numbers no matter how I frame the number, so taking that out of the picture completely will at the very least force them to reassess their values. I'm hoping that conversations with me, reflections with themselves, and a sense of social responsibility will morph into their primary motivators. I will let you know how it works! It is definitely entirely possible that they crash and burn.
DeleteJJ,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed the plan you laid out for grading in this post. I, too, struggle with trying to motivate my students when many of them truly believe that ENG103 and ENG104 are courses they can simply coast through in order to satisfy their core requirements at Ball State. It's been incredibility frustrating to try and make them see the value in these courses, especially when we are teaching them the foundations of rhetoric and research they will need in every single one of their future classes (with a few exceptions for different majors). I felt like I spent so much of my time trying to explain why my class was important when that time would have been better spent teaching another lesson. However, this is what they focused on, so I didn't have much of a choice.
I also struggle with this "strange dance around what effort means" when I grade. When I look at an assignment, I have a hard time assigning a point value to the effort a student may or may not have put in. It's impossible not to think of all the factors that lead them to this assignment submission, so it's not like I can grade on the content itself alone. As you pointed out with your equality versus equity discussion, my students are not equal and should not be treated that way in my teaching. Some of them need more help than others, and the work they submit is truly the best they can do, regardless of the quality when compared to the rest of the class. It's frustrating to have to subscribe to one way of grading for everyone when that isn't what they need.
I like the idea of having students evaluate themselves at the end of the semester to determine their final grade. I had a class my freshmen year where my professor's main philosophy was "You must forget the grade to get the grade." She never graded anything individually, instead assigning both a midterm grade and a final grade based on our participation up until that point and reflections we wrote on what grade we deserved. She also made us meet with her to discuss the reflection, which made it harder to lie if we really did not deserve our grade. We were usually honest with ourselves in what we truly deserved, but I fear some freshmen who may not be as mature will try to cheat the system and say they deserve an A when they do not if I try to use this method. I think if there was a way to make them show evidence of their efforts, this would be effective. I've thought about having them make a reflection multimodal, where they would link the evidence of their effort (so assignments they completed, blog posts, etc. depending on how the class is structured) to the document itself, so there would be something to go off of for their grade.
Thank you for sharing all of this great info on ungrading. I plan to revisit this post as I make my materials for Fall for inspiration!
-Natalie
Thanks for your thoughts Natalie...it's so hard to see what this would look like in practice so I'll let you know if I come up with anything more tangible.
DeleteWooo Hoo! Great post JJ! Resonates.
ReplyDeleteUngrading, and really “unschooling” are the way to go. Being homeschooled, I never received a grade on anything until I came to college. It was actually very similar to the method you describe. Grades were determined only because they were needed for my high school transcript and many of those were in consultation with my mother. She basically asked me what I thought my grade was in each class and then we negotiated a little bit about whether it was accurate or not. Mainly thought, I didn’t care and had no conception of how to even determine grades because it wasn’t the important thing. Education itself and the learning as a way of life are where I place the value.
Learning is not about the grades, but we have made it about the grades and the grades only in the way that we structure our courses. If we are placing such a value on grades and percentages (so far as our students can tell in the way that we have laid out the evaluation of work), then naturally our students will as well. Of course, there are those odd few who genuinely care about learning, but that’s less frequent in a required FYC course.
Even the notion of contract grading, with “checking everything off,” does exactly what you said: It teaches students to think that the task is done––finished. But that’s not what learning is all about. Learning is really a lifelong process, so why not give off that impression? Not to mention the idea that this attitude gives students about writing and the writing process!
I personally have wanted to do ungrading from the beginning, but have been concerned about the policies of the department and the university. “Is it even something I can do and still keep my job?”, I ask myself. However, I feel like this style much better fits my own values and goals and personality as a human being, let alone the impression I want my students to get about learning. I can speak from personal experience that this style is much more effective, and provides much better lasting results in terms of our attitude towards learning. Even, there is a lack of distinction between “school” and “life”/“enjoyment” when we can forget about the grades and focus on how fun and non-stressful (which is often because of grades) the learning can actually be.
I have definitely been struggling with how the department will react, but I've never heard "no" from anyone in the department when I've brought it up. I think for me it would be important to emphasize that they still have to meet department requirements to pass (not missing more than 6 classes, completing major assignments, etc.) so they still fulfill curriculum.
DeleteHi JJ,
ReplyDeleteThis blog is amazing. I really liked it. Contract grading is something that seems very significant to me and it gives me the feel that, it will work better in teaching students in true sense. However, I run out of motivate when I think about the implications. I really struggle whenever I think of approaching this concept to our students. Honestly speaking, sometimes I even struggle myself planning about this.
However, you gave a very good understanding over this throughout your blog. It helped me to clear a lot of things out. Though I'm still not sure whether I am going to use this or not, but I really appreciate all your hard work and planning. In my case, I'm still in a dillema, about my students. I also have the question ," Why should we grade?" But you know what when thinking about all the academic "procedures" and other precautions, I stepped back.Nevertheless, I'm planning to do a few small assignments on this approach as like guinepigs. I still don't have the curage and confidence to sacrifice my whole class in my experiment. However you already did that and I think you will do better. Probably I'm gonna ask for help from you when I will plan my contract grading assignments.
In essence, reading your blog, I felt much confident.
JJ,
ReplyDeleteI hope that you are doing well. This was a really interesting post to read. I had never really explored the idea of ungrading before, but after reading your post I am particularly interested in how it might be utilized to promote equity in the classroom. One thing that I am thinking is that it will be really important to develop students' self-reflective and self-assessment skills throughout the semester so that students are prepared when it comes to negotiating a grade. I like your idea that students will rely on evidence from their work in the course as a way to defend their final grade at the end of the semester. I might try something like Nilima suggested above and pilot this approach on an assignment first (I could see it being particularly applicable for a major assignment where students can use all their evidence of the writing process in helping determine their grade).
Thanks for sharing this!
-Taylor