November 5, 2021

When Grading Less Is More

This week’s tip is not a tip but rather I would like to open a discussion on “ungrading”. First, I feel the term “ungrading” is similar to “defunding the police”.  Few people suggest not providing student performance evaluations just like few people really mean they want no law enforcement. I have long felt like exams are poor measures of student learning and performance, which turns out to be supported through research findings (not mine).  Colleagues have moved away from standard exams.  On October 8 I participated in a National Institute of Teaching FALCoN workshop lead by Jennifer Momsen (NDSU) on Ungrading. I have also been aware of whole campuses moving away from letter grades (UC Santa Cruz, Evergreen, etc.).

The Flaherty Inside Higher Ed article (2019) provides a good summary of the thinking behind ungrading. Research findings indicate that grading only provides extrinsic motivation to learn, lowers learning enjoyment and feeds fear of failure leading to stereotype threat, etc. (Schinski and Tanner, 2014). Grade inflation raises questions regarding the validity of standard grading (Jaschik, 2016). “Ungrading” involves student reflection on and participation in deciding their grade (summative assessment) based on their learning and performance (metacognition).  Most institutions require assigning a final grade in all courses. Professors that have taken this approach report some students grading themselves higher than they deserve but find that most students do not.  Grades might be based on a set standard curve, a class-based curve or on growth and effort.  Some professors provide a combination of number or letter grades during the semester to help students get used to deciding their own grades.

Susan D. Blum literally wrote the book on ungrading (Blum 2020). Most of the contributing authors in her book are in liberal arts, but a few are in STEM.  The workshop I attended focused exclusively on STEM instruction.  Clarissa Sorensen-Unruh applies ungrading in her chemistry course of less than 30 students at a community college. She admits ungrading would be impossible in a large enrollment course without assistants.  Instructors also raise concerns regarding class attendance, though many don’t see much difference.

Jesse Stommel, a major proponent of ‘ungrading’ acknowledges that course grades cannot be discarded easily for historical and technical reasons.  He argues that instructors must examine and adjust how they teach concomitantly. In addition, students must adjust their learning approaches.  In his blog, Stommel suggests several alternate approaches to learning and. Performance assessment (see the blog for details).

I feel this discussion fits well with the First Four Week Initiative and the Student Experience Project.  I don’t have a strong, well-formed opinion on ‘ungrading’ at this point.  Nor do I have a clear plan to implement it.  I would welcome ideas and discussion from others in the CNS.

Cheers, Paul

References

Stommel, Jesse (2019) How to Ungrade. https://www.jessestommel.com/how-to-ungrade/

Flaherty, Colleen, “When Grading Less Is More” Inside Higher Ed April 2, 2019. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2019/04/02/professors-reflections-their-experiences-ungrading-spark-renewed-interest-student

Stommel, Jesse, Grades are dehumanizing, but ‘ungrading’ is no simple solution”. Times Higher Education. https://www.timeshighereducation.com/campus/grades-are-dehumanising-ungrading-no-simple-solution

Ungrading website: https://ungrading.net/

Blum, Susan (2017) Ungrading blog post on her personal website. http://www.susanblum.com/blog/ungrading

Schinskie, J. and Tanner K (2014) Teaching More by Grading Less (or Differently) CBE Life Sci Ed 13, 159-166.

Jaschik, Scott (2016) Inside Higher Ed. Grade Inflation Higher and Higher. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2016/03/29/survey-finds-grade-inflation-continues-rise-four-year-colleges-not-community-college

Blum, Susan D. (2020) Ungrading: Why Rating Students Undermines Learning (and What to Do Instead) West Virginia University Press. https://www.amazon.com/Ungrading-Students-Undermines-Learning-Education/dp/1949199827

Sorensen-Unruh, Clarissa (2019) Reflective Teaching Evolution. https://clarissasorensenunruh.com/2019/02/10/ungrading-a-series-part-1/

Paul Laybourn (he/him/his)
Professor, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Director, W2R S-STEM Program
Director, NoCo B2B Program
Director, REU Site in Molecular Biosciences
paul.laybourn@colostate.edu
970-491-5100