(519d) Lessons Learned to Help Faculty and Students Navigate the Amorphous Landscape of ‘Ungrading’

Traditional assessment strategies and grading have in recent years been under scrutiny for sending the wrong message and putting emphasis on a letter grade rather than learning and mastering course content. In this talk I will discuss ‘ungrading’ in traditionally lecture-based Chemical Engineering courses (Fluid Mechanics, Heat/Mass Transfer, Thermodynamics) and the various iterations my approach has undergone to clarify the requirements, expectations, and metrics of success over the last two years.

Ungrading in a very general sense translates to eliminating grades given on assignments. Many studies have shown that if grades, constructive feedback, or grades and constructive feedback on an assignment are given the only surefire way for students to focus on integrating the constructive feedback is by not giving a grade along with it. These practices have been touted for reducing overall student stress levels, which I have seen that first hand by eliminating exams. Students no longer cram for exams where knowledge retention time is frequently short lived and proportional to how far in advance students begin to study. After an exam or assessment students ‘shelf’ that topic and rarely reflect on what they have progressively learned by revisiting course content. Ungrading also provides opportunities to cultivate soft skills like time management and self-reflection that traditional assessment approaches do not offer.

The benefits are plentiful and I will discuss these here based on student feedback results at various check in points throughout the semester. This has led to improved student performance, wellbeing, retention, and communication as evidenced by survey and conference feedback where students feel confident in what they need to do to succeed. Students who do not receive the highest marks acknowledge that this was their choice which illustrates that students feel more empowered and responsible for their own learning and success. Overall this transition in mindset also erodes power dynamics in the classroom. Instructors are there to help students meet their goals rather than create competition and leave students unsure as to whether they just did well enough to exceed the understanding of their peers.

Perhaps the most important aspect of my work is identifying and overcoming the pitfalls. What I have found over the last several years in integrating these practices is the importance of cultivating student buy in and understanding of our expectations as instructors. First of all, there is an untraining that must be done as students from their first years in school have likely been assessed with tests, quizzes, and letter grades. Many do not love this and feel this is not representative of their understanding, but at least they know what the grade means. Ungrading encompasses a wide array of practices meaning when a student walks into a class and is told it will be ‘ungraded’ some have no clue what that means or perhaps the ungraded approach they have seen is altogether different than what is being done in your course. Either way the expectations and format need to be made clear. I have discovered without clarity ungrading can actually increase student stress and many of the potential benefits are lost. Here I will present my approach beginning on day 1 with syllabus language and in class discussion.

Second if we expect students to choose their own grade at the end of a course or along the way we must teach them how to self-assess otherwise how can we expect them to be qualified to. Setting benchmarks, providing thoughtful and timely feedback, and opportunities for revision have been some of my most powerful approaches to date. I will describe here how providing rubrics or reflection prompts and letting student self-assess at the forefront can lead to fruitful conversations on disconnects in what a student thinks they know and confident in their abilities. In contrast, early iterations of providing a lot of feedback without any context can make students think they did poorly and accompanying feedback with assessments like proficient or exemplary was just another way of packaging a grade without a number.

Current aspects of my ungrading approach include a culminating portfolio of work towards learning objectives, where students demonstrate progress in learning. I provide benchmarks for various proficiency levels for each course outcome similar to contract grading to avoid opaque expectations. Courses include three reflections throughout the semester where students compile work, explaining similarities and differences among problems in a particular course aspect. Students respond to guiding questions to articulate how they have achieved breadth, depth, and body of work within their submitted work. I provide feedback on these and give students the opportunity to revise and resubmit along with recommendations for additional course exercises if I feel there is a lack of understanding or some course content they have not approached. Lastly, I have two one-on-one conferences per student. At the midpoint this meeting serves to determine what works well, clarify any misunderstandings, and course correct as needed based on student feedback. The second is to discuss student learning, suggestions for future improvement, and final grades.

Survey results and student work suggests the evolution of my ungrading approach reduces stress, empower students to learn, and take ownership of their success. Students are submitting more work than they would in a traditional exam-based course. Those who underperformed in exam settings were able to master course content when allowed to progressively learn at their pace with opportunities to revise and resubmit work. Overall, students are motivated to work hard knowing that with appropriate effort anyone ‘can achieve an A.’