Jesse captured the reason to #ungrade best when he wrote this tweet recently:
• Grades are not good incentive or effective feedback
• Grades are not good markers of learning
• Grades encourage competitiveness over collaboration
• Grades pit students and teachers against each other
• Grades are mechanisms of institutional control
• Grades aren’t fair— Jesse Stommel (@Jessifer) January 1, 2020
But this post is about the idea for prototype III – implementing ungrading in a large lecture class. So here’s the original conversation from Twitter (sorry for the repeated tweets y’all):
I *think* we had most of the ungrading process happen in small groups w/ or w/o peer learning facilitators helping the students (Ss) out.
Here’s my basic #ungrading design 4 the 400-S Gen chem I class I taught 4 years:
Individual multiple choice tests (this is realistic folks!)— Rissa Sorensen-Unruh (@RissaChem) December 18, 2019
Yes, you can ungrade even in a gateway STEM class of 400 students…
(Even 2-3 short answer is killer in a 400-S class)
-Run scantrons through grading
-Hand back copies of exams in next class *without* scantrons
-Generalized positive and specific feedback on each question detailing most abundant mistakes to entire class through a handout
(2/3)— Rissa Sorensen-Unruh (@RissaChem) December 18, 2019
(3/3) -small groups rework exams turning in 1 copy of “corrected” exam (an extra copy is given to each group) (In the midst of group work, if a question is deemed unfair, the group can elevate it quietly through their handed in work (in which case I’m the judge & jury) or…
— Rissa Sorensen-Unruh (@RissaChem) December 18, 2019
(3+/3)
It can be elevated publicly, in which we have a whole class discussion on the merits of the questions & vote as a class if it’s fair. If it’s fair, we count it; if not, we throw it out)
-individual exam grade counted as 25% individual work, 75% group workSome notes…
— Rissa Sorensen-Unruh (@RissaChem) December 18, 2019
(3++/3)
-This would take 1 extra class period per exam. I used to do a review for each exam the class before they took the exam; that review would be moved out of class & this would replace it.
-Group work could be due the next class period if extra time was needed.#ungrading— Rissa Sorensen-Unruh (@RissaChem) December 18, 2019
Agreed. But it sounds like you’re already set up to make this work fairly easily.
I think the important aspects of the design that will help March you not hate December you are:
-feedback on each question to entire class, not individual feedback on each exam
And…— Rissa Sorensen-Unruh (@RissaChem) December 18, 2019
-group work where they turn in one *corrected* exam per group & it counts for each person in the group…
These major aspects will save time & heartache in a massive class.
& you have 70 ish students? That’s like 18 ish corrected papers to grade (assuming 4 person groups)…
— Rissa Sorensen-Unruh (@RissaChem) December 18, 2019
