Letting Go of Grades: Creating an Environment of Autonomy and a Focus on Learning for High Achieving Students

Abstract

In this essay we discuss an iterative, reflective writing assignment (the “learning charter”) as a way to understand how high-achieving students experienced an ungrading learning environment. Working with evidence from student written reflection and in-class conversations, we chronicle how students articulated their perspectives on this approach through the fifteen-week semester. Our findings indicate that despite initial uncertainty, students found the environment to be one that promoted learning for the sake of learning, cultivated mental wellness, and compelled them to pursue meaningful questions about their own educational goals and experience. While this development was not without feelings of conflict and struggle throughout the course, by the end of it, students reported a renewed focus on the value of learning. We suggest that the strategies employed in this course might be successfully adopted in or adapted to other courses for high-achieving students, as well as other student populations.

“Success was Actually Having Learned:” University Student Perceptions of Ungrading

“…Regular reminders, guidance, and resources can help reduce ambiguity and self-doubt while flexible deadlines, resubmission opportunities, and comprehensive feedback can alleviate stress. Formal grade checkins and discussions as well as providing scaffolding and examples for self-assessment tasks can reduce uncertainty and build trust (Hall and Meinking 2022;Mallette and Hawks 2020;Spidell and Thelin 2006). Finally, inviting students to rethink how they recognize and value learning is essential.…”

“…A growing body of evidence shows that ungrading is generally effective and supports learning outcomes (Blinne 2021;Blum 2020;Burrows et al 2021;Carter and Carter 2022;Guberman 2021;Hall and Meinking 2022;Koehler and Meech 2022;Mallette and Hawks 2020;Reardon and Guardado-Menjivar 2020). However, much of the research on student experiences of ungrading is based on ethnographies, small qualitative studies, and case studies which, although informative, are often anecdotal and sometimes emphasize instructors' perspectives.…”

Emphasizing the professional in PDS

“…There is plentiful research on the negative impact of grading on students at all levels (Kohn, 2011) and several recent studies and reflections on eliminating grades in college courses (Blum, 2020a, b;Greenberg, Sohn, & Moret, 2022;Hall & Meinking, 2022;McConnel, 2022). According to Kohn (2011), the negative impacts of grading include diminished interest in the task being graded, a lack of intellectual risk taking, and more limited thinking about the content being learned.…”

“…(Greenberg et al, 2022). The ungrading practice also represents an effort at establishing intrinsic motivation for the work in the class while reducing the anxiety students feel (Hall & Meinking, 2022). Both ideals of the ungrading practice were important to me, in particular alleviating the stress and anxiety that interns express as they span the boundary between college student and teacher.…”