Ungrading

The approach to grading in this course is sometimes called “ungrading,” because it seeks to deemphasize letter grades and instead foreground learning.  When it comes to your learning over the next 14 weeks, I will be most interested in your willingness to do the following things:

  • Be engaged
  • Work on the reading
  • Work on your writing
  • Reflect on your learning

Let me explain what I mean by those things.

Being engaged  is important not only for your own learning but also for how others can learn from you.  Everything else that matters about this course begins with your engagement which includes (but is not limited to) things like

  • Preparing for class discussions.
  • Participating in class discussions, and responding thoughtfully to your classmates’ comments.
  • Asking questions (e.g., about the reading, about your writing, about your classmates’ writing, etc.).
  • Providing constructive feedback on your classmates’ writing.
  • Being active on the class blog and discussion forums.
  • Attending class meetings (with the usual exceptions for illness, emergency, or religious holiday)
  • Meeting deadlines.
  • Meeting with me when you have questions or want to talk further about course matters.
  • Demonstrating a willingness to consider new ideas and ways of thinking.

Working on your reading includes (but is not limited to) things like

  • Annotating as you read.
  • Taking notes so that, during our discussions, you can turn quickly to pages and passages.
  • Rereading.
  • Sharing your ideas about the reading in class.

Working on your writing means taking yourself seriously as a writer.  That includes (but is not limited to) things like:

  • Devoting a regular time (e.g. every day, every other day, every week day, etc.) to work on the writing for this course.
  • Getting comfortable sharing your writing before it’s finished.
  • Finding readers you trust who will provide helpful feedback on your writing.
  • Responding thoughtfully to feedback on your writing.
  • Learning to be patient with your writing, because good ideas need time to develop.
  • Tossing out the 2 pages you wrote yesterday that no longer seem like a good idea.
  • Saving in a separate file the 2 pages you wrote yesterday, because they might turn out to be useful, but you can’t see how just yet.

And reflecting on your learning means that you periodically stop to think about what you’ve been doing in the course and how you’ve been doing it.  More specifically, back on the “About” page of this website, I outlined the learning goals for this course.  There are a lot of things there, and I recognize that everyone’s progress is going to be a little different.  For that reason, I will frequently ask you for your sense of what you’ve been learning and how things have been going.  You will have regular opportunities to talk about these things in some of the informal assignments and then more formally in the reflection essays that accompany your midterm and final portfolios, when I will also ask you to suggest a grade that you think fairly represents your efforts to date based on the following criteria:

A:  Your portfolio is complete.  Your reflection essay describes  your learning to date as represented by the contents of your portfolio, and provides thorough reflection and analysis of examples.  The other work included exceeds expectations and requirements given in the assignments.  (E.g., your field notebook includes more than the required number of entries, and the additional entries are substantive and thoughtful.)

You are also a regular contributor to class discussion, active in small groups (your group works for the allotted time and stays on task), and an active participant on our class blog: you make at least 4 comments/wk on your classmates’ posts, and you have contributed at least 1 substantive blog post in addition to the required 4.  You have no unexcused absences.

B:  Your portfolio is complete.  Your cover essay describes your learning to date as represented by the contents of your portfolio, and provides enough reflection and analysis of examples for me to see that you are aware of how you are learning.  The majority of other pieces in your portfolio demonstrate a solid working understanding of the expectations and requirements given in the assignments.

In addition, on most days, you contribute to class discussion, and you are active in small groups.  You have completed the 4 required blog posts.  You comment at least 3 times/week on the class blog.  You have no more than 2 unexcused absences.

C:  Your portfolio is complete.  Your cover essay provides description but not much reflection or analysis of your portfolio writing and your learning to date.  The majority of other pieces included meet the minimum expectations and requirements given in the assignments, but may struggle to understand the material.

You contribute to class discussion when called on, but don’t volunteer comments.  Your contributions demonstrate that you have done the reading and are following the trajectory of our discussion.  You are relatively quiet in small groups.  You have completed the 4 required blog posts and you comment 1-2 times/week on your classmates’ posts.  You have 3 unexcused absences.

D:  Portfolio was incomplete.  You do not voluntarily participate in class discussion or online, tend to be silent in groups, and your responses when you’re called on reflect minimal to poor preparation and/or engagement.  You have 4-5 unexcused absences.

F:  Portfolio was not submitted, or submitted late without advance notice and permission from me.  You have missed assignments.  You have missed 6 or more class meetings.

F:  You have missed 6 or more class meetings.

A final word about ungrading:  I’ve been doing it for awhile, and in my experience, students usually have a good sense for where they stand.  However, if I think a grade is too low or too high, I will make adjustments and explain my reasons to you.