17 Ungrading Myths . . . and “What I wish I would’ve known”
This chapter contains a curated list from our ungrading community on Twitter. If you have some myths/misconceptions you’d like to share, please add them to our Google Doc!
Ungrading Myths . . . and “What I wish I would’ve known”
- Grades/docked points are the best tool to maintain forward progress in a course
- Ungraded classes are “lenient”
- Ungrading means no deadlines
- Ungrading means no structure or scaffolding
- The best/only way to make learning happen is to compete for student attention via punitive grading or late policies
- People remove grades just to brag about it and not because grades are an untested tool that conflicts with our deeply held values
—from a Twitter Thread by @LindsayMasland
- Removing points, removes compliance
—from a Twitter Thread by @SurthrivEDU
- One misconception is that “grading” is mandatory. Check your local policies; in Ontario it is only mandatory to provide a final mark in grades 9 and 10; midterm and final in 11 and 12. You may be able to #ungrade and still comply with policy.
—from @TerryWhitmell
- Ungrading doesn’t mean that we are not reviewing student work; we are. We are reviewing and providing ongoing feedback so we are always reviewing student work, always.
—from @KSukEDUC
- “Ungrading saves time.” Not always. Sometimes a feedback-focused approach takes more time, depending on how it is given.
—from @ProfBDP
- That it would change in me in OTHER ways…
—from a Twitter Thread by @ihaveabug
- One thing I failed to consider when first #ungrading is the depth of influence traditional grading has had on students. So much deprogramming needed that establishes the WHY of #ungrading for those students who may not envision any other alternative. (P.S. Jesse Stommel has an excellent blog post called “Ungrading: an FAQ“).
—from @dbuckedu
- Ungrading means more work for educators and cannot be done in large courses.
—from @DrRAZimmerman
- There were many things that surprised me when I fully ungraded my first course. Mostly, I wish I had known that students really do work harder without grades, and I wish I would have known the brave choices they feel free to make when they know they are not being graded.
—from @cleander
—from @dccmath
