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Thanks to @Bali_Maha for inspiring this thread that I wrote on #ungrading.
Ok! A thread. I will talk about my practices of #ungrading. But I can’t do that without talking more overall about my teaching philosophy. Because I think if you try to just jam in #ungrading without changing anything else about your teaching, you’ll get into trouble. 1/n
For me, #ungrading must be part of an overall teaching strategy that is built on trusting students, empowering them, and giving them agency. In this webinar I did with my colleague @fromthefarfield we talk about the need to think about values first. 2/n https://granite.zoom.us/rec/play/uZd-cumgqjk3TNOWsQSDCvIqW9S_KamsgyYXqaIJnk2yBnIFZAXyYLoWarYKtEFbjQmbvT0j_Pyalri1?continueMode=true
I just want to add here: YES EVEN IN A STEM COURSE. Because your discipline doesn’t matter, but who you are as a teacher does. #ungrading 3/n
With a HT to @thatpsychprof who framed 5 R’s for #OpenPedagogy this includes #respect #risk #reciprocate #reach #resist. I also add these to my teaching list: #Trust #Freedom #Agency #Empowerment #Community #Compassion #Curiosity #Skepticism #SocialJustice #AntiRacism 4/n
I give my students a great deal of leeway in what and how they learn in my biology courses. You can read a little more detail here in this older piece. 5/n http://openpedagogy.org/course-level/using-practices-of-open-pedagogy-in-my-biology-courses/
I ask my students to write a grading proposal at the beginning of the semester. I provide them several possible categories, and now allow them to delete any of the ones I came up with and create their own and to change their proposal at any point in the semester. #ungrading 6/n
I ask my students to complete 3-4 self-assessment forms throughout the semester. This is an iterative process as they need to learn how to think about and evaluate their learning. I work to help them with this. The metacognitive work that they do is the gold in #ungrading. 7/n
Throughout the semester I work to communicate to my students that Yes, really, I do mean it. You really do get to do what you want. It’s not a trick. Yes, you can really grade yourself. Yup. This takes building trust with them. 8/n
I find that it is also necessary and important for my students to build a sense of trust, community and connection with each other in the class. My student @AudibertDevon wrote wonderfully about this. 9/n
http://devty453.kscopen.org/uncategorized/open-pedagogy-tropical-marine-bio-final-assessment/
http://devty453.kscopen.org/uncategorized/open-pedagogy-tropical-marine-bio-final-assessment/
I want to also talk about the overall context of #ungrading because its not just about you and your classroom. It literally relates to everything. In Higher Ed and in society more generally. 10/n
I wrote about this in A Special Kind of Hell, where I ask what nefarious fate would befall society if we didn’t feel so invested in figuring out who is better than who? It starts with grading and continues from there. #capitalism or #elitism anyone? 11/n
https://karencang.net/teaching/a-special-kind-of-hell/
https://karencang.net/teaching/a-special-kind-of-hell/
In Dec, I wrote this (next) tweet when I was reading @adriennemaree’s book called Emergent Strategy.
BTW, Put down what you are doing and read this book now everyone. 12/n
BTW, Put down what you are doing and read this book now everyone. 12/n
#Ungrading doesn’t just benefit individual students, its essential for a functional society. @adriennemaree says- tests, deadlines put those with good short-term memory and positive response to pressure, in leadership positions; leads to dysfunctional urgency-based thinking. 13/n
So that’s it everyone, thanks for reading my #ungrading thread. Thanks again @Bali_Maha for inspiring it! 14/n
