Going Gradeless: Exploring Ungrading as an Assessment Innovation to Enhance Student Outcomes and Equity

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Laurel McNall, Ph.D.

Professor of Psychology

What is Ungrading?

• Ungrading is the practice of minimizing or eliminating grades in order to focus on meaningful feedback and student learning.

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• Umbrella term for a spectrum alternative grading strategies?

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Ungrading (Talbert, 2023)

“A particular approach to the evaluation of student work in which:

• There are no marks (grades) of any kind put on individual items of work;

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• Student work fits into a portfolio, curated by students, that will be used to document their growth and development through the course;

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• Instead of a mark, each item of work gets feedback — written, and perhaps oral, but not numerical or mark-based — from the instructor that contains observations and suggestions;

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• Typically, the student can revise and resubmit work for the portfolio using the feedback; and

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• Perhaps ungrading’s signature feature is that while course grades are still assigned, it’s done collaboratively: students assign themselves grades, often in dialogue with the professor, based on a self-evaluation of their portfolios, against descriptive criteria for what constitutes various course grades.”

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Collaborative Grading (Eyler, 2023)

• Clearer, more accurate term for the practice that involves students proposing their own grades using evidence from their work and meeting with instructors to discuss.

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Why did I choose this approach?

• Courses (Fall 2022, Spring 2023, Fall 2023)
• PSH 318 Career Development for Psychology Majors (portfolio)
• PSH 498 Psychology Internship (experiential)
• PSH 390/425 Motivation (elective, capstone)
• PSH 402 Industrial/Organizational Psychology (application)

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• My employment status

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Why did I choose this approach?

Equity Issues

• Standard grading practices may perpetuate bias.

Grades are at the Center of the Student Mental Health Crisis

• Strong evidence to suggest that grades are making students physically, emotionally and psychologically unwell

2019 report by the Pew Research Center

• The pressure to get good grades was the most significant factor leading to mental health issues (88 percent said they feel either “a lot” or “some” pressure about grades). 

How did I explain this method to students?

Disclaimer!

Day 1

• Polls Everywhere
• If I give you the word “grades”, what word/thought/feeling pops into your head?
• How would you categorize the word you wrote?

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• Research rationale

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• What it will look like in our classroom

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Poll Results - 318

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Poll Results - 318

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Poll Results - 390

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Poll Results - 390

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• Grades can be very complex and very personal.

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• We all have stories about a grade, points, or a particular teacher.

What I want for you

• “From birth onward, humans, in their healthiest states, are active, inquisitive, curious, and playful creatures, displaying a ubiquitous readiness to learn and explore, and they do not require extraneous incentives to do so. This natural motivational tendency is a critical element in cognitive, social, and physical development because it is through acting on one’s inherent interests that one grows in knowledge and skills” (Ryan & Deci, 2000).

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The Case Against Grades

• Grades tend to diminish students’ interest in whatever they’re learning
• I want to focus on intrinsic motivation, not extrinsic motivation
• Grades create a preference for the easiest task
• I want to challenge you without anxiety around failing
• Grades reduce the quality of students’ thinking
• I want to develop your critical thinking skills, one of the top skills that employers want from new college graduates
• Grading spoils relationships with teachers and other students.
• I care about my relationships with students.
• Grading is punitive – here are all the things you did wrong!
• Mistakes should be used for further learning

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Evidence

• Butler (1988)
• Condition 1: Feedback only
• Condition 2: Feedback and Grade
• Condition 3: Grade only

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• Results = students who received feedback only consistently outperformed the other two groups.

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Why?

• Feedback only: more engaged in the task, view work as a success or failure (I can make changes to the work)
• Grades: more ego driven, saw success and failure as a reflection of themselves. Professor passing judgment on the student.
• I want students to see learning as a process of ongoing trial and error, not a judgment of who they are.

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What Can Be Done?

• I want to minimize the negative impact of grades in this classroom to encourage more genuine learning

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• This course will focus more heavily on qualitative, not quantitative assessment.

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• This means I will rely on feedback and reflection
• Meaningful feedback > letters/numbers

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Assessment

• Reflections across three time points: early/midsemester/final
• Assignments - may be given in class or assigned as homework to apply the material
• Portfolio (318)
• Checkup (390, 402, 425) - online assessments after each chapter to check your understanding
• Unit Assessment (390, 402, 425) – take home essays to apply the material, discuss with peers, and improve your responses
• Motivational Intervention Team Project/Paper (390/425) - create a presentation or paper on how to motivate others for an external stakeholder
• You will propose a midterm and final grade based on your contributions and engagement, and I will review the evidence you offer to make the final determination of your grade. If we disagree, we will meet 1:1 during the final exam period.

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Last Day of Class Poll

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Last Day of Class Poll

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Debrief

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• Felt more in control of grades – “get back what you put in”
• Less stress than other classes
• Built in accountability on the reflection forms
• Would only work in higher level courses
• Retained material more because I applied it
• Huge increase in motivation
• Can engage in dialog on grades – we can talk about it openly
• Allowed more creativity

Qualitative Analysis

• Compared responses from early to final reflection form to identify emerging patterns and themes for coding.

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• Responses evaluated for overall tone/sentiment
• Positive (n = 83)
• Negative (n = 13)
• Neutral (n = 12)

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Positive Themes

Negative Themes

Reflections – What I Liked the Most

• The biggest advantage was the relationship I had with my students, which felt more collaborative and more like a partnership.
• This approach caused me to examine the language I use on my syllabus, and move towards more support over control and punishment.
• It changed the lens through which I see the course and is more aligned with my values and what I want students to get out of my courses.
• Students expressed a genuine appreciation for trying out something new and different instead of using the same methods.

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Reflections – What I’ll Do Differently

• Require tracked changes so I can easily see what was changed based on my feedback
• I will offer more guideposts on where students stand
• Meets/exceeds standards
• Not yet – minor revision needed
• Not yet – major revision needed
• I will offer lessons on how to engage in important components of ungrading
• Teach students how to reflect
• Practice assigning a grade and offering feedback
• Need to work on my mindset too!

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Important Considerations

• Need for other tools outside the learning management systems (e.g., Excel spreadsheet, Mach form, Polls Everywhere)
• Organizational skills
• Class size
• Class year
• Neurodivergent students
• Women, students of color, first-gen, international students

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Jesse Stommel

Resources

• Jesse Stommel
• Alfie Kohn
• Celeste Leander
• Cate Denial
• Grading for Growth – subscribe for free for new posts every Monday

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