Table of Contents

Grading
Ungrading

Grading

Differentiated Teaching. (2021). 7 Tools for Formative Assessment in the Virtual Classroom. https://www.differentiatedteaching.com/digital-formative-assessments/. 

  • Here, this article provides educators with several website resources that can be utilized in the online classroom to gauge what students know and do not. These websites include: Poll Everywhere, Exit Ticket Parking Lot, Peardeck, Miro, Google Forms, Flipgrid, and Quizizz.

Arend, B. D. (2007). Course Assessment Practices And Student Learning Strategies In Online Courses. Online Learning. https://olj.onlinelearningconsortium.org/index.php/olj/article/view/1712.

  • This article focuses on several formative and summative assessment types and student learning strategies. The author discusses the best way to create assessments based off of these learning strategies in the online classroom. 

Bergquist, E., & Holbeck, R. (2014). Classroom Assessment Techniques: A Conceptual Model for CATs in the Online Classroom. Journal of Instructional Research, 3, 3-7. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1127639. 

  • This article discusses Classroom Assessment Techniques (CATS) and how they can be adopted in the online classroom. The steps to assessing students via CATS include identifying the learning objectives, choosing the best way to assess this objective, implementing this assessment in an online discussion forum, analyzing student responses in an online discussion forum, and reteaching any areas where students are not excelling.  

Bergquist, E., & Holbeck, R. (2013). Using Classroom Assessment Techniques: A Proactive Approach for Online Learning. Faculty Focus | Higher Ed Teaching & Learning. https://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/online-education/online-assessment-grading-and-feedback/using-classroom-assessment-techniques-a-proactive-approach-for-online-learning/. 

  • The authors of this article argue that there are several Classroom Assessment Techniques that work best in the online classroom. These CATS include directed paraphrasing, student-generated test questions, and double-entry journal. By utilizing these CATS, teachers are able to better assess students’ knowledge and involve students in their own learning. 

Fleming, N. (2020). 7 Ways to Do Formative Assessments in Your Virtual Classroom. Edutopia. https://www.edutopia.org/article/7-ways-do-formative-assessments-your-virtual-classroom. 

  • In this article, the author gives several ideas for teaching online and building an environment that promoted equity, trust, support, while also promoting cooperative learning. These resources include, “dipsticks, digital journals and one pagers, elevator pitches and tweets, square, triangle, and circle, make art your assessment, peer to peer evaluations, and virtual exit tickets.” 

The K. Patricia Cross Academy. (2020). Learning Assessment in Online Courses. https://kpcrossacademy.org/learning-assessment-in-online-courses/. 

  • This article provides several video links that describe resources for those teaching and assessing online. These videos give educators visual tutorials for how to implement several CATS in the classroom. Also listed are several questions to provide guidance on which of these techniques to use.  

Lang, J. M. (2021). Advice: Should We Stop Grading Class Participation? The Chronicle of Higher Education. https://www.chronicle.com/article/should-we-stop-grading-class-participation?utm_source=Iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=campaign_2205198_nl_Academe-Today_date_20210412&cid=at&source=ams&sourceId=5192809.

  • In this article, the author describes his experience with grading class participation and explains why he no longer factors participation into grades. He gives several reasons including that grading participation is subject to implicit bias, is a subjective measure as some students may be extroverts while others may be introverts, not all comments bring the same value to a class, grading participation can increase stress for some students, and teachers’ memories of participation are imperfect. He provides alternative ways to make sure students voices are heard in the classroom.

Lieberman, M. (2018). Q&A: Toward Better Assessments in Online Courses. Inside Higher Ed. https://www.insidehighered.com/digital-learning/article/2018/10/31/qa-strategies-better-assessments-online-learning. 

  • Here, the author provides a Q&A that discusses what a “good” assessment is. Several topics are discussed including innovative examples of online assessment, concerns from educators regarding online assessment, technology tools, and the end goals of these assessments.  

Perera-Diltz, D. M., & Moe, J. L. (2014). Formative and Summative Assessment in Online Education. Counseling & Human Services Faculty Publications, 37, 130–42. https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1038&context=chs_pubs. 

  • In this article, the authors offer a brief overview of assessment approaches best suited for the online classroom. These approaches include discussion boards, journals, Netfolio, student generated questions and concept maps, Wikis, and tests.  

Shaw, A. (2019). Authentic Assessment in the Online Classroom. Center for Teaching and Learning | Wiley Education Services. https://ctl.wiley.com/authentic-assessment-in-the-online-classroom/. 

  • In this article, the author discusses how using authentic assessments which, “require the student to ‘do’ the subject,” make the classroom more equitable and provide for a better way to understand what students know. It also promotes the idea of students as co-educators as they work to assess themselves and their own knowledge.  

Thomas, B. (2020). Using Classroom Assessment Techniques Amid Covid-19 Pandemic. Connect For Education. https://connect4education.com/using-classroom-assessment-techniques-amid-covid-19-pandemic/. 

  • This article discusses how Classroom Assessments Techniques can be used in the pandemic style classroom. The author argues that these techniques will make the unfamiliar classroom setting more familiar to students and will ensure that the class stays on track. 

UPEI E-Learning Office. (2016). Taking Your Classroom Assessment Techniques Online. Medium. https://medium.com/upeielo/taking-your-classroom-assessment-techniques-online-2749f844240b.  

  • In this article, the author provides several tactics for assessing what students know in an online environment. These tactics include tickets out the door, learning logs, one minutes essays, graphic organizers, and four corners. By providing these tactics, the author is providing ways to make the classroom more equitable for all in terms of knowledge checks.

Ungrading

Blum, S. D. (2020). Ungrading Why Rating Students Undermines Learning (and What to Do Instead). West Virginia University Press. https://wvupressonline.com/node/844.

  • The moment is right for critical reflection on what has been assumed to be a core part of schooling. In Ungrading, fifteen educators write about their diverse experiences going gradeless. Some contributors are new to the practice and some have been engaging in it for decades. Some are in humanities and social sciences, some in STEM fields. Some are in higher education, but some are the K–12 pioneers who led the way. Based on rigorous and replicated research, this is the first book to show why and how faculty who wish to focus on learning, rather than sorting or judging, might proceed. It includes honest reflection on what makes ungrading challenging, and testimonials about what makes it transformative. 

Flaherty, C. (2019). When Grading Less Is More. Inside Higher Ed. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2019/04/02/professors-reflections-their-experiences-ungrading-spark-renewed-interest-student.

  • In this article, the author has compiled several professors’ reflections on implementing ungrading in their higher education classrooms. As these professors note, using this policy greatly improved learning and the students’ experiences as a whole. The downside to this, as noted by one professor, is the possibility for grade inflation. Though, as mentioned, this can easily be combatted through a variety of measures. Overall, this method – a blend of traditional grading and ungrading – has proven to be effective in the learning environment.

Gorichanaz, T. (2022). “It made me feel like it was okay to be wrong”: Student experiences with ungrading. Active Learning in Higher Education, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/14697874221093640

  • An interpretive phenomenological analysis study of college students’ experiences with ungrading. In this study, ungrading is defined as a form of reflection-based self-evaluation. By following along with 8 students, researchers were able to denote 4 popular themes: de-gamification, time for reflection, rich communication, and a learning community.

Pittman, C., & Tobin, T. J. (2022). Academe Has a Lot to Learn About How Inclusive Teaching Affects Instructors. The Chronicle of Higher Education. https://www.chronicle.com/article/academe-has-a-lot-to-learn-about-how-inclusive-teaching-affects-instructors?utm_source=Iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=campaign_3666147_nl_Academe-Today_date_20220208&cid=at&source=ams&sourceid=

  • This article examines the ways in which instructors without institutional or cultural authority are impacted by inclusive teaching practices. The article highlights how instructors without institutional or cultural authority may face additional resistence and incivility from students when implementing inclusive teaching practices. The article then goes on to recommend ways in which the benefits of inclusive teaching can be balanced with the inequalities faced by some instructors.

Rosenblatt, A. (2020). Committing to Ungrading, in an Emergency and After. The Chronicle, https://www.dukechronicle.com/article/2020/03/duke-university-gradin-coronavirus-covid-19-public-health-crisis-emergency-thinking-ungrading-pass-fail.

  • This article discusses the movement for a change in grading within higher education during the Covid-19 pandemic. Specifically, this article looks at how changing grading to pass/fail for a semester at Duke University benefited students. It is noted that this system greatly reduced inequality in the classroom, especially with the use of labor-based grading contracts. These contracts assign every assignment a point value and students are given full points on their assignment as long as it meets the minimum standards listed or are able to meet minimum standards after revision.

Stommel, J. (2018). How to Ungrade.  https://www.jessestommel.com/how-to-ungrade/.

  • The author describes ungrading, its history, and how to practice this theory in the classroom. Grading began in the 1780s but was not widely used until the 1940s. As the author argues, a system adapted so recently can easily be dismantled. Other approaches to assessing students include grade free zones, self-assessment, process letters, minimal grading, authentic assessment, contract grading, portfolios, peer-assessment, and student-made rubrics.