When: June 18, 2021, 11:00 am - 12:30 pm

Presenter(s): Paul McPherron (English), Julie Van Peteghem (Romance Languages)

Please join us for a 4-part Teaching Scholarship Circle (TSC) around the topic of “ungrading.” In recent years, a number of prominent voices in the academy have questioned not just how we grade, but why we grade altogether, arguing that we need to “ungrade” and move away from usual modes of grading that send the wrong message to students and discourage deep learning. Discussing chapters from Susan Blum’s recent edited volume Ungrading: Why Rating Students Undermines Learning (and What to Do Instead), we will analyze our assessment and feedback practices and explore new approaches for our future courses. We hope to discuss “ungrading” and related practices such as contract grading and specifications grading with colleagues from a wide variety of disciplines, and in both small and large courses.

The TSC will meet on Friday June 4, 11, 18, 25 from 11am to 12:30pm on Zoom. Participants who sign up by Sunday May 16 will receive a copy of the book from which we will pick different chapters to read for each meeting. Participants should plan to attend all 4 sessions, if possible.