Episode Details

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! This is the first holiday we have taken since launching the podcast, so on this episode we're doing things a little differently!

Our first segment is a response segment to some thoughtful, effective feedback that we were given from a listener. We really appreciated the time they took to write to us and we learned a lot thinking about the feedback! Also, to give us all time to take a breath and do some catch up, we are re-running our episode about the problems with traditional grading. This is a good time to re-listen to this episode and evaluate in preparation for next semester, are we avoiding/repairing as many of the problems with traditional grading as we can, given our own time, resources, and institutional contexts!

So - have a wonderful holiday, we'll be back with new episodes next week!

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From Episode 2 - The Problems with Traditional Grading: Before we can explore how to change our grading to be more effective, more humane, more inclusive and to better support student learning, we need to begin by examining more closely what is wrong with what we currently do. In this episode, Sharona and Bosley take a deep dive into the problems with the traditional points-and-percentages grading system. During the episode we explore:

• What do we mean by "traditional grading"?
• What is the purpose of a grade in a class?
• The lack of consistency and clarity in points-and-percentages grading
• The misuse of mathematical averages
• The inequitable nature of category weights
• Does traditional points-and-percentages grading do what we think it does?

Links

Please note - any books linked here are likely Amazon Associates links. Clicking on them and purchasing through them helps support the show. Thanks for your support!

• When is a number not a number? by Robert Talbert
• A Century of Grading Research: Meaning and Value in the Most Common Educational Measure
• Iowa ASCD 15: How to Grade for Learning with Ken O’Conner | Resource - Full
• The Case Against Percentage Grades
• The Case Against the Zero
• Grading is a Scam (and motivation is a myth) - Youtube

Resources

The Grading Conference - an annual, online conference exploring Alternative Grading in Higher Education & K-12.

Some great resources to educate yourself about Alternative Grading:

• The Grading for Growth Blog
• The Grading Conference
• The Intentional Academia Blog

Recommended Books on Alternative Grading (Please note - any books linked here are likely Amazon Associates links. Purchasing through them helps support the show. Thank