Ungrading

I have broken from the traditional grading system that I have been a part of either as a student or teacher, my entire academic career. This course will be run as an “ungraded” class. This is very new to most people and many people ask why I run my classroom this way. My simple answer is that I truly believe with every fiber in my being that this is the absolute best way to support you, both as humans and as my students. I have been reading, listening, and processing concepts related to assessment, equality, learning styles, and general best teaching practices for quite some time now and have concluded that I cannot in good conscious keep teaching in the standard method. 

Unlike other classes that you may have had, this class is going to be OUR class. We will build it together and you will be personally involved in every piece of the process and that includes grading. I continue to grow, realizing mistakes are a part of growth, as an educator through my interactions and experiences with you. I invite each of you to do the same.

So what does this mean on a practical level?

Big Picture Growth in Understanding

I agree with Donald Finkel when he said "education should aim at long-lasting learning that forever alters our grasp of the world, deepening it, widening it, generalizing it, sharpening it."

What this means for this class is that we will work as a team to grow your knowledge and confidence so that not only will you be a strong and knowledgeable contributor to the ongoing issues around the globe but that you will also be in a position to add to the conversation. My current belief of best educational practices supports the use of student-led, project-based learning to support you in the goals mentioned above. We will use Canvas to highlight your personal mastery of each of the statistical learning outcomes that have been declared for this class. 

Let's be honest...Most of you won't remember what I teach you!

However, the topic really doesn't matter to learning. It's the PROCESS that matters. What I am most interested in you learning is how to be good thinkers and problem solvers. This requires that you struggle and fight with the material not just look for the right answer. It's the perseverance through the challenges that will help build your brains into ones that are resilient! This is what I want for each of you. No matter what your future life or job look like, your ability to think through how to solve problems is what will allow you to make great contributions to this world.

Growth Mindset

The work we do in this class is meant to help support ongoing learning and a growth mindset. Feedback will be provided at various stages along the way to help you improve and each submission will get credit as long as you give it your full effort. This means that during this class you will:

• Focus on understanding and learning, not on your mistakes.

• Work for yourself, not for me.

• Take risks and challenge yourself, not play it safe.

• Use feedback to learn and grow, not be penalized

What this should mean on a practical level is that the typical stress level associated with trying to "get it all right" shouldn't be present in this class. If you ever feel stressed out by this class, then please come to me right away so that we can identify what the challenge you are facing is and work together to create a solution.

The Details

I will meet with each of you individually several times throughout the semester to identify what goals you are striving for, how you are progressing on your goals, and what I can do to help you reach them. This course will be focused on learning and not on grades. I am required to give you a grade at the end of the course, but the day-to-day work will not receive a grade. Rather, I will be providing feedback in the form of comments and questions that are meant to engage and grow your work. There will also be peer interaction and feedback as well as personal reflection on your own work. The goal here is to provide an environment that excites you in the learning while removing the stress (and sometimes focus on) the grade as the final product. Should you be uncomfortable with this process, that is to be expected. This is new and different. However, if you find this process creating more anxiety than it alleviates, please come, and talk with me at any point. If you are worried about your grade, your best strategy is to participate, complete the assignments/checkpoints, and work focus on your project. If an assignment does not feel productive

Learning Objective Assessment

If you are in my Math 219 or Math 105 courses you will see a list of learning objectives in the Canvas Oreintation module. You’ll have multiple chances to demonstrate where you at in learning these 16 concepts on Application Checkpoints and Midterm, and Final Learning Summaries. Mistakes are encouraged and are part of the process. Please take the time to reach out if you feel like you are overwhelmed and struggling with the concepts. 

Application Checkpoints

Application checkpoints will give you a chance to demonstrate what you learned in practice and preparation. It will be related to what you did online and apply it to different applications. You will retake the checkpoint for a certain learning objective twice. Your highest score is kept.  

Midterm and Final Learning Summaries 

Learning summaries will consist of a knowledge checkpoint, an application project, and a reflection. The project will use technology, but also give you a chance to demonstrate your mastery of the you have learned over the course of our work together. The reflection might be a video or audio recording, or a short presentation on Pronto or Zoom. 

Late Work

While I do everything I can to be aware that you all have lives that things that impact your ability to complete work in this class, my personal experience and reflections from students have shown me that I need to implement hard deadlines to help support students become more successful in my class. In an effort to provide that support, I will implement the following pattern for deadlines:

Inital Deadline

This is the deadline that is given with the assignment. This will range depending on the assignment. Small assignments will often be the next class meeting, larger assignments will usually be one week. My goal is to give you what you need in steps that are in just right size. This class is setup to give you small amounts of work spread out over a greater number of days. 

Late Passes

I am also aware we have a diverse group of learners who learn in different ways and at different paces. There will be times when you struggle to get assignments done. If you find yourself not making any progress it is ok to walk away and take a break. I am here to help, and a small amount of direction can make a world of difference. You have been given 40 lates passes that allow you to extend the due date of practice assignments 48 hours. These will not work on checkpoints or projects. Please contact me if you need additional time to complete these assignments.