Today I published my first draft of my Ungrading FAQs for students in my classes. You can find today’s draft below:
This document answers many questions that my students have about how they earn a final grade in my class and how they get evaluated in my classes.
I use this document in lieu of the standard grade calculation formulas that most College STEM teachers put in their syllabus to show how final grades are calculated. It turns out that the letter grade system allows both teachers and students to get away with turning the incredibly complex process of learning into an overly simple and harmful mathematical formula for a final grade that has very little connection to the strength of the learning students do in their classes.
In my teaching practice, I dare to challenge that system based on my belief that all my students, even my least privileged students, deserve access to excellent educational experiences. To turn that belief into effective teaching policies, I have created the teaching policies and curriculum (as outlined in the document above) that help students learn how to measure and direct their own learning without relying on the letter grading system.
Jeff Anderson 