My experience last semester in this class was a really positive one, and a lot of that is attributed to the fact that I knew exactly what grade I would get. I put in the work, and the outcome was what I worked hard for. It was such a good feeling knowing that my effort wouldn't be going to waste. (The amount of times I've dedicated a ridiculous amount of hours to a course but then don't end up with an A has really negatively affected me.) I think a lot of professors look down upon or fear giving out A's so "easily" because it might mean students won't work as hard. For me, it only pushed me harder because it meant I was able to actually focus on enjoying the process of writing and learning. There was no anxiety about getting anything less than I deserved. While the concept of ungrading might not work for a lot of classes, it definitely works for this one.
Grading has always felt kind of cheap to me. As Laura mentioned, it's extremely arbitrary. I've always wondered--aren't teachers there to help you learn? Not score you like you're in a competition and they're the judge? I remember in 9th grade, I got a 98% on an essay, but there was no feedback to indicate why it wasn't a 100%. I asked my teacher if he had any feedback so that I could improve and he said it was a great paper, and he had no comments. This really frustrated me because if there is room for improvement, I want to know. I obviously wasn't upset about the grade, but I was upset that I didn't get feedback. It just felt like I didn't actually learn anything.
The idea of ungrading is a really wonderful one, in my opinion. It gives students a responsibility. It builds trust and shows students that they are just as important in the process of their work as the teacher is. Grading has negatively impacted the self-esteem of so many people I know, and if we can change the system then I absolutely think we should. I do think every teacher should consider their class individually and decide the best grading (or, rather, ungrading) technique for their situation, because this system where the student picks the grade might not work for every subject. Still, how the teacher chooses to assign value to an individual can make an entire world of difference in how the student performs in the class.
If you can't tell, I'm a bit too passionate about the education system and could talk about it excessively. I'm really happy to see that people are looking into changing it, and I hope ungrading will one day be the norm.
(Feedback cat image from GrowthMindsetMemes blog)
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