Teaching More By Grading Less: Creating Meaningful Assessments That Align With Learning Objectives

Description  ChallengesInstructors and course designers often find themselves assigning students large loads of assessment work, in the belief that learner skills need to be weighed and demonstrated by numerical measurements of mastery at every step of the learning process. This thinking leads to test fatigue for learners and grading fatigue for instructors.“Why Are Students So Focused on Grades?” provides a way to design assessments and activities to provide learners with greater engagement, more in-depth application of course concepts, and meaningful ways to demonstrate course learning outcomes—all while reducing the grading workload for instructors.Key TakeawayLearn how to apply alternative ways of assessing student work and giving feedback to lower anxiety, remove barriers to learning, reduce cheating, and motivate more students to learn.OverviewWhen was the last time you confronted a student about cheating, only to hear that he or she “just had to get a good grade” to pass the class or stay in the program? Think back, too, to the last time you graded student work. How long did it take you? What if we told you that your students could actually learn more and learn better if you were to grade less, or perhaps not at all?There has to be a catch, right? Well, no, there isn’t. Adopting an ungrading, specifications-grading, or minimalist-grading approach can help learners be more active, curious, and engaged, all while reducing your workload as an instructor.This Innovative Educators webinar presents a framework of expert-level assessment practices, all backed by the science of how our brains learn, and in response to the ways that our students have been conditioned by their K-12 and college experiences to “get the grades” rather than focus on learning the content and practices.Objectives Understand how to minimize learner anxiety that leads to cheating and poor skill demonstration, by designing completion-only and feedback-only learner activities Explore how to grade less by adopting ungrading, specifications grading, or a scaffolded minimalist grade structure Design course interactions that provide learners with greater choice and defining power for learning outcomes Who Should Attend Administration Enrollment Management Faculty Student Services/Affairs Any educator interested in learning more about peer mentor programs