I'm a huge fan of the whole concept, but boy, do I dislike the term ungrading... I can totally see how that wakes up certain associations that are obviously false, particularly in people not familiar with the concept. Maybe ungrading needs upgrading? :)
As someone who's struggled tremendously to get through years and years of mc tests and other horrible forms of standardized testing, I can see how the approach fuels imposter syndrome in people ('your tests were horrible, you do not belong here'). I seriously don't see how people could see alternative solutions as a problem. It almost sounds like they feel threatened, but by what? I wonder if there's a correlation between probability of high achieving on standard tests and their openness to alternative approaches.
Yeah, I agree that the term "ungrading" has a branding issue, especially if the goal is to bring traditionalists into the fold. I think most folks are glad to adopt new-to-them evidence-based practices as long as it isn't a huge increase in workload and they think it's going to work. I think the deeper issue is, what does it mean that a teaching practice "works"? and for the folks who are invested in using grades as a filtering mechanism based on their values system or recruitment practices, well, that's a deeper issue we need to address about why universities exist.
True. In a way, I wonder whether this stems from academia reeling in a lot of researchers that 'have to do' teaching. For many, their heart's not in it. There seem to be far fewer teachers reeled in that 'have to do' research. I think a better mix of people that are more teaching-oriented along with the bulk of research-oriented teachers would be good. Unfortunately, good teaching is rarely incentivized. Too often, permanent positions go to great researchers with a so-so teaching record, whereas the opposite is rarely true, as far as I have observed it...
I will certainly look at some alternatives to see how I can fit them into my teaching where university structure allows for this - it can be rusty and hard to change as non-permanent employee.
I'm a huge fan of the whole concept, but boy, do I dislike the term ungrading... I can totally see how that wakes up certain associations that are obviously false, particularly in people not familiar with the concept. Maybe ungrading needs upgrading? :)
As someone who's struggled tremendously to get through years and years of mc tests and other horrible forms of standardized testing, I can see how the approach fuels imposter syndrome in people ('your tests were horrible, you do not belong here'). I seriously don't see how people could see alternative solutions as a problem. It almost sounds like they feel threatened, but by what? I wonder if there's a correlation between probability of high achieving on standard tests and their openness to alternative approaches.
Yeah, I agree that the term "ungrading" has a branding issue, especially if the goal is to bring traditionalists into the fold. I think most folks are glad to adopt new-to-them evidence-based practices as long as it isn't a huge increase in workload and they think it's going to work. I think the deeper issue is, what does it mean that a teaching practice "works"? and for the folks who are invested in using grades as a filtering mechanism based on their values system or recruitment practices, well, that's a deeper issue we need to address about why universities exist.
True. In a way, I wonder whether this stems from academia reeling in a lot of researchers that 'have to do' teaching. For many, their heart's not in it. There seem to be far fewer teachers reeled in that 'have to do' research. I think a better mix of people that are more teaching-oriented along with the bulk of research-oriented teachers would be good. Unfortunately, good teaching is rarely incentivized. Too often, permanent positions go to great researchers with a so-so teaching record, whereas the opposite is rarely true, as far as I have observed it...
I will certainly look at some alternatives to see how I can fit them into my teaching where university structure allows for this - it can be rusty and hard to change as non-permanent employee.