The objective is for participants to understand how traditional grading practices undermine a student's learning and success, create inequity, and disrupt the instructor/student relationship and to learn the fundamental principles of creating a mastery-based grading system for their classes. Grading practices have an all-encompassing effect on student learning and classroom environment. In this workshop, participants will explore the destructive impact of traditional grading practices on student learning and success. From the ways in which traditional grading reinforces inequity to how it disrupts the instructor/student relationship, participants will look at over 100 years of literature and research to unpack what's wrong with traditional grading practices. This will be followed by a series of activities around the four pillars of Mastery-Based Grading, an alternative grading system that places student learning at the center of the grading practice. The four pillars are: clearly defined learning outcomes, assessment of mastery, eventual mastery, and helpful feedback. Participants will walk away from the workshop with an outline of a plan to redesign a course to utilize mastery-based grading as well as the resources needed to complete their redesign.
3 hours