Uploaded December 2022 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
I created this video for a York University Teaching Commons Blog Post. You can find the accompanying post here: yorku.ca/teachingcommons/2022/12/08/blog-217
A written version of this video, with a few edits and additions: medium.com/@morganeua/ungrading-when-and-how-i-dont-grade-14c0e530f848
Shortform is a book summary app with excellent summaries and exercises for books on education like Carol Dweck's "Mindset." You can support my channel by purchasing a Shortform subscription using my affiliate link. It also gets you 20% off an annual subscription: shortform.com/morganeua
✨TIMESTAMPS✨
0:00 - the problem with grades
3:42 - what is "ungrading"?
5:32 - the current situation
6:23 - problem: grades are vague
7:50 - solution: collaborative rubrics, minimal grading
9:50 - problem: grades cause fear of failure
11:56 - solution: grade-free zones, contract grading
14:06 - problem: grades promote competition
15:00 - solution: peer-assessment, resist grading curves
17:59 - problem: grades reduce student reception of feedback
18:33 - solution: self- and collaborative grading
21:41 - conclusion
✨WORKS CITED✨
Bee, Zoe. “Grading is a Scam (and Motivation is a Myth) | A Professor Explains.” YouTube, May 2021. Accessed: 5 Dec 2022.
Bloom, B. S. “Learning for Mastery.” Instruction and Curriculum. Topical Papers and Reprints, no. 1, 1968.
Blum, Susan, ed. Ungrading: Why Rating Students Undermines Learning (and What to Do Instead), West Virginia University Press, 2020.
Butler, Ruth. “Enhancing and undermining intrinsic motivation: The effects of task‐involving and ego‐involving evaluation on interest and performance.” British Journal of Educational Psychology, vol. , 58, no. 1, pp. 1-14, 1988.
Double, Kit S., Joshua A. McGrane, Therese N. Hopfenbeck. “The Impact of Peer-Assessment on Academic Performance: A Meta-Analysis of Control Group Studies.” Educational Psychology Review, vol. 32, pp. 481-509, 2019.
Edwards, Nelta M. “Student Self-Grading in Social Statistics.” College Teaching, vol. 55, no. 2, pp. 72-76, 2007.
Elbow, Peter. “Grading Student Writing: Making It Simpler, Fairer, Clearer.” New Directions for Teaching and Learning, no. 69, pp. 127-140 1997.
Granger, Ruby. “grades are stopping us from learning.” YouTube, Oct 2022. Accessed 5 Dec 2022.
Harter, Susan. “Pleasure Derived from Challenge and the Effects of Receiving Grades on Children’s Difficulty Level Choices.” Child Development, vol. 49, pp. 788-799, 1978.
Inoue, Asao B. “Labor-Based Grading Resources.” Asao B. Inoue's Infrequent Words, tinyurl.com/LaborBasedGrading. Accessed 8 Dec 2022.
Jackson, Mariah, and Leah Marks. “Improving the effectiveness of feedback by use of assessed reflections and withholding of grades.” Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education. Vol. 41, No. 4, pp. 532–547, 2016.
Kilgour, et al. “A plan for the co-construction and collaborative use of rubrics for student learning.” Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, vol. 45, no. 1, pp. 140-153, 2020.
Kohn, Alfie. Punished by Rewards: the trouble with gold stars, incentive plans, A's, praise, and other bribes. Houghton Mifflin Company, 1993.
Nicholls, John G. “Achievement motivation: Conceptions of ability, subjective experience, task choice, and performance.” Psychological Review, vol. 91, no. 3, pp. 328–346, 1984.
Pulfrey, Caroline, Celine Buchs, and Fabrizio Butera. “Why Grades Engender Performance-Avoidance Goals: The Mediating Role of Autonomous Motivation.” Journal of Educational Psychology, vol. 103, no. 3, pp. 683-700, 2011.
Schinske, Jeffrey and Kimberly Tanner. “Teaching More by Grading Less (or Differently).” CBE - Life Sciences Education, vol. 13, pp. 159-166, 2014.
Stommel, Jesse. “How to Ungrade.” Jesse Stommel, 2018, jessestommel.com/how-to-ungrade/. Accessed 8 Dec 2022.
Strong, et al. “Self-Grading in Large General Education Classes: A Case Study.” College Teaching, vol. 52, no. 2, pp. 52-57, 2004.
Taras M. “The use of tutor feedback and student self-assessment in summative assessment tasks: Towards transparency for students and for tutors.” Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 26, pp. 605–614, 2001.
Walden, R.C. “Why I Don't Care About Grades Anymore.” YouTube, May 2018. Accessed: 5 Dec 2022.
Young, Sue Fostaty, Robert J. Wilson. Assessment and Learning: The ICE Approach, Portage and Main Press, 2000.
I created this video for a York University Teaching Commons Blog Post. You can find the accompanying post here: yorku.ca/teachingcommons/2022/12/08/blog-217
A written version of this video, with a few edits and additions: medium.com/@morganeua/ungrading-when-and-how-i-dont-grade-14c0e530f848
Shortform is a book summary app with excellent summaries and exercises for books on education like Carol Dweck's "Mindset." You can support my channel by purchasing a Shortform subscription using my affiliate link. It also gets you 20% off an annual subscription: shortform.com/morganeua
✨TIMESTAMPS✨
0:00 - the problem with grades
3:42 - what is "ungrading"?
5:32 - the current situation
6:23 - problem: grades are vague
7:50 - solution: collaborative rubrics, minimal grading
9:50 - problem: grades cause fear of failure
11:56 - solution: grade-free zones, contract grading
14:06 - problem: grades promote competition
15:00 - solution: peer-assessment, resist grading curves
17:59 - problem: grades reduce student reception of feedback
18:33 - solution: self- and collaborative grading
21:41 - conclusion
✨WORKS CITED✨
Bee, Zoe. “Grading is a Scam (and Motivation is a Myth) | A Professor Explains.” YouTube, May 2021. Accessed: 5 Dec 2022.
Bloom, B. S. “Learning for Mastery.” Instruction and Curriculum. Topical Papers and Reprints, no. 1, 1968.
Blum, Susan, ed. Ungrading: Why Rating Students Undermines Learning (and What to Do Instead), West Virginia University Press, 2020.
Butler, Ruth. “Enhancing and undermining intrinsic motivation: The effects of task‐involving and ego‐involving evaluation on interest and performance.” British Journal of Educational Psychology, vol. , 58, no. 1, pp. 1-14, 1988.
Double, Kit S., Joshua A. McGrane, Therese N. Hopfenbeck. “The Impact of Peer-Assessment on Academic Performance: A Meta-Analysis of Control Group Studies.” Educational Psychology Review, vol. 32, pp. 481-509, 2019.
Edwards, Nelta M. “Student Self-Grading in Social Statistics.” College Teaching, vol. 55, no. 2, pp. 72-76, 2007.
Elbow, Peter. “Grading Student Writing: Making It Simpler, Fairer, Clearer.” New Directions for Teaching and Learning, no. 69, pp. 127-140 1997.
Granger, Ruby. “grades are stopping us from learning.” YouTube, Oct 2022. Accessed 5 Dec 2022.
Harter, Susan. “Pleasure Derived from Challenge and the Effects of Receiving Grades on Children’s Difficulty Level Choices.” Child Development, vol. 49, pp. 788-799, 1978.
Inoue, Asao B. “Labor-Based Grading Resources.” Asao B. Inoue's Infrequent Words, tinyurl.com/LaborBasedGrading. Accessed 8 Dec 2022.
Jackson, Mariah, and Leah Marks. “Improving the effectiveness of feedback by use of assessed reflections and withholding of grades.” Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education. Vol. 41, No. 4, pp. 532–547, 2016.
Kilgour, et al. “A plan for the co-construction and collaborative use of rubrics for student learning.” Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, vol. 45, no. 1, pp. 140-153, 2020.
Kohn, Alfie. Punished by Rewards: the trouble with gold stars, incentive plans, A's, praise, and other bribes. Houghton Mifflin Company, 1993.
Nicholls, John G. “Achievement motivation: Conceptions of ability, subjective experience, task choice, and performance.” Psychological Review, vol. 91, no. 3, pp. 328–346, 1984.
Pulfrey, Caroline, Celine Buchs, and Fabrizio Butera. “Why Grades Engender Performance-Avoidance Goals: The Mediating Role of Autonomous Motivation.” Journal of Educational Psychology, vol. 103, no. 3, pp. 683-700, 2011.
Schinske, Jeffrey and Kimberly Tanner. “Teaching More by Grading Less (or Differently).” CBE - Life Sciences Education, vol. 13, pp. 159-166, 2014.
Stommel, Jesse. “How to Ungrade.” Jesse Stommel, 2018, jessestommel.com/how-to-ungrade/. Accessed 8 Dec 2022.
Strong, et al. “Self-Grading in Large General Education Classes: A Case Study.” College Teaching, vol. 52, no. 2, pp. 52-57, 2004.
Taras M. “The use of tutor feedback and student self-assessment in summative assessment tasks: Towards transparency for students and for tutors.” Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 26, pp. 605–614, 2001.
Walden, R.C. “Why I Don't Care About Grades Anymore.” YouTube, May 2018. Accessed: 5 Dec 2022.
Young, Sue Fostaty, Robert J. Wilson. Assessment and Learning: The ICE Approach, Portage and Main Press, 2000.
