Vulnerability and Assessment: A Collaborative Interrogation of Ungrading

• In Event: Fairmont Roundtable Session Nine
  In Roundtable Session: Examining Innovative Teacher Education Practices Through Self-Study (Table 18)

Abstract

Traditional grading practices have come under critique recently because they are inequitable and often contradict the pedagogical goals of practitioners, especially teacher educators. This self-study examines the collaborative process of three higher education instructors assessing and grading differently. We each employed different ungrading strategies in our courses, and met biweekly to discuss our approaches, experiences, and challenges. Recordings of these meetings, alongside regular emails and reflective journals, were analyzed through the lens of vulnerability, exploring the ways we were made and made ourselves vulnerable as we engaged in pedagogically risky activities. Our findings demonstrate the value of collaborative sense-making and relational support for instructors who are implementing more equitable and humanizing grading practices in their courses.

Authors

• Tammy Mills, University of Maine
  Presenting Author

• Rebecca Buchanan, University of Maine
  Presenting Author

• Kevin Roberge
  Non-Presenting Author