Ungrading for Student Healing, Well-Being, and Agency in an Undergraduate STEM Teacher Preparation Program

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Friday 1:30 pm Four Seasons Ballroom 4
  In Roundtable Session: Exploring the Intersection of Art, Diversity, and Teacher Training in STEM Education (Table 12)

Abstract

Traditional grading approaches have been criticized for harming student learning. Given these critiques, there has been growing interest in the practice of ungrading and moving away from traditional grading approaches in higher education. Broadly, ungrading aims to shift the focus to greater student learning. For teacher preparation programs, ungrading may be an useful approach as it provides aspiring teachers with a model to learn from and potentially adapt into their own classrooms with the possibility of more liberatory instructional practices. This paper explores student perceptions and outcomes as part of engaging in ungrading. Data was collected over four years across multiple cohorts of aspiring teachers. The affordances and constraints, as well as particular practices that facilitate student learning are investigated.

Author

• Doron Zinger, California State University - Dominguez Hills