Exploring the impact of ungrading on student learning

Burns, C. Sean; DiGiacomo, Daniela K.; Pusateri, Jennifer

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/123079 Copy

Description

Title

Exploring the impact of ungrading on student learning

Author(s)

• Burns, C. Sean
• DiGiacomo, Daniela K.
• Pusateri, Jennifer

Issue Date

2023-09

Keyword(s)

• Learning Experience
• Learning Mastery
• Online Learning
• Instruction
• Pedagogy
• Students
• Teaching Faculty
• Ungrading

Abstract

In most academic disciplines and schooling contexts, grading practices tend to vary by individual instructor preferences and habits. The field of Library and Information Science (LIS) is no different, with grading practices and norms varying even within a particular program. Despite these variations in assessment, a unifying factor across all fields is the understanding of learning itself, and there is a great deal known about how people learn, regardless of discipline/course/program (Bransford et al., 2000). Bringing insights from the Learning Sciences, this study aims to investigate the impact of ungrading on student learning. Specifically, we primarily employ a qualitative approach informed by a sociocultural perspective of learning and human development. Our in-progress research aims to understand how ungrading, which involves eliminating or minimizing grades in the assessment process, affects students' learning and their learning experiences in the context of two IT-focused asynchronous courses in a library and information science program master’s program in the southeast of the United States. To gather insights about students’ learning experiences, data collection methods will include semi-structured interviews, focus groups, and participant observation, with a particular focus on how students’ perceptions and experiences of ungrading impact how they learn. Pre- and post-hoc tests will be used to study learning mastery of course content. The findings will offer implications for research and practice related to how to best support LIS student learning, especially within the context of online, asynchronous, higher education courses.

Series/Report Name or Number

Proceedings of the ALISE Annual Conference, 2023

Type of Resource

text

Language

eng

Handle URL

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/123079

DOI

https://doi.org/10.21900/j.alise.2023.1272

Copyright and License Information

• Copyright 2023 C. Sean Burns, Daniela K. DiGiacomo, Jennifer Pusateri
• This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).

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