April 2024

Progress over perfection: How Hannah Sunderman uses non-traditional grading with her Pathways students

Sunderman, an assistant professor in the Department of Agricultural, Leadership, and Community Education, has taught at Virginia Tech since August 2022 after receiving her doctorate at the University of Nebraska – Lincoln. The Office of General Education spoke to her this spring to learn more about her evolving approach to grading. 

Office of General Education:

How often is non-traditional grading used on campus? I’m guessing for many administrators and faculty members it wasn’t practiced when they were in college. 

Hannah Sunderman:

I don't have a good sense of how often it's used on our campus, but I know I’m not the only person using this approach to grading. I’ve had students in my course who have had some experience with different types of non-traditional grading. When I gave a workshop earlier this month with the Graduate Teaching Scholars Program, over half of them were aware of the concept.

OGE:

Tell us about the course where you’re using this approach to grading.

HS:

The course is Principles of Peer Leadership (LDRS 2014) in the Department of Agricultural, Leadership, and Community Education. It’s a Pathways General Education course, and there aren’t any prerequisites, so we get students from a diverse range of majors. 

It’s about a "personal" level of leadership through learning to lead yourself, becoming prepared to work with others and engage in the work of organizations and communities. 

The course is primarily taught through class discussions and interactive activities, with the students reflecting on reading assignments. The goal is to prepare students for peer leadership roles such as resident assistants, teaching assistants, student organization officers, or mentors on campus by studying interpersonal and intrapersonal skills.

Attendance, completing assignments, and incorporating feedback in the work are all important. The course is about creating a growth mindset, emphasizing progress over perfection.  

OGE:

There are several types of non-traditional grading, which approach do you use in LDRS 2014?

HS:

What most people call non-traditional grading is contract or “spec” grading where students must complete a certain number of assignments to earn a specific grade. There's also mastery grading where students need to gain proficiency before moving on to the next topic.

I call what I use “growth-based” grading, which I pulled from several different non-traditional approaches. I’m not sure it’s the best name but it fits the objectives of the class.

OGE:

Why did you choose it for Principles of Peer Leadership?

HS:

Ultimately, the grading structure, for example giving a student seven out of 10 points for a written reflection, was undermining the goals of the course.  There was an incongruence between the goals of the course, the content we were teaching, and how students were being evaluated. 

So, I tried a few different approaches and landed on growth-based grading which uses a midterm portfolio, where students discuss their progress and set goals, and a final portfolio for students to reflect on their semester. There's also a rubric at the end where the students self-assess their grade, which is shared on the first day of class, so everyone understands what’s expected. While I maintain final authority on all grades, I meet with each student for five minutes at the midterm and end of the semester, so there’s an opportunity for discussion if their grade isn’t aligned with what I think is appropriate.

The goal of this system is to decenter grades, and instead, center learning.

OGE:

Do you have any advice for faculty considering using non-traditional grading in their classes?

HS:

When I give presentations on this topic, I encourage people to really think about grading as a component of pedagogy. Research shows us how it really influences students' experiences in the classroom. I also ask people to think about how your grading practices align with your values as a professor or instructor, your pedagogy, and your course content. 

At times, people will, understandably, say, ‘I'm sure that works fine for you, but it would never work in STEM.’ But educators have implemented non-traditional grading in almost every field, it might just look different than what I do in my classroom.

Ultimately, I recommend utilizing a backwards design where you first think about your course outcomes and then you match your grading structure to complement those outcomes.

For more information on alternative grading systems, check out this blog post: Ungrading: A Bibliography. If you have any questions or would like to see Sunderman’s materials on non-traditional grading, she can be reached by email at hsunderman@vt.edu.