This Course Is Ungraded: The Impact of Ungrading Practices on Students and Their Instructor

Ted Kesler

doi:10.47852/bonviewIJCE42023565

Research Article

Aug 22, 2025 1 0

This Course Is Ungraded: The Impact of Ungrading Practices on Students and Their Instructor

Ted Kesler ¹ ^*

¹ Elementary and Early Childhood Education, Queens College, USA^* Corresponding Author

International Journal of Changes in Education, 2(3), 2025, 139-151, https://doi.org/10.47852/bonviewIJCE42023565

Publication date: Aug 22, 2025

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ABSTRACT

The researcher studied ungrading practices in an introductory course on emergent language and literacy in the early years for undergraduate students interested in pursuing careers as classroom teachers at an urban public college in the northeast United States. Based on the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL), the researcher applied self-efficacy and reflective teaching theories to address how a course designed with ungrading practices impacted students’ self-efficacy and the researcher as a reflective teacher. The researcher used mixed methods to analyze data. Findings show that students’ participation presented a calibration of dynamic interaction between personal, behavioral, and environmental factors. Findings also show how integral it was to build a supportive learning community to develop students’ self-efficacy. Ungrading practices created conditions for a humanizing pedagogy. The researcher applied an ethics of care that diminished power over students and instead emphasized power with students. This shift in power enabled dialogic discourse that informed responsive teaching and reflective practice. Rather than best practices, a course designed with ungrading practices is deeply contextual and requires an inquiry stance.

KEYWORDS

ungrading formative assessment reflective teaching self-efficacy

CITATION (APA)

Kesler, T. (2025). This Course Is Ungraded: The Impact of Ungrading Practices on Students and Their Instructor. International Journal of Changes in Education, 2(3), 139-151. https://doi.org/10.47852/bonviewIJCE42023565

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Harvard

Kesler, T. (2025). This Course Is Ungraded: The Impact of Ungrading Practices on Students and Their Instructor. International Journal of Changes in Education, 2(3), pp. 139-151. https://doi.org/10.47852/bonviewIJCE42023565

Vancouver

Kesler T. This Course Is Ungraded: The Impact of Ungrading Practices on Students and Their Instructor. International Journal of Changes in Education. 2025;2(3):139-51. https://doi.org/10.47852/bonviewIJCE42023565

AMA

Kesler T. This Course Is Ungraded: The Impact of Ungrading Practices on Students and Their Instructor. International Journal of Changes in Education. 2025;2(3), 139-151. https://doi.org/10.47852/bonviewIJCE42023565

Chicago

Kesler, Ted. "This Course Is Ungraded: The Impact of Ungrading Practices on Students and Their Instructor". International Journal of Changes in Education 2025 2 no. 3 (2025): 139-151. https://doi.org/10.47852/bonviewIJCE42023565

MLA

Kesler, Ted "This Course Is Ungraded: The Impact of Ungrading Practices on Students and Their Instructor". International Journal of Changes in Education, vol. 2, no. 3, 2025, pp. 139-151. https://doi.org/10.47852/bonviewIJCE42023565

REFERENCES

Brook, A. (2022). (Un)making the grade:An instructor’s guide to mitigating the negative impacts of grades within a neoliberal university system. McGill Journal of Education, 57(2), 195–210. https://doi.org/10.7202/1106315ar
Stommel, J. (2020). How to ungrade. In S. D. Blum (Ed.), Ungrading: Why rating students undermines learning (and what to do instead) (pp. 25–42). West Virginia University Press.
Stommel, J. (2023). Do we need the word “ungrading”? Zeal: A Journal for the Liberal Arts, 1(2), 82–87.
Gorichanaz, T. (2024). “It made me feel like it was okay to be wrong”: Student experiences with ungrading. Active Learning in Higher Education, 25(1), 67–80. https://doi.org/10.1177/14697874221093640
Katopodis, C. (2023). Self-evaluation: The humanistic skill we need in a just society. Zeal: A Journal for the Liberal Arts, 1(2), 141–146.
McCloud, L. I. (2023). Keeping receipts: Thoughts on ungrading from a Black woman professor. Zeal: A Journal for the Liberal Arts, 1(2), 101–105.
Shepard, L. A., Penuel, W. R., & Pellegrino, J. W. (2018). Using learning and motivation theories to coherently link formative assessment, grading practices, and large-scale assessment. Educational Measurement: Issues and Practice, 37(1), 21–34. https://doi.org/10.1111/emip.12189
Cochran-Smith, M., & Lytle, S. (1999). Chapter 8: Relationships of knowledge and practice: Teacher learning in communities. Review of Research in Education, 24(1), 249–305. https://doi.org/10.3102/0091732X024001249
Wormeli, R. (2011). Redos and retakes done right. Educational Leadership, 69(3), 22–26.
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Sackstein, S. (2020). Shifting the grading mindset. In S. D. Blum (Ed.), Ungrading: Why rating students undermines learning (and what to do instead) (pp. 74–81). West Virginia University Press.
McSweeney, J., & Schnurr, M. A. (2023). Can SoTL generate high quality research while maintaining its commitment to inclusivity? International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 17(1), 4. https://doi.org/10.20429/ijsotl.2023.17104
Traxler, C. (2023). Unnecessary and unhelpful edu-speak: How ungrading rhetoric sustains traditional grading practices. Zeal: A Journal for the Liberal Arts, 1(2), 106–111.
Miller, M. D. (2023). What we talk about when we talk about grades: Framing, intrinsic motivation, and how to keep it all about the learning. Zeal: A Journal for the Liberal Arts, 1(2), 94–100.
Franzetti, S. (2023). Learning conferences as a humanizing evaluation practice. Zeal: A Journal for the Liberal Arts, 1(2), 134–140.
Blum, S. D. (2020). Just one change (just kidding): Ungrading and its necessary accompaniments. In S. D. Blum (Ed.), Ungrading: Why rating students undermines learning (and what to do instead) (pp. 53–73). West Virginia University Press.
Pai, G., Corby, J., Kras, N., Podlucká, D., & Yamamura, M. (2023). The dialectic transformation of teaching and learning in community colleges through ungrading. Zeal: A Journal for the Liberal Arts, 1(2), 117–126. https://zeal.kings.edu/zeal/article/view/28/22
Palmer, P. J. (1998). The courage to teach: Exploring the inner landscape of a teacher’s life. USA: Wiley.
Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. UK: Freeman.
Schunk, D. H., & DiBenedetto, M. K. (2021). Self-efficacy and human motivation. In A. J. Elliot (Ed.), Advances in motivation science (pp. 153–179). Elsevier Academic Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/bs.adms.2020.10.001
Schunk, D. H., & DiBenedetto, M. K. (2016). Self-efficacy theory in education. In K. R. Wentzel & D. B. Miele (Eds.), Handbook of motivation at school (pp. 35–54). Routledge.
Dewey, J. (1933). How we think. USA: D. C. Heath and Company.
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Rodgers, C., & Laboskey, V. K. (2016). Reflective practice. In J. Loughran & M. L. Hamilton (Eds.), International handbook of teacher education (pp. 71–104). Springer.
Schön, D. A. (1987). Educating the reflective practitioner: Toward a new design for teaching and learning in the professions. USA: Wiley.
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Pollard, A., Wyse, D., Craig, A., Daly, C., Hayward, L., Harmey, S., ..., & Seleznyov, S. (2023). Reflective teaching in primary schools. UK: Bloomsbury Publishing.
Felten, P. (2013). Principles of good practice in SoTL. Teaching & Learning Inquiry, 1(1), 121–125. https://doi.org/10.2979/teachlearninqu.1.1.121
Marshall, C., & Rossman, G. B. (2016). Desigining qualitative research (6th ed.). UK: Sage Publications.
Steiner, H. H., & Hakala, C. M. (2021). What do SoTL practitioners need to know about learning? Teaching and Learning Inquiry, 9(1), 79–85. https://doi.org/10.20343/teachlearninqu.9.1.7
Merriam, S. B., & Tisdell, E. J. (2016). Qualitative research: A guide to design and implementation (4th ed.). USA: Wiley.
Bishop, R. S. (1990). Windows and mirrors: Children’s books and parallel cultures. In California State University Reading Conference: 14th Annual Conference Proceedings, 3–12.

LICENSE

This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

[1] Brook, A. (2022). (Un)making the grade:An instructor’s guide to mitigating the negative impacts of grades within a neoliberal university system. McGill Journal of Education, 57(2), 195–210. https://doi.org/10.7202/1106315ar

[2] Stommel, J. (2020). How to ungrade. In S. D. Blum (Ed.), Ungrading: Why rating students undermines learning (and what to do instead) (pp. 25–42). West Virginia University Press.

[3] Stommel, J. (2023). Do we need the word “ungrading”? Zeal: A Journal for the Liberal Arts, 1(2), 82–87.

[4] Gorichanaz, T. (2024). “It made me feel like it was okay to be wrong”: Student experiences with ungrading. Active Learning in Higher Education, 25(1), 67–80. https://doi.org/10.1177/14697874221093640

[5] Katopodis, C. (2023). Self-evaluation: The humanistic skill we need in a just society. Zeal: A Journal for the Liberal Arts, 1(2), 141–146.

[6] McCloud, L. I. (2023). Keeping receipts: Thoughts on ungrading from a Black woman professor. Zeal: A Journal for the Liberal Arts, 1(2), 101–105.

[7] Shepard, L. A., Penuel, W. R., & Pellegrino, J. W. (2018). Using learning and motivation theories to coherently link formative assessment, grading practices, and large-scale assessment. Educational Measurement: Issues and Practice, 37(1), 21–34. https://doi.org/10.1111/emip.12189

[8] Cochran-Smith, M., & Lytle, S. (1999). Chapter 8: Relationships of knowledge and practice: Teacher learning in communities. Review of Research in Education, 24(1), 249–305. https://doi.org/10.3102/0091732X024001249

[9] Wormeli, R. (2011). Redos and retakes done right. Educational Leadership, 69(3), 22–26.

[10] Katopodis, C., & Davidson, C. N. (2020). Contract grading and peer review. In S. D. Blum (Ed.), Ungrading: Why rating students undermines learning (and what to do instead) (pp. 105–122). West Virginia University Press.

[11] Sackstein, S. (2020). Shifting the grading mindset. In S. D. Blum (Ed.), Ungrading: Why rating students undermines learning (and what to do instead) (pp. 74–81). West Virginia University Press.

[12] McSweeney, J., & Schnurr, M. A. (2023). Can SoTL generate high quality research while maintaining its commitment to inclusivity? International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 17(1), 4. https://doi.org/10.20429/ijsotl.2023.17104

[13] Traxler, C. (2023). Unnecessary and unhelpful edu-speak: How ungrading rhetoric sustains traditional grading practices. Zeal: A Journal for the Liberal Arts, 1(2), 106–111.

[14] Miller, M. D. (2023). What we talk about when we talk about grades: Framing, intrinsic motivation, and how to keep it all about the learning. Zeal: A Journal for the Liberal Arts, 1(2), 94–100.

[15] Franzetti, S. (2023). Learning conferences as a humanizing evaluation practice. Zeal: A Journal for the Liberal Arts, 1(2), 134–140.

[16] Blum, S. D. (2020). Just one change (just kidding): Ungrading and its necessary accompaniments. In S. D. Blum (Ed.), Ungrading: Why rating students undermines learning (and what to do instead) (pp. 53–73). West Virginia University Press.

[17] Pai, G., Corby, J., Kras, N., Podlucká, D., & Yamamura, M. (2023). The dialectic transformation of teaching and learning in community colleges through ungrading. Zeal: A Journal for the Liberal Arts, 1(2), 117–126. https://zeal.kings.edu/zeal/article/view/28/22

[18] Palmer, P. J. (1998). The courage to teach: Exploring the inner landscape of a teacher’s life. USA: Wiley.

[19] Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. UK: Freeman.

[20] Schunk, D. H., & DiBenedetto, M. K. (2021). Self-efficacy and human motivation. In A. J. Elliot (Ed.), Advances in motivation science (pp. 153–179). Elsevier Academic Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/bs.adms.2020.10.001

[21] Schunk, D. H., & DiBenedetto, M. K. (2016). Self-efficacy theory in education. In K. R. Wentzel & D. B. Miele (Eds.), Handbook of motivation at school (pp. 35–54). Routledge.

[22] Dewey, J. (1933). How we think. USA: D. C. Heath and Company.

[23] Hébert, C. (2015). Knowing and/or experiencing: A critical examination of the reflective models of John Dewey and Donald Schön. Reflective Practice, 16(3), 361–371. https://doi.org/10.1080/14623943.2015.1023281

[24] Rodgers, C., & Laboskey, V. K. (2016). Reflective practice. In J. Loughran & M. L. Hamilton (Eds.), International handbook of teacher education (pp. 71–104). Springer.

[25] Schön, D. A. (1987). Educating the reflective practitioner: Toward a new design for teaching and learning in the professions. USA: Wiley.

[26] Freire, P. (2000). Pedagogy of the oppressed. USA: Continuum.

[27] Pollard, A., Wyse, D., Craig, A., Daly, C., Hayward, L., Harmey, S., ..., & Seleznyov, S. (2023). Reflective teaching in primary schools. UK: Bloomsbury Publishing.

[28] Felten, P. (2013). Principles of good practice in SoTL. Teaching & Learning Inquiry, 1(1), 121–125. https://doi.org/10.2979/teachlearninqu.1.1.121

[29] Marshall, C., & Rossman, G. B. (2016). Desigining qualitative research (6th ed.). UK: Sage Publications.

[30] Steiner, H. H., & Hakala, C. M. (2021). What do SoTL practitioners need to know about learning? Teaching and Learning Inquiry, 9(1), 79–85. https://doi.org/10.20343/teachlearninqu.9.1.7

[31] Merriam, S. B., & Tisdell, E. J. (2016). Qualitative research: A guide to design and implementation (4th ed.). USA: Wiley.

[32] Bishop, R. S. (1990). Windows and mirrors: Children’s books and parallel cultures. In California State University Reading Conference: 14th Annual Conference Proceedings, 3–12.