Cultivating Curiosity:
Exploring Contract Grading in a Sophomore-level Plant Biology Course
The practice of “ungrading” is rooted in liberation, encouraging students to become curious and to reflect on their learning process and progress.
Ungrading acknowledges students’ humanity and the diversity of experiences among learners. The instructor provides feedback, resources, and challenges designed to guide students toward defined learning goals and away from extrinsic motivators like grades.
Right, Data from Student Course Evaluations.
Students report meaningful gains in content knowledge, strong retention of that learning, and an intellectually stimulating experience
​I implemented contract grading, a form of “ungrading,” in a 200-level Plant Biology course at a small liberal arts college in Michigan. At the beginning of the semester, learners entered into course-grade contracts each of which specified threshold achievements required to earn the desired letter grade. Students were permitted to renegotiate contracts as needed, and some students did utilize this option. Project-based assignments were self-assessed using detailed, instructor-provided rubrics to facilitate learning and reflection in a low-stakes environment.
In addition to content knowledge, student learning outcomes for the course emphasized creativity, growth in plant awareness, and application of information in real-world contexts.
Student feedback indicated a high level of engagement, strong intrinsic motivation to learn factual material, and relatively low stress associated with the course. Across the semester, students showed an increase in plant awareness, as measured with the Plant-Awareness Disparity Index.
Future Plans:
Incorporate additional feedback opportunities and peer review.
Integrate in-class concepts more thoroughly by bringing back plant morphology- and physiology-related labs
