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Ungrading in Sociology Courses
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 11064784 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Alex M Kempler (0000-0002-2250-8476, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR, USA), Sam Mitchell (0000-0002-4028-8745, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA), Dawson P R Vosburg (0000-0003-4246-4981, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 53 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 269-284 |
| Publication date | 2025-10-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Teaching Sociology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0092-055X • E-ISSN: 1939-862X |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/0092055x251369078 |
| OpenAlex | W4414253142 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 51 |
Since its widespread adoption in the education system, letter grading has received sustained criticism from scholars related to its reliability and validity as a measure of student learning and its impact on students’ intrinsic motivation, psychological well-being, and learning outcomes. Despite this, few alternate assessment techniques have been studied empirically, especially in sociology classes. In this article, we contribute to a growing literature on ungrading, or alternate assessment, an approach to student assessment that decenters the use of letter grading in the classroom. We employ alternate assessment practices and gather data on three sociology courses over two semesters at a large Midwestern flagship university, exploring the impact of ungrading on student experiences, learning outcomes, and psychological well-being. We find that the implementation of ungrading resulted in a measured decrease in student stress and anxiety and an increase in self-reported learning compared to traditionally letter-graded classes
Educator Training and Historical Pedagogy · Evaluation of Teaching Practices · Innovative Teaching Methodologies in Social Sciences
“Is that paper really due today?”
Short-term and long-term consequences of achievement goals
Mediating Students’ Fixation with Grades in an Inquiry-Based Undergraduate Biology Course
Gender Bias in teachers’ grading
“But is it fair?”
Listening to People
Peer Learning and Assessment
Can professors buy better evaluation with lenient grading? The effect of grade inflation on student evaluation of teaching
Positionality, Intersectionality, and Power
Teaching identity vs. positionality
Dancing Backwards in High Heels
The Feminist Classroom
Mental Health in the College Classroom
Critical Pedagogy in the Sociology Classroom
Introduction to the Special Issue—A Class of Our Own
Theorizing the Teaching Triad
Weight bias and grading among middle and high school teachers
Cultural Knowledge and Social Inequality
Learning impacts reported by students living with learning challenges/disability
| Highly cited | No |
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