A Sense of Doubt blog post #2304 - Focus on learning and not earning grades - Labor Based Grading pt.2
This visual above in the banner does not specifically pertain to Labor Based Grading (LBG); however, there's a dearth of good visuals for LBG, especially ones that are not just a red pen and marks on an essay page. So, I chose this image because it's GREAT, and I did not feature it yet as a blog entry topper (at least not to my memory).
But look at this...
Doesn't that all sound good?
- Tracking Your Labor — As you progress with your writing labor and complete your assignments, Checkmarks
will be placed in the Canvas Gradebook. You will be able to track your labor completion by accessing your “Grades” in Canvas (again, there will be no points or grades associated with your labor). I will also check your completion record periodically and will contact you if you are falling behind in the required labor outlined in the course. Please remember, though, that it is your primary responsibility to maintain and track your labor in the course!
One of the conversations with colleagues generated a tally of how long we had been working with traditional grading systems that were never working to serve students, to manage anxiety appropriately, to attempt to achieve equity, and to emphasize learning in a constructive way.
This quote is generally attributed to Einstein in most online quote collections, however there seems to be significant debate about the authenticity of this attribution. Others like Mark Twain, an old Chinese proverb and Benjamin Franklin have also been suggested as the originators, but general consensus concludes that they have a significantly lesser claim than Einstein.
The earliest claim is that Einstein used and published the quote in his "Letters to Solovine 1951" however no specific reference has yet been supplied from that source. There is apparently an attribution to Einstein using this quote in a transactions of the North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference, Volume 71, p. 54, Wildlife Management Institute, published in 1975 although according to Bill Hood's answer, this volume was actually published in 2006.
Other verifiable evidence of the quote's original authorship come from:
- Rita Mae Brown's 1983 novel, Sudden Death, published by Bantam Books, New York p.68 (attributed to Jane Fulton)
- Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) pamphlet - Step 2: A promise of Hope, p10, James G. Jenson, 1980.
- Narcotics Anonymous - The Basic Text of Narcotics Anonymous which was copyrighted in 1981. It is found on page 11 of the final "Review Form" which was distributed to the fellowship in November of 1981. The quote in that text is "Insanity is repeating the same mistakes and expecting different results". The quote appears on page 25 of this pdf - http://www.amonymifoundation.org/uploads/NA_Approval_Form_Scan.pdf
My read of it all is that Einstein was too smart to define the broad scope of insanity in such narrow terms. However, the quote has been used effectively by Alcoholics Anonymous for many decades to drive home a simple point in a specified context and so I think it most probably originated from someone in that organisation like Dr. Silkwood or Bill Wilson, possibly as far back as the 1930's.
Still, it is a quote that's a thing that has been said.
In some sense, LBG is an extension of what many of us have already been doing in English composition for a long time in de-emphasizing grammar and "correcting mistakes." That's not the teaching of English composition, and I was all about it long before others started accusing the system of white supremacy.
I love that.
https://www.thecollegefix.com/writing-professors-push-for-labor-based-grading-and-de-emphasis-on-writing-errors/
Writing professors push for ‘labor-based grading’ and de-emphasis on writing errors
GRACE BUREAU - GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS COLLEGE •MARCH 2, 2021
Two St. Olaf College scholars argue approach ‘prioritizes students’ process and growth instead of a single standard of writing’
Two writing professors at St. Olaf College are calling on their faculty peers and campus writing tutors to prioritize what they call “labor-based grading,” which puts a de-emphasis on calling out and correcting traditional writing errors.
“This approach to responding to student writing prioritizes students’ process and growth instead of a single standard of writing,” stated writing professors Bridget Draxler and Diane LeBlanc in an article on the college’s website.
Such a method, the two argued, would “decenter white, upper-middle class educational and social experiences” and help students feel more confident and accepted.
Draxler is associate director of writing, speaking and academic support and an assistant professor of writing at the Minnesota-based private college, and LeBlanc is director of its writing program. Neither responded to requests for comment from The College Fix.
MORE: Professor says grading, good grammar examples of white supremacy
Their call for new grading tactics is a result of a multi-year research project. They looked at two writing courses at St. Olaf that serve students “from underrepresented groups, including recent immigrants, refugees, first-generation and low-income students, and students from racial and linguistic minority communities,” according to the article on their project.
To develop their assessment, the professors had examined three types of data: academic records, student interviews and faculty workshops.
They stated that their research found that “the kind of writing instruction and evaluation students receive powerfully shapes their sense of belonging at the college.” With that, the two writing professors called for kinder, gentler grading tactics.
“Our ability as professors to teach rhetorically rather than prescriptively — that is, to see writing not as simplistically right or wrong, but as attuned to the interconnected forces of writer, reader, topic, and context — allows us to more inclusively affirm and welcome the voices of all our students into the scholarly conversation,” Draxler and LeBlanc stated in the article.
“We are heartened by the ways in which our colleagues are thoughtfully questioning feedback and grades that over-emphasize errors and affirming writing that represents students’ diverse identities, experiences, and voices,” they added.
“At the same time, students feel ongoing pressure to meet writing standards defined by a dominant language and culture. We hope that our project results continue to inform assignments, feedback, and future assessment to reflect a more inclusive understanding of whose writing is valued in our community.”
Draxler and LeBlanc stated they will push for greater inclusivity within the writing program:
“We plan to draw from our research to create opportunities where faculty and writing tutors can assess their own bias and learn to respond to variations in student writing and language in Writing and Rhetoric and First-Year Seminar, the two new First-Year Experience courses.”
The project is part of a larger St. Olaf initiative promoting inclusivity.
The initiative, called “To Include is to Excel,” awards grant money to various professor-led research projects designed to “enhance faculty expertise and seed curricular and pedagogical excellence,” according to the grant proposal.
“To Include is To Excel is a four–year, $800,000 initiative funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation that stimulates faculty development and supports curricular transformation to serve new generations of students. […] We envision all students pursuing excellence and encourage all to develop their own sense of mission in a world that desperately needs their talents. Such a vision calls us to transform our approaches to teaching in dialog with our students and each other,” the initiative’s website states.
“Supporting Diverse Writers” was among the first wave of grant recipients in 2018. Today, there are more than 50 To Include is to Excel projects, according to the college.
Other noteworthy projects include “Decolonizing Collection, Exhibitions, and Curriculum,” “Engaging Introverts in the Musical Classroom,” and “Race Matters.”
The small liberal arts college made national headlines in 2017 for a scandal involving a hate-crime hoax.
MORE: University lowers traditional language standards for Black Lives Matter contest
IMAGE: Shutterstock
Like The College Fix on Facebook / Follow us on Twitter
https://pressbooks.howardcc.edu/essentials/chapter/what-is-a-labor-based-grading-contract/
My Labor-based Assessment Agreement with You
by David Buck
In my experience, when grades are removed, students tend to focus more on the learning rather than the collection of points that grades/averages encourage (this is the “game” of school with which we are all familiar). Learning is a product of trying, being assessed, receiving feedback, and then trying once again. Instead, grades/points tend to signal to the student that the learning opportunity has ended.
I’ll be focusing on your potential rather than on your deficiencies. I will not place a single letter grade on any of your work. Instead, I will offer meaningful, engaging, and progressive feedback that will encourage you to view your learning as a PROCESS that involves multiple attempts that may produce success and even failure (but with no fear of punishment). I’ll be asking you to participate in a compassionate learning community where we collaborate and create together–by responding to one another, by offering feedback to our ideas/interpretations, and by contributing to each other’s growth.
Since writing is a process whereby the more we write (labor) the more we improve, I will be using this labor-based approach to determine your final grade (since I’m contracted by the College to award a final letter grade). But that grade will have nothing to do with what I or your peers think of the quality of your work. Instead, the grade will be a reflection of the quantity of labor that you exhibit throughout the semester and the learning growth that you explain within your reflections & self-assessments. My goal here is to value the labor, the intentional, meaningful work/thinking that is involved in producing the learning products of the course. Traditional grades tend to focus upon quality only, often using a standard that advantages those who’ve been more exposed to it or have had more opportunities to interact with that standard; they fail to reflect the labor (or work) that quantifies student learning. If you labor in the spirit and manner for which the course assignments are presented, if you attempt to meet the expectations of each academic exercise, your labor will be rewarded.
The only way to fail this course is to not do the labor nor reflect upon it.
Please Note: If extenuating circumstances cause you to miss an assignment, do not panic. Try to communicate with me immediately so that I know what’s going on. Since there are no points/grades in this course, there are no penalties for late submissions. My due dates for assignments are basically *best by* dates — they are designed to keep you on track in the course so that your labor does not pile up. No one learns deeply when they are rushed are stressed out over missing assignments! Part of your labor expectation is that you will be an engaged, present participant in our learning community, one who regularly contributes to the growth of others. You won’t be able to do that if you disappear from the course.
- Inoue, Asao B. (2019). Labor-Based Grading Contracts: Building Equity and Inclusion in the Compassionate Writing Classroom. Perspectives on Writing. The WAC Clearinghouse; University Press of Colorado. https://wac.colostate.edu/books/perspectives/labor/. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
- “2017.11.17 DC People and Places 0527” by Ted Eytan is licensed under CC BY-SA. See: Massive new mural in D.C. pays tribute to the men who built the Lincoln Memorial statue – The Washington Post.
When Your Grades Are Based on Labor
Grades in this course are based on your labor—on the time and intensity that you put into your writing. You are not punished for making mistakes as long as you work to improve throughout the term.
This grading system is probably not what you are used to, so I want to tell you a bit about what happens when your grades are based on labor. Here is how you should approach your work:
- Focus on Ideas (Not Mistakes). As you work on your projects, focus on what you’re trying to say. Forget about the pressure to be perfect. Why? Your ideas and the purpose of your message are the most important part of what you write. Focusing on perfection can distract writers from developing their ideas. Because you are graded on labor, mistakes won’t undermine your grade.
- Write for Yourself (Not for Me). In this course, you are learning writing strategies that will use in the workplace. Your goal is to study the things that are important for people in your field. Don’t worry about writing to impress me, as your teacher. Why? I am not going to be with you when you enter the workplace. You need to develop your own sense of what makes writing effective in your field. Your grade is based on how hard you work to find that out.
- Take Risks (Don’t Play It Safe). Try kinds of writing and composing strategies that stretch your abilities and help you learn new things. There’s no need to play it safe. Why? Taking risks won’t count against you. In fact, taking risks can demonstrate that you’re putting in time and effort. After all, the safe, easy route doesn’t push you to learn more and improve your writing.
- Have a Do-Over (No Penalty). If you take a risk and it doesn’t turn out, you can always try again. If your writing group or I ask you to revise, there is no impact on your grade. Just like in a game, you have unlimited do-overs. Why? Making mistakes is part of the learning process. Whether it takes two tries or more, you are investing time and effort in your writing. As long are you are working to improve, you can’t fail.
- Put In the Effort (No Pain, No Gain). Going through the motions won’t produce professional writing. You have to put in hard work. You need to write, rewrite, start over, and try again to improve your projects. The good news is that the more you work, the better you’ll do in the course. Why? All your work counts toward your course grade, as long as you listen to feedback from your classmates and me, incorporate what you hear, and reflect on how to improve your writing and communication.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
- Bloggery committed by chris tower - 2106.09 - 10:10
- Days ago = 2168 days ago
- New note - On 1807.06, I ceased daily transmission of my Hey Mom feature after three years of daily conversations. I plan to continue Hey Mom posts at least twice per week but will continue to post the days since ("Days Ago") count on my blog each day. The blog entry numbering in the title has changed to reflect total Sense of Doubt posts since I began the blog on 0705.04, which include Hey Mom posts, Daily Bowie posts, and Sense of Doubt posts. Hey Mom posts will still be numbered sequentially. New Hey Mom posts will use the same format as all the other Hey Mom posts; all other posts will feature this format seen here.
No comments:
Post a Comment