(Up)Grading: A (Re)Humanizing Assessment Process with a Focus on Feedback

Researchers across two universities and three different mathematics education courses implemented their vision of a novel grading approach called (Up)grading. (Up)grading shifts the focus of assessment from grades to growth. Key features of implementing (Up)grading included (a) providing students with opportunities to reflect upon and grow from their learning experiences, and (b) giving them a voice in determining their course grade. The findings suggest that most students perceived (Up)grading as a positive experience in their learning and as an assessment approach. The features of (Up)grading students believed contributed to the positive experience included giving them opportunities to reflect on their work and learn from their mistakes, as well as targeted feedback, enabling them to independently move their thinking forward. Tensions in the process did arise, including students’ initial anxiety with the norm shift from grades to growth and instructors’ management of the flow of assignments.