Thanks for post. and I agree with you, Also, I believe There is no way that you can explore things without having the permission to work independently. I mean having a specific frame is necessary but at the same time be independent to explore explore new areas. Thanks

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Thanks for your comment. I agree, the way that universities try to evaluate their teachers should be revised to some extent. And the way we are judging students should be done differently. Thanks.

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Thanks Tyler for your comment. Trust is a key factor in adviser and student relationship, and I would say they both ( adviser and the student ) should try to build that environment. Thank you

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Thanks Bailey. you mentioned a good point that the doing the independent work by a highly motivated person would lead him/her to flourish. Thanks

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Thank you for your post! I definitely agree! How might we be able to incorporate some opportunities for students in our classes to be able to explore and be self-motivated?

I really enjoyed your post! It was so cool to hear about your experience teaching and how you have structured your class. I think if we all can make even small changes, that can lead to big changes!

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One thing that I find particularly interesting is that we tend to use the same grading system regardless of what we are trying to assess. I think it is important that learning environments, outcomes (I typically think of broader outcomes such as problem-solving, effectiveness in communicating, etc.), and assessments are aligned. If we are wanting students to be able to solve problems, to be creative, to consider multiple perspectives, to understand the impact of different designs, etc., it does not make sense to give a grade for the right answer. Yet that is what we do in many fields. In these situations, other assessments would allow for a better idea of the progress students are making and areas of improvement. There may be times, however, when it makes sense to give students quick feedback or for students to practice a procedure and get feedback on whether they got the expected answer. I think we should be intentional about what types of assessments we are using.

I really enjoyed your post! So many times, assessments are used at the end of a project or section of a class and so students just see their grade and move on to whatever is next. I definitely agree that we should assess students along the way and allow opportunities for revision and improvement. There are some other types of assessments that could be incorporated into larger classes in particular and allow students to get more informal feedback or feedback from their peers. Maybe some of these more informal assessments could also provide feedback that is more in line with what students will experience in their profession.

I hear you, and I would be the first to “go gradeless” with you. But alas the system in which we work requires some kind of assessment or ranking or evaluation or whatever you want to call it. (And there’s a mountain of literature distinguishing between those things, advocating for one or the other, but generally more, more, more….). Anyway, I think you’ve hit on something when you note that you put a lot of effort into providing feedback that was apparently ignored. For me this was an important shift in the way I think about “assessment.” I have to assign grades and students are conditioned to work for them — in that not terribly interesting exterior motivation kind of way. So yes, there will be grades. But I will not focus my energies there.
I will focus my energies on interaction, engagement and cultivating curiosity, because those are the modalities that generate learning — both for the here and now and in an ongoing, transformative way.
Lots of formative feedback (dialogue along the way). Helping people identify and pursue intellectual interests they find compelling — and providing feedback about that — seems completely worthwhile.

Your post triggered a wonderful thought. As graduate students think how differently we are assessed. We need to maintain a B average. From my perspective as student in an agricultural field, no one really cares about grad school grades. I won’t hold to that as a hard and fast rule, but I believe it to be true. Then at the end of our grad student career we are assessed with some form cumulative project that shows of what we have learned, and it isn’t even really graded. We just have a committee say it is good enough to prove that we aren’t nincompoops and can have an original thought. We already practice this alternate assessment style, but run into issues of scale when we go from graduate students to a huge undergrad population. Maybe that is our hang-up in trying to move to an alternative assessment model.