Implementing Alternative Assessment Practices

Series: Disability and Alternative Assessment Practices in Composition Classrooms
Article 3: Practice
By Grace Walraven

The First Day of Ungrading

There will likely be a range of responses when an instructor announces that a class will be ungraded and that students are being trusted to understand their own learning processes. Some students may feel vulnerable or insecure outside of “normative” grading standards. Some may worry that they will not know how to measure learning, growth, and progress without external validation from the instructor. Others may feel relieved because grades have been a source of diminishment and anxiety in the past.

Regardless of how students react, Hadley J. Ferguson offers a useful place to begin:

After introducing the idea of a class without grades, I knew it was time to show them that they already knew a lot more about themselves as students and learners, more than they were usually given a chance to say. (Ferguson 211)

Ferguson goes on to describe a “Bank Robbery” activity that Peter Pappas designed for history courses. The activity asks students to practice “two important history skills: asking questions and making categories” (Ferguson 211). Because Ferguson used an activity tailored to history, I propose a different activity better suited to composition and rhetoric.

Critical and Creative Captioning

Divide students into groups of three or four. Each group will need access to a computer.

Assignment

Create a social media post using one of the provided images and write a caption for it.

This activity could be completed in a shared Google Slides presentation, with one provided image on each slide and a text box beside or beneath it.

After the students create their social media posts, display each post and caption for the class. As a class, ask students to reflect on the following questions:

• How did your group create its social media post? What did the process look like?
• What skills did you use, individually and as a group, to create the social media post?
• What was challenging about writing the caption or creating the social media post?
• What would you do differently if you completed the activity again?

This activity is meant to get students to consider how captioning functions rhetorically and how it depends on concepts of audience, context, and purpose. It also demonstrates from the beginning that students already possess many of the skills required of writers. They possess the brainstorming, drafting, revising, and finalizing skills required of a writer.

The activity is meant to be an enjoyable exercise that gives students faith and confidence that they possess the skills necessary to assess themselves. This does not mean that an instructor will not provide feedback. Instead, students can gauge their own learning in a composition course without relying only on grades.

Metacognitive Activities

One-Minute Papers

At the end of each class, ask students to submit a discussion-board post or keep a running reflection document that answers at least one of the following questions:

• What is one big idea or new insight you have taken from today’s class?
• What is still confusing to you?

Narrative Self-Evaluations

Austin Bailey and Caroline Wilkinson propose Narrative Self-Evaluations, or NSEs. NSEs are approximately one to two pages in length. These informal writing assignments ask students to discuss their educational goals, interests, and histories and to make connections between the class and their identities as learners. NSEs accomplish this through a series of basic questions that prompt narrative-based metacognitive reflection and self-evaluation (Bailey and Wilkinson 18–19).

Bailey’s Narrative Self-Evaluations

Bailey uses two Narrative Self-Evaluations: one at midterm and one at the end of the term. His midterm prompt reads:

In approximately one page (two pages maximum), tell me a brief story about who you are as a student. Why are you in college, what are you interested in achieving with your college degree, and how might this class fit into your broader educational goals? What are some of your specific goals for this class? What would you like to accomplish for the remainder of the semester? Based on these reflections, and all the work you’ve done so far this semester (including participation), what overall course grade do you think you’ve earned at this point?

Please reflect on and answer these questions holistically (that is, without itemizing them) in a 1–2-page reflection. I am interested in your thoughts about this as a process, so please do not feel like you have to justify your course grade. You are not on trial. Rather, this activity is meant to be an open-ended and thoughtful exchange. I am curious about your own reflections when it comes to your learning process and what you would like to accomplish. (Bailey and Wilkinson 19)

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Wilkinson’s Narrative Self-Evaluations

Wilkinson uses three Narrative Self-Evaluations, with one following each major assignment. Her prompt reads:

Essay Questions:

How was your experience writing this paper? Did you have a clear understanding of what you wanted to write or did it take some time to know?

How did this writing process compare to the other two papers? Which paper did you find easier to write and why?

What was the easiest part about writing this paper? (This can be anything from knowing what the theme is you wanted to write on, to finding the sources, to grammar).

What was the hardest part about writing this paper? (This can be anything from knowing what the theme is you wanted to write on, to finding the sources, to grammar).

Since grades must be assigned for this course, you are asked to assign yourself a tentative grade on this paper. Why are you choosing this grade? (Bailey and Wilkinson 21)