The Implementation of Non-explicit Grading

Teaching faculty across institutions find themselves entrenched in the same challenges as the pre-COVID-19 world. However, research and anecdotal evidence point to enhanced traditional challenges along with new ones altogether. Finding ways to encourage academic curiosity and the true value of genuine student learning have never been more difficult. To address this challenge, five mid-career faculty evaluated Blum’s (2020) book, Ungrading: Why Rating Students Undermines Learning (and What to Do Instead), over a series of four seminars. The book revealed that applications of ungraded teaching methodologies must fit within a formally graded framework. The book also offered positive results along with the challenges of implementation and other outcomes. This teaching commentary is a report of the seminars and provides different suggestions to incorporate the positive aspects of the ungraded classroom into a traditional graded environment.