{"id":544,"date":"2023-04-24T15:37:11","date_gmt":"2023-04-24T22:37:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/success\/?p=544"},"modified":"2023-04-24T15:37:11","modified_gmt":"2023-04-24T22:37:11","slug":"labor-based-grading-more-process-less-pressure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/success\/2023\/04\/24\/labor-based-grading-more-process-less-pressure\/","title":{"rendered":"Labor-Based Grading: More Process, Less Pressure"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

by Kristy Kelly<\/a>, Director of Writing, School of Writing, Literature, & Film<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just the other day in my Writing 222 class on Argumentation, I asked students to freewrite on the question \u201cWhat is the connection between grades and learning?\u201d <\/em>We use labor-based grading in my WR 222 classes, so I initiate conversations with my students early on about what grades do<\/em> to their learning: where do grades focus their motivation? What emotions do they elicit? What beliefs do they prompt about their capacity to face new learning situations?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The class, like most others to whom I\u2019ve posed this question, had a wide-ranging set of responses. Some reported that grades motivate them to work harder or give them a clearer sense of where they stand in a subject. Others discussed the \u201cacademic validation\u201d that grades can provide when they get a high grade, and on the flip side, the sense of deflation and self-doubt that arises when they get a grade lower than expected. Still more referenced the experience of stress, pressure, and anxiety that grades induce, so that taking classes becomes more about protecting a GPA than about deeply engaging with course content. Overall, it was clear just how large grades loom over students\u2019 perception of their own capability as learners, and how grades function as an extrinsic motivation that stimulate anxiety as much or more than engagement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the transition into labor-based grading was a little bumpy due partially to the pandemic, it did open up space for students to think more about improving their writing and less about the grade stamped on the work they were able to produce, particularly in the chaotic learning conditions of Covid. Like many composition scholars and teachers nationwide, I started experimenting with labor-based grading to amplify the most rewarding elements of writing classes\u2014exploring difficult questions through research, collaboration in peer review, a deep commitment to revision and reflection\u2014while dialing down the pressures attached to assigning and receiving grades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Limits and Benefits of Labor-Based Grading<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

There are many ways to deploy labor based grading, but the basic concept remains the same: students are guaranteed a particular grade (in the case of my classes, a B) for completing a particular amount of labor according to a shared set of specifications. Students complete more labor\u2014additional assignment components, subsequent rounds peer review, further reflection, and so on\u2014to earn a higher grade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Asao Inoue has theorized<\/a>, this model isn\u2019t simply about reducing stress about grades. It\u2019s also intended to correct inequities steeped into the culture of higher education, which values the performance of academic standards designed to uphold whiteness and white supremacy. From this perspective, evaluating students\u2019 work based on its alignment with \u201cStandard Written English\u201d is itself an act of racism. Attaching evaluation to students\u2019 labor, rather than their performance of a prestige dialect that may not reflect their cultural or educational background, is one small step toward creating a more equitable learning environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Any evaluative model, no matter how equity-focused, prompts the question: \u201cequitable for whom?\u201d Our classes still demand letter grades to measure students\u2019 performance, and other scholars of composition have expressed concern that labor-based grading simply trades one inequitable model for another. Perhaps most notably, Ellen Carillo<\/a> has argued that evaluating students based on labor still privileges some learners over others, and can place multiply-marginalized students, disabled students, or any students who need more time to complete assignments at a distinct disadvantage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Student Responses to a New Take on Grades<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

My own students have expressed a similar mix of enthusiasm coupled with healthy skepticism. Skeptics have shared their discomfort with the shift from rewarding the process over the product: some feel that labor-based grading required too much work relative to the amount of labor they\u2019d have put in to get an A on a traditional model. (Those kinds of complaints only convinced me further of the promise of labor-based grading to break out of arbitrary and inequitable standards). Others felt that the model disadvantaged students with less time to devote to the class, or that the additional assignment components felt like \u201cextra\u201d labor, mirror Ellen Carillo\u2019s concerns about accessibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But for those who resonated with the model, the consensus was clear: labor based grading gave them more space to test new ideas, reduced the stress of trying to predict what grade they would get, and increased their investment in meeting their writing goals. Students reported getting more enjoyment out of the writing process, feeling the freedom to embrace creativity, and feeling a deeper, intrinsic incentive to improve their writing and analytical thinking skills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Considering the Switch to Labor Based Grading<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As a teacher, you might be wondering: \u201chow can I ensure that my students are actually meeting a shared set of standards if they\u2019re guaranteed a certain grade for submitting an assignment? Couldn\u2019t they turn in anything<\/em> and still get a B?\u201d I wondered that myself when I first started using this model, and to ensure that students do meet core learning outcomes and benchmarks, we\u2019ve started using a \u201cC- Threshold\u201d that the essay must crest in order to get a B (following the assignment prompt to its specifications, including appropriate citations, responding meaningfully to the assignment topic, and so on).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The need for such a threshold reveals one of the imperfections of labor-based grading: while this model can loosen the pressure to adhere to an arbitrary set of standards, it still results in a grade. And in an educational system where students must retain vigilance about their GPA, course points remain a core incentive for their performance in the class.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But by conceiving of grading as a contract, you and your students can create a shared set of standards that you want to uphold. Some of the strongest writing I\u2019ve seen in my classes has come from collaborating with my students to determine what ingredients lead to an A, B, C, and beyond. While labor-based grading certainly doesn\u2019t cure all inequities, it can increase students\u2019 ownership over their process, create transparency around standards, and give them just a little more space to take creative leaps of faith.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ll leave you with a few tips and mindset shifts if you\u2019re considering labor-based grading in your own course:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tips and Mindset Shifts for Teachers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n