What is ungrading?

Ungrading is the practice of removing grades to allow for more creative thinking while supporting needs and accessibility among students. It limits stress and fosters a better, more productive relationship between the student and instructor, and an uncompetitive learning community within the class. While ungrading has had limited use within atmospheric sciences and the geosciences, work in other fields have shown that ungrading allows not only for knowledge development, but for personal development as well, which can have implications for students’ overall collegiate experience, and longevity in the field. This study will present a survey of the research on ungrading thus far, and provide suggestions for implementation within the atmospheric sciences, including course size, class level, assessment methods and practices, etc.