One idea brought up by several speakers this year is a hybrid grades-free way of evaluating students. In each case, it included a high-bar pass/fail approach to class assignments, with a final, more regular grade for the entire semester.
One of the speakers who presented what he called a “Not Yet” grade was “digital ethnographer” Michael Wesch, a professor at Kansas State University. That’s his photo at the top.
He told the crowd that they had to inspire “wonder” in their students in order to get them to learn as much as possible. Some key quotes from him:
“Low standards/high stakes are the opposite of what you want.”