This open resource is designed to be an introduction to alternative assessments that can be used instead of traditional approaches that focus on rating students against each other.
This desire for alternative assessment methods has many names in higher education institutions across the world; Ungrading, Mastery, Others (Blume, 2020; Clarke & Talbert, 2023; Inoue, 2023). But the aim is to reduce the pervasive focus on grades, that has been shown to decrease motivation and learning.
Our goal here is to share resources that explain the research behind these methods and introduce a more accessible, feedback-oriented approach to higher education that can improve student- instructor relationships, reduce stress for both parties, and empower everyone to learn in an accessible environment (Feldman, 2019; Stomel, 2023).
