Learning & Assessment

Institutions should be embarrassed by the standard transcripts they have been issuing, unchanged for a century, and students should demand better, argues Fred Cutler.

Instructors should consider the grading dilemmas caused by COVID-19 and recognize that traditional assessment methods have always been arbitrary and unproductive, argues Madeline Grimm.

What data do we need, asks Justin Westerfield, to make an equitable contingency plan for assessing and grading students in the future?

Students are again seeking pass-fail options for this anything-but-normal fall. Institutions are far less lenient than they were in the spring -- with some exceptions.

A standards-based approach to grading that incorporates goal-setting and self-reflection can help promote students' progress in times of crisis as well as normalcy, advises Rosalie Metro.

Colleges adopted an array of flexible assessment policies because of COVID-19 last spring. Many are reverting to their normal practices this fall -- though the term will be anything but.

COVID-19 and nationwide antiracism protests have intensified conversations about inequity in higher education. One research group hopes to use the moment to promote more inclusive ways to validate learning.