Contract Grading

This week I was fortunate to receive an inquiry on Contract Grading, so I would like to share this recent 2019 article from Melzer et al. entitled "So Your Teacher is Using Contract Grading (CG)." CG emphasizes the learning process more than the final product. Offering a CG approach can lower student stress, help them focus on learning, and emphasize educational equity. The authors share an example of a contract: To obtain X grade, students must:

Have completed [this many] drafts on time
Have completed [this many] peer review workshops
Have completed [this many] reading responses on time
Must meet [this many] times with instructor during conferences

What counts as "complete" can vary, so the instructor must be clear on how they operationalize this term and expectations.

The benefits of CG include:

Encourages students to adopt the practices of effective learners.
Reduces learning anxiety.
Can be less subjective.
Promotes social change by giving a fair chance to all.
Students find it liberating to think about their projects less in terms of grades and more in terms of learning.
Put more control for your grade in students' hands.

The risks of CG can be:

Some students feel anxious about not being able to keep track of their grade minute-by-minute.
Students whose grades have been high in the past have spent years getting used to the security of knowing that grade.
For some students, getting a grade is a primary motivator in getting schoolwork done, and when that outside motivation is removed, it can be tempting to let work slide.

References

Melzer, D., Quinn, D., Sperber, L. & Faye, S. (2019). So Your Teacher is Using Contract Grading… UC Davis Writing Commons, https://writingcommons.org/article/so-your-instructor-is-using-contract-grading

Bean, J. (2001). Engaging ideas : the professor's guide to integrating writing, critical thinking, and active learning in the classroom. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.