I found myself sitting in a classroom, staring at a test I couldn’t answer. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t recall learning any of the material. The harder I struggled to remember, the more my anxiety grew—until I jolted awake, covered in sweat. It was the same nightmare that had haunted me for over a decade. One day, during a casual conversation, a colleague—a psychology professor—made an unexpected observation: my experience resembled symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Me? Trauma?
My Learning Experience: From a Model Student to Getting Lost
I grew up in China in the 1980s as the only child of factory workers. Having experienced hardship, my parents hoped I would escape their life by earning a college degree. They told me a good education would guarantee a bright future.
From a young age, I pushed myself to excel academically. In my mind, the purpose of learning was to get good grades. Grades were everything—symbols of success and a source of validation. But this came with a constant fear: the fear of failure, of disappointing my parents, and of falling short of expectations.
This fear intensified in high school, where frequent tests ranked students publicly. I studied relentlessly under immense pressure, and my hard work paid off when I was accepted to my desired university. I continued this pattern in college, focused solely on grades and making my parents proud. But when I graduated, I felt lost. I had no clear direction or career. Didn’t my parents tell me a college education would ensure a bright future? Where was my future?
In my confusion, I began reading for curiosity rather than exams. One day, I came across The Importance of Living by Lin Yutang, who critiqued the Chinese education system. He argued that modern education prioritized memorization over true understanding, with grades and diplomas replacing the real purpose of learning. He compared knowledge to an adventurous exploration, best enjoyed with an open and curious mind.1
That moment of reading was transformative. I realized I had never understood the true purpose of education; I had equated learning with good grades, a narrow and misleading focus. Reflecting on my educational journey, I saw how it had been marked by stress, fear, and a constant chase for perfection.
In that moment, I knew I wanted to become a teacher educator. I wanted to help future teachers see education for what it truly is—a journey of growth, curiosity, and empowerment, not just a pursuit of grades. My goal was to break the cycle of stress and fear that had shaped my own experience and instead inspire educators to foster passion, encourage exploration, and create a lasting, positive impact on their students’ lives.
My Teaching Journey: Cultivating a Growth Mindset Through Ungrading
For the past 11 years, I have been a professor of social studies education, working with both pre-service and in-service teachers. I have never used traditional tests in my classes because I don’t believe that teaching ability can be measured through exams. Instead, I assess my students’ learning through lesson plans, presentations, and projects—assignments that require logical reasoning, creativity, and critical thinking. To accompany this teaching philosophy, I adopt ungrading2 in all my courses.
Below are some practices I use in my ungraded class, focusing on learning and growth.
Feedback-Only: No Points
I do not attach points to any assignments. Instead, I provide rich feedback. If students want to know how well they did in an assignment, they must read my feedback. I believe that mistakes are one of the most powerful learning tools. By removing the pressure of grades, students are less afraid to take risks and make errors, knowing they will have opportunities to revise and improve. In my classroom, mistakes aren’t something to fear—they’re an essential part of the learning process.
Steps:
- Provide explicit instructions in class. Ask for questions to ensure every student understands how to complete the assignment.
- Follow the “Feedback Sandwich”3 method to give each student rich feedback. Through the Learning Management System (LMS) in my university, Desire2Learn (D2L), I prefer giving feedback through video, allowing my students to hear my voice and see my facial expressions to better understand the tone. This personalized approach makes feedback more engaging and encourages students to reflect, revise, and improve their work.
- Students revise and resubmit their work.
- I review their revised work and provide further feedback.
- Repeat steps 3 and 4 until students’ work reaches the standards and the lesson’s objectives.
Guided Reflections
Reflection is a vital part of learning. It encourages students to recognize the value of their experiences, deepen their self-awareness as learners, and apply their knowledge in meaningful ways to their lives.
In addition to the reflections accompanying projects, I use one mid-term reflection and one end-of-semester. 4
Some typical questions in the mid-term reflection include:
- What were your goals for this course?
- What are some of the main things you’ve learned so far?
- Review all your reading quizzes (or any other small assignments). How do you evaluate your preparation for them?
- How many assignments have you completed, including peer evaluations?
- Is there anything remaining uncompleted? If so, please list them here.
- Item(s)
- Anticipated date(s) of completion
- How do you feel about your participation during class? Explain.
- How many class meetings did you miss? If you missed any, what were the legitimate reasons?
- Is there anything you would like me to help with?
- What would it be if you were to give yourself a grade right now? Why?
Some typical questions in the end-of-semester reflection include:
- Read your (individual assignment) and feedback. Have you revised your work based on the feedback? Why or why not?
- Read your (group project) and feedback. Thinking of your contribution to this project, what did you learn from it?
- What do you know now that you didn’t know at the beginning of the semester?
- After taking this course, what profound insights have you gained about social studies education?
- How many classes did you miss? What legitimate reasons did you have for missing those classes?
- Please suggest a grade for yourself. Justify why you give yourself that grade.
Ungrading may not lighten an instructor’s workload, however, the effort I invested in this approach has proven immensely rewarding. I’ve witnessed a noticeable shift toward more internally motivated students, stronger professor-student relationships, and, most importantly, happier, less stressed students. The sense of fulfillment that comes from these positive changes is unparalleled.
Jing A. Williams is Professor of Social Studies Education at the University of South Dakota (USD). She teaches elementary and secondary social studies methods courses. She is the three-time recipient of the Faculty Excellence Awards in Teaching at the School of Education at USD. In 2024, she was the keynote speaker at the Online Faculty Symposium hosted by USD’s Center for Teaching and Learning. Dr. Williams’ research interest focuses on the global perspective of social studies education. She is the lead author of Teaching with a Global Perspective: Approaches and Strategies for Secondary Social Studies Teachers, published by the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) in 2024. She is the Book/Media Review Editor of the Journal of International Social Studies, the official publication of the International Assembly of the NCSS.
1 Lin Yutang, The Importance of Living (Beijing, China: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press, 1998).
2 Susan Blum, Ungrading: Why Rating Students Undermines Learning (and What to Do Instead, ed. Susan Blum (Morgantown: West Virginia University Press, 2020).
3 The Muse Editors, “Feedback Sandwich: Does It Really Work? When and how to Use It,” The Muse, 12/23/2024, accessed on December 29, 2024. https://www.themuse.com/advice/feedback-sandwich
4 These reflection prompts are revised based on the samples from: Susan Blum, “Just One Change (Just Kidding): Ungrading and Its Necessary Accompaniments,” in Ungrading: Why Rating Students Undermines Learning (and What to Do Instead, ed. Susan D. Blum (Morgantown: West Virginia University Press, 2020), 53-73.
References
Blum, Susan. Ungrading: Why Rating Students Undermines Learning (and What to Do Instead). Morgantown: West Virginia University Press, 2020.
Fink, L. Creating Significant Learning Experiences: An Integrated Approach to Designing College Courses. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 2013.
Lin, Yutang. The Importance of Living. Beijing, China: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press, 1998.
The Muse Editors. “Feedback Sandwich: Does It Really Work? When and how to Use It.” The Muse, 12/23/2024. Accessed on December 29, 2024. https://www.themuse.com/advice/feedback-sandwich
