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Ungraded Classrooms: A Pattern for Learning in Engineering Modeled after Expert Practitioners

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Conference

2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Location

Baltimore , Maryland

Publication Date

June 25, 2023

Start Date

June 25, 2023

End Date

June 28, 2023

Conference Session

Committee on Professional Practice Presents: Topics in the Academic-Industry Zone

Tagged Division

Civil Engineering Division (CIVIL)

Page Count

18

DOI

10.18260/1-2--44551

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/44551

Download Count

119

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Paper Authors

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Bret N. Lingwall, P.E. South Dakota School of Mines and Technology

biography

Andrea E. Surovek, P.E. South Dakota School of Mines and Technology

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Dr. Surovek is the Director of the New Office of faculty Development and Advancement at South Dakota Mines. Her research interests include engineering creativity and pedagogy.

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Abstract

Practitioners have knowledge bases in the subject matter that can be both deep and broad, while researchers often have knowledge bases that are very deep yet narrow. Interestingly, practitioners develop a deep and broad mastery of the subject matter most often during their practice rather than in the University setting that they were educated in. Most experts in academia will also readily concede that their mastery of the subject matter came not in a conventional classroom but in the daily struggle to study their subject in great detail, i.e., in the course of their practice. How can we help students learn in the University classroom setting like practitioners learn and develop both deep and broad knowledge bases? In our view students can best learn in much the same way that experts learn (as Marshall M. Lib strongly suggested in 1996 to ASEE). We propose that conscious implementation of un-graded classrooms is an ideal means to deepen engineering formation. This paper examines the impact of ungraded classrooms in geotechnical engineering classrooms at the junior and senior undergraduate levels. Throughout this time period student opinion surveys and student learning outcomes data have been collected to evaluate the effectiveness and reception of ungraded classrooms. These classrooms have a final grade, but the individual homework, quizzes, projects, and exams are treated as assignments in the engineering office. They are submitted, reviewed, and then revised. Revisions occur as many times as needed until mastery is demonstrated, or the semester ends. At the end of the semester, the final grade is determined by instructor and student in one-on-one conference, in which the student’s overall learning and effort are evaluated holistically rather than an accumulation of points. This approach has help shift student attitudes away from “the grade is what matters” towards “it’s the learning that matters.” The ungraded approach has been well received by the students, while student final exam scores have significantly risen as a consequence of semester-long mastery of content rather than point accumulation.

Lingwall,, B. N., & Surovek,, A. E. (2023, June), Ungraded Classrooms: A Pattern for Learning in Engineering Modeled after Expert Practitioners Paper presented at 2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Baltimore , Maryland. 10.18260/1-2--44551

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