Undoing the Grade w/Jesse Stommel
Jesse Stommel is a faculty member in the Writing Program at University of Denver. He is also co-founder of Hybrid Pedagogy: the journal of critical digital pedagogy and Digital Pedagogy Lab. He has a PhD from University of Colorado Boulder. He is co-author of An Urgency of Teachers: the Work of Critical Digital Pedagogy.
Jesse is a documentary filmmaker and teaches courses about pedagogy, film, digital studies, and composition. Jesse experiments relentlessly with learning interfaces, both digital and analog, and his research focuses on higher education pedagogy, critical digital pedagogy, and assessment. He’s got a rascal pup, Emily, a clever cat, Loki, and a badass daughter, Hazel.
Originally aired as a live Community Gathering, where Vanessa Ellis interviewed Jesse on his book, Undoing the Grade: Why We Grade, and How to Stop, and then opened the floor to questions for participants.
Topics include
Do we need the word 'ungrading'? Why can this term be problematic?
What ungrading has looked like throughout Jesse’s career
How the work of scholars like bell hooks, Kevin Gannon, and Paulo Freire have influenced Jesse’s ungrading philosophy
Why ungrading is not ideologically neutral work
How ungrading can empower students and support their agency
Why ungrading is less about shifting policies and more about building community
The "necessary practices" educators must implement to make teaching and learning more equitable
Other resources
Blog posts included in Jesse’s book: