Thread by @katiemattaini

Does #ungrading disadvantage neurodivergent students? A 🧵

1/n

I’ve heard two general concerns about ungrading and neurodivergent students. First, that many neurodivergents need structure even more than other students. 2/n

I think this is based on the false idea that ungraded classes are less structured. In reality, how a class is graded (or not) and degree of structure are two separate design elements. Ungraded does NOT mean unstructured. 3/n

The second, and IMO more valid concern is that many neurodivergents tend to benefit from external motivators. Take away the penalty of grades and you take away one of the external motivators, especially for things like deadlines. 4/n

I think this is something ungraders need to take into consideration. As an n of 1, I did have an ADHD student last year who struggled with having no grade penalties for late work, according to her feedback. 5/n

But is the solution to use grades as a threat? I think not. We need to be more creative. There are other things that can be used as external motivators. 6/n

For instance, in my #RWUCancerBio class, Ss read a research paper most weeks, but only present on particular weeks. These are HARD papers and Ss need to read ahead, sometimes multiple times. But esp if not presenting, there’s a temptation to procrastinate. 7/n

Here’s what I’m trying out this semester: When Ss registered for the class, there was a fourth hour in the schedule for a student-only discussion section about the paper that happens before the full class session on that paper. 8/n

This is modeled off the course Methods & Logic that all first year bio grad Ss take at @MITBiology, where I got my PhD. 9/n

The goal for my class is 1) encourage paper reading ahead by the social pressure of working in a group of other Ss, but without a very impactful penalty. Maybe some of your group members are annoyed, but IMO, that’s not as bad as affecting your grade. 10/n

And 2) provide a space for students to help each other understand the papers. A lot of Ss did this already, but that depended on having a friend in the class, schedules matching, etc. 11/n

Importantly, Ss would have already been using more than this amount of time to understand the paper, so this new meeting should not add to their workload. If anything, it may make paper understanding faster bc they’re working together. 12/n

This is something that was inspired by the need for external motivators for neurodivergent students, but I think there will be other benefits, and I think it will help everyone. 13/n

This is not the only possible non-grade motivator. It’s just one I thought of that I hope works for this class and this group of Ss. I will report back to let you know how it goes!! 14/n

This is in response to lots of discussions I’ve seen, including from @karenraycosta, @joshua_r_eyler, @EmiDoesMath, @siwelwerd and others!