For institutions making decisions about switching to pass/fail, here are some specific recommendations in a thread.
Any effort in this direction should increase flexibility and support for students without being bureaucratically onerous. If you're quibbling details, stop.
Any effort in this direction should increase flexibility and support for students without being bureaucratically onerous. If you're quibbling details, stop.
This is what I'd encourage:
• Adopt pass/no record as a universal policy for Spring (and preemptively for Summer). Distinct from pass/fail, pass/no record means failing grades do not appear on transcripts. All "P" grades should fulfill major and general education requirements.
• Adopt pass/no record as a universal policy for Spring (and preemptively for Summer). Distinct from pass/fail, pass/no record means failing grades do not appear on transcripts. All "P" grades should fulfill major and general education requirements.
• "P" grades should count as a 4.0 equivalent for the purposes of GPA calculation. Students on scholarship or academic probation are often working to improve their GPA to stay in school or maintain their scholarships, and this semester may have been critical for them.
• Universities need to offer public assurance that "P" grades will transfer from other schools without restriction. Many community colleges are worried "P" grades won't transfer. Institutions should help their own students make it through, while also protecting future students.
If pass/fail is optional and "P" has no effect on GPA, this punishes students who choose the pass/fail option. It's likely the students who "opt-in" will disproportionately be from marginalized populations, especially neurodivergent students and others with accessibility issues.
The students most likely to be struggling are the ones we need to support most explicitly with any policy.
"Rethinking how we assess, test and grade our students gives not only them but also instructors needed flexibility during an impossible time." @CathyNDavidson @nemersonian insidehighered.com/views/2020/03/…
“Everyone needs to decide to be humane at the same time.” edsurge.com/news/2020-03-1…
"Everyone should shift to a pass/fail basis for a while, cutting each other as much slack as possible, while still acknowledging the work we're all doing, staying connected and trying to remember what normal looks like." @Lollardfish #PassFailNation cnn.com/2020/03/18/opi…
A list of institutions that have adopted some variation of pass/fail from @OnlineCrsLady oudigitools.blogspot.com/2020/03/feedba…
Ultimately, grades are never really about grades, but how institutions deal with grades is a bellwether for how they're addressing all kinds of issues.
Whatever we do, we need to start by centering student voices in this conversation.
Students at my own institution are arguing for more pass/fail flexibility by collecting stories and feedback about how they are being affected by the current situation.
I did some quick textual analysis on their collaborative document which includes stories from hundreds of students.
The word “stress” appears 41 times, “struggle” appears 37 times, some variation on “mental health” appears 30 times, “worry” appears 26 times, “access” appears 18 times, “anxiety” appears 10 times. Alongside these words, I find it heartbreaking that “GPA” appears 52 times.
Right now, students should not be put into a position where they have to make hard choices between their own safety or well-being and their GPA.
