140 - Beyond Labels: Specifications, Standards and Designing Better Grading - with Adriana Streifer
About this episode
The episode discusses the intersection of specifications grading, course design, and institutional culture in higher education with Dr. Adriana Streifer.
Sharona and Boz are joined by Dr. Adriana Streifer, Associate Professor and Associate Director at the University of Virginia’s Center for Teaching Excellence, to explore how specifications grading, course design, and institutional culture intersect with the broader movement to rethink grading in higher education. Adriana shares how her early experiences teaching writing led her to question the fairness and meaning of traditional grading and ultimately adopt specifications grading as a way to better represent the complex, process-based nature of learning. The conversation dives into the practical differences between specifications and standards-based grading, lessons learned from facilitating the Alternative Grading Institute, and how instructors can assess their readiness for grading innovation in light of institutional constraints and professional risk. Along the way, the discussion examines the difference between procedural and conceptual rigor, the ways grading systems shape pedagogy, and how identity and institutional culture influence the pushback instructors may experience when they change grading practices. The conversation wraps up with a look toward the future: designing…
More episodes of The Grading Podcast
- 145 - The Wrap-Up Dilemma: Turning Evidence into a Final Grade with Dr. Tim Monk
- 144 - Second-Order Change: Why Grading Reform Requires Leadership, Not Just Teachers
- 143 - Barrier or Breakthrough? Course Coordination and the Future of Grading with Deb Carney
- 142 - Please Harvard! Don't get it wrong this time!! What's wrong with a cap on A's - a discussion with Dr. Stephanie Valentine
- 141 - The Ungrading Spectrum: From Compliance to Student Ownership
- 139 - Using Your Values to Design Your Grading with Dr. Lindsay Masland
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the The Grading Podcast podcast page.