Two Questions: Grades and Student Created Learning Outcomes

Today I had the opportunity to participate in a webinar hosted by AJ Juliani. While I will never get used to presenting to a completely quiet room, I am very thankful to the lively group and the awesome questions they posted in the chat. There were two questions I did not have time to answer and they are excellent. So, I wanted to take some time to respond.

In project based learning, students uncover and rehearse their learning while they complete the project. The project, in essence becomes the instruction. For this reason, it doesn’t always make sense to grade that work. After sharing this thinking, one of the participants asked this great question: How will the students will be motivated to do their best on the project if they will not be given a grade?

This is especially hard when kids have been “schooled” out of a love of learning. A few things that help:

1. Create projects they WANT to do. Sometimes this involves having them co-construct the project with you or have input on the project path. Autonomy (at all ages) is the number one driver of motivation (if you are into empirical research, this is related to the self-determination theory).
2. Give them lots of feedback. Kids like grades because they are validating. If they are receiving validation in other ways, that sometimes helps. 
3. If you are going to give a traditional assessment at the end of the unit, draw a clear connection between the learning they are going to uncover and rehearse and the test they are going to take.

Ultimately, there is no magic wand. The good news is that this doesn’t apply to ALL students.

When designing a project and creating a project assessment, it is really important to start with clear learning objectives. This applies to most circumstances, however, sometimes you have the leverage to allow students to co-construct their assessment. One teacher in the session asked this awesome question: Have you ever had students develop their own personal learning outcomes for a project? I have been trying this because students do different projects with different learning happening.

This is ideal! If students are creating their own targets, here are a few tips:

1. Have students think about what they are creating and find models for their work. If they are interested in engaging in civic action by petitioning for a stop sign, have them research other successful township submissions. If they are interested in designing an infographic to raise awareness regarding date violence, have them examine other infographics. The goal here is not mimicry. Instead, we want to empower students to think critically about other work. This evaluation will help them decide what they value in a product or a process.
2. Ensure their goals are related to learning. When we get students started setting their own learning outcomes, it often becomes a checklist of tasks. “I will create a petition. I will create a presentation for the township board. I will write a letter to the township commissioners.” Instead, put the focus on the knowledge or skills students are hoping to develop. Sometimes it helps to frame this thinking as questions: What are my rights as a citizen? What processes are available to me to exercise my civic rights?

Many thanks to everyone who attend the session or watched the recording. If you asked a question, and I missed it in the chat, please ask it again in the comments below. I appreciate learning with you!