A class where you and your friends assign each others’ grades may sound like a breeze, or a joke — but it’s one Duke professor’s idea of a grading policy, according to this article in Inside Higher Ed.
Cathy Davidson’s plan for her spring semester course called “Your Brain on the Internet” was to leave grading almost entirely up students, with a few caveats: all work and classes were mandatory to earn an overall “A,” with incomplete work resulting in a “B” or lower, depending on just how much a student slacks.
After the 16 students signed contracts, it was up to two students per week to evaluate the work done based on class discussions and blog post reports on what students had accomplished.
Not a breeze: According to Davidson, students wrote about 1,000 words per week, all of which she called “better than the norm” in the creativity and risks students took in their work.
Not a joke: They all got As, pending one incoming assignment.
