Programming Assignment Ungrading as a License to Learn: Implementing Specifications Grading in the Undergraduate Web Development ClassroomGlobal
For introductory programming courses, it is crucial to create formative and summarized grading practices that foster growth mindset in students. We explore one way to reimagine and reorient programming assignment grading towards feedback-oriented encouragement for ongoing and continuous learning. This practice of mastery grading encompasses the following key features: (1) students are provided with a comprehensive list of assignment specifications, (2) evaluation of student work is centered on the attainment of specified criteria, employing a nominal scale to denote whether some or all the requirements are met within the deadline, and (3) multiple opportunities are afforded to demonstrate mastery for each specification, without penalties for initial attempts. We share our implementation conducted within an undergraduate first-year web development course, intending it to serve as both a reference and a valuable resource for instructors interested in integrating mastery grading into their own courses.