162 - Can Alternative Grading Work with 300 Students? An Interview with Jordan Kostiuk

What does alternative grading look like when your class has 300 students—and what happens when generative AI forces you to rethink a system that had been working? In this episode, Sharona and Boz are joined by Jordan Kostiuk, Associate Teaching Professor of Mathematics at Brown University, to talk about his use of team-based inquiry learning and mastery-based grading in a large, coordinated linear algebra course. Jordan shares how a course organized around six sections, a team of graduate students, postdocs, and undergraduate TAs, and structured opportunities to demonstrate fluency made alternative grading possible at a scale that can seem daunting. The conversation also explores Jordan’s newest course redesign, prompted in part by the changing AI landscape, including moving fluency assessments back into a synchronous environment while introducing a portfolio designed to capture problem solving, mathematical communication, feedback, revision, and reflection.

Links

Please note - any books linked here are likely Amazon Associates links. Clicking on them and purchasing through them helps support the show. Thanks for your support!

• Jordan Kostiuk's Website
• Team-Based Inquiry Learning
• Humanizing Linear Algebra at Scale with Team-Based Inquiry Learning, by Jordan Kostiuk (paywall)

Resources

The Center for Grading Reform - seeking to advance education in the United States by supporting effective grading reform at all levels through conferences, educational workshops, professional development, research and scholarship, influencing public policy, and community building.

The Grading Conference - an annual, online conference exploring Alternative Grading in Higher Education & K-12.

Some great resources to educate yourself about Alternative Grading:

• The Grading for Growth Blog
• The Grading Conference
• The Intentional Academia Blog

Recommended Books on Alternative Grading:

• Grading for Growth, by Robert Talbert and David Clark
• Specifications Grading, by Linda Nilsen
• Undoing the Grade, by Jesse Stommel

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All content of this podcast and website are solely the opinions of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily represent the views of California State University Los Angeles or the Los Angeles Unified School District.

Music

Country Rock performed by Lite Saturation, licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.