In the class sessions of week 10 (March 20 and 22) we asked students the following questions:
1. Do you think you are doing more work or less work (or the same amount) than you would be doing in an equivalent class? Explain.
2. Do you think you are doing more work or less work (or the same amount) than you would be doing for the grade that you expect to receive? Explain.
3. Do you think this course encourages you to do your best work, and improve the quality of your work? Explain.
4. Do you think that the work you are doing is of better or worse quality (or about the same) than that you would be doing in an equivalent class? Explain.
5. Any further comments about workload, grade fairness, motivation, and work quality?
Our interest in knowing your answers, which were collected and submitted anonymously, has to do with the relationship between grading systems and motivation. Normally, grades are justified in part as a means of motivating students and getting them to produce their best work. The fear is that contract grading does not fulfil the same function. On the other hand, it may be that, freed from grade anxiety, students may in fact do at least as well as under other grading systems.
Summary
Q1. An overwhelming majority (88%) of students thought they were doing the same amount (60%) or more (28%) work than they would be doing in equivalent classes. Only 12% felt they were doing less.
Q2. A strong majority (69%) of students thought they were doing the same amount (55%) or more (14%) work than they would expect for their contracted grade. 31% felt they were doing less.
Q3. An overwhelming majority (80%) felt encouraged to do their best work, and improve the quality of their work. Only 9% did not feel encouraged to do their best work.
Q4. An overwhelming majority (86%) of students thought they were doing the same quality (55%) or better (31%) work than they would be doing in equivalent classes. Only 14% felt they were doing worse quality work.
Q5. Comments were almost uniformly positive: "I honestly love contract grading. It has made my semester"; "I especially enjoyed knowing exactly what was required of me to get each grade"; "I am very satisfied with this course and I hope UBC offers more courses like this when it comes to grading and assignments. 🙂" and so on...
Response
It looks as though students think we have the balance more or less right. Though they expect to get high grades on the whole, they think they are mostly putting in as much work as they would expect to put in to earn such grades, and on the whole more work than they are doing in other classes. Moreover, even though contract grading may not explicitly reward the quality of their work, they feel motivated and encouraged to do their best, and pleased that they can express themselves without the uncertainty and anxiety they say often characterize other grading systems.
1. Do you think you are doing more work or less work (or the same amount) than you would be doing in an equivalent class? Explain.
| More Work | The Same | Less Work |
|---|---|---|
| The same amount. This class requires a lot of reading and nearly weekly work for a grade in the A range. | ||
| I think it is a pretty equivalent amount of work because reading a book a week is not easy, especially as a lot of these books are challenging reads. | ||
| Time-wise, I think the actual reading of the books, watching the lectures, and writing blog posts is similar to other time I spend on work in other classes, if not more because of the book reading. I find it takes me time to read them because there are quite a few for an A grade. So I think it's expected that it would take more time in a way. | ||
| I think the workload is about equivalent to other Arts courses, considering there is weekly readings to do. Additionally, these can be time-consuming at times. | ||
| I think it's the same as other RMST classes I have heard from. I just think the creative ability is a bit easier to maintain. | ||
| I think I am doing the same amount of work that would be equivalent to another Arts class. Just because we don't get marked on quality, I try my best. | ||
| Slightly less work than on equivalent class. This is just based on the amount of essay writing, because I think blog posts are generally less time consuming. | ||
| If you're doing it every week, it's slightly more work but the informal nature of the blog posts and discussion makes it feel like less. | ||
| I think that I'm doing less work compared to maybe another Arts class. I think it's mainly due to the fact that I don't even have to come in every week and even on the weeks I do have to come in, I just need to make a blog post rather than write an essay. | ||
| I think I doing the same amount of work. | ||
| I think I'm doing slightly more work as I have contracted for an A- it is fairly time-consuming to read so many books. | ||
| Depends. Definitely lots of reading and the time commitment is a lot more, but it consists of all reading and not as much doing actual "work." So in some ways more and some less. | ||
| The amount of studying for the content is significantly less, but he amount of hours put into reading and etc. can be more sometimes? | ||
| I find myself doing the same amount of work that I would be doing in an equivalent class. the amount of blogs and readings necessary to complete to reach the grade I've chosen also require a good amount of effort. | ||
| Overall, I would say I do more work for this class than others (Arts classes). I have to constantly be reading while also keeping track of my thoughts, attending mandatory classes, writing blog posts, etc. | ||
| Around the same. I chose to read more course material than necessary to pass, so I've had more novels than other classes, but I don't have any papers or projects to worry about. | ||
| Yes, because I'm reading more than I would in another literature class. However, I prefer it because I choose the amount of work, so it's my fault if it's a lot. | ||
| I am doing the same work compared with an equivalent since in this course I read books and write blogs every week and other courses I focus on the exams. Both need time and effort. | ||
| I'm doing more work than I would be doing in an equivalent class, assignment-wise. My other course is heavy on quiz and text, so there were barely any assignment. | ||
| I think that I am doing probably about the same amount of work because of how often I read for this class. | ||
| Less work: I mostly run through the readings, mostly because I am a very slow reader. Finishing the readings as soon as possible is what I care about 3/4 of the time. | ||
| I think I'md doing a lot more outside of class work than my other classes, and I think putting honestly a bit more effort in this class. | ||
| In terms of time spent, I am doing much more work than in any of my other classes. | ||
| The same amount, because each book takes a long time to read. However, since the blogs are not graded, I feel that it evens out. It also makes the class more enjoyable when I can read it and not stress about taking really good notes. | ||
| About the same. It is a lot of reading! Has not been exactly easy... | ||
| I think I am doing the same amount of work as I would be doing in an equivalent class. I just depends on when I am doing the work and how I am dispersing the time that I do work on this class. | ||
| Same amount. Regardless of whether the works graded or not, I still put in the same amount of effort, which to me is equal to my workload. | ||
| I feel I'm doing about the same amount. The process of work is similar, just adding the blog post. I don't think that's too much more than other courses (although reading a new book every week is quite tough). | ||
| I feel as if I am doing more work than for other classes, but I think that is expected because I contracted for an A+, therefore I am reading a book eery week. | ||
| I typically do more work, in the sense that I have to read an entire book. Whereas I'm able to by-pass some readings here and there. Also because I do RMST study work every week for the grade I want (A), and I usually do less in a week for other classes. | ||
| More work because we are expected to read and then post about it. | ||
| I'm actually doing more work... More time have spent on readings / lecture videos / blogs (comparing to the one of other other RMST course, 321, that I'm taking this semester). | ||
| More work, because books are long, but interesting. I spend more time to concisely read. | ||
| I feel I'm doing the same amount of work as I would in an equivalent class. I attend class less, but do more reading and writing. | ||
| I think slightly more because I took a literature-based course last semester and there was less reading. However, there were also more formal assignments for that class. | ||
| Definitely less. The reading takes a while, but it doesn't feel like work. | ||
| Equivalent to a little less. I do not have to review terms, but I am reading a full book a week. However, I enjoy it so it feels like less work. | ||
| Less work because it is fun and I like to read books. | ||
| I think I do around the same amount of work in this class as others because of the amount of reading we do, which takes a considerable amount of time. | ||
| I think I'm doing the same amount in an equivalent class. It's a certain amount of writing I have to meet every week. Besides, readings aren't a very new concept. | ||
| I think work-wise it is a similar amount: 2 lectures a week and lecture video and the number of pages to read a week amounts to around the same hours spent. | ||
| I feel like I am doing the same amount, maybe more especially for me since I am a slow reader and reading one book a week is no simple feat. | ||
| I get different workload for each class: for two classes it's definitely more workload, but for the others it's around the same or even less work. | ||
| Same amount because it takes me a while to read the book. | ||
| I am doing less. I wouldn't have the freedom to choose my own workload in a normal class. | ||
| I think we are doing the same amount of work as we would in an equivalent class. We read our book for the week, followed by watching a lecture video, writing our comments on the blog and later discussing in class, and I think that is completely justified. | ||
| Slightly more work, since I have to keep up with the reading every day, and sometimes the text is a bit dense. | ||
| I think I'm doing the same amount of work because I did RMST 201 last year and we also had to write discussion/blog things and comment on each other's posts. | ||
| In Arts I think there are classes that have a similar workload to this one, so I would say equivalent. | ||
| I feel like it is the same amount. It is just more condensed within the time span. I wonder if it is even more because we usually only have one or more assignments that require this much reading. | ||
| Same, I think. | ||
| Same. | ||
| More work than an equivalent class. As comparing it to my French 101 course, this course definitely take more time to invest in, for reading books weekly, digesting that information and writing what we think in a blog post. More work than learning very basic French, at least for me personally. | ||
| The same (or more). Spread out over the semester, weekly. | ||
| Less work (word wise). | ||
| I think I am doing almost the same amount. In matters of writing, when I take lit classes, usually I write 2-3 papers that are large. I consistently write blogs each week, so I think it almost evens out. Additionally, reading helps even the scores. | ||
| More work. Reading a book each week takes me a long time. I usually read somewhere around 25-30 pages per hour, so I normally spend 7-8 hours a week reading, which is quite a task. | ||
| This class requires me to read more than any other class I am currently in. Despite not having to write big final essays, the amount of blogs I have written are equivalent to the amount of writing I would do in essay-centric classes. | ||
| I believe when talking about the course load in terms of the assignments, I'm definitely doing less work compared to my other classes, however the readings are equivalent or even more than an equivalent class. | ||
| Way more work. There is the most reading and writing out of any class I've done. You also need to use and develop more original thought. | ||
| Less! This class is very flexible, and we all get to choose what we do. Other classes are fixed. This class isn't hard, and I appreciate the freedom we have in it. | ||
| The same amount of work. We are reading and writing more than usual, but since we don't have an exam, it's less stressful. | ||
| Same amount of work. Most of my classes are not assignment based, so the weekly blog posts equal the one-in-a-while midterm and final. | ||
| I think I am doing the same amount of work that I would be doing in an equivalent class, as I have chosen A+ grade so it requires me to read 11 books, watch the lecture videos and conversation videos in order to write a blog of 400-500 words every Tuesday. | ||
| Less work, because we don't have quizzes, midterms, and/or essays. In my opinion, studying for those types of assessment takes a lot of effort and is stressful. The weekly blogs aren't stressful to write, which is why I think it is less work. | ||
| I think this course is a lot more flexible in terms of how much work I am doing, but the workload is the same as other courses. | ||
| The work amount I find is the same as an equivalent class, but the reading is much more. | ||
| I am probably doing a similar amount of work. | ||
| I wouldn't know since I haven't taken an equivalent class. But compared to my other courses of the term, it is slightly more work since I have to read many books. Without the reading break, I think I would have reached my breaking point. | ||
| Compared to my other lit class, I am doing similar amount of work. | ||
| More or less the same. This class has essentially weekly assignments, forcing me to be consistently engaged in work of some capacity. This is not the same for all courses. | ||
| I think for a literature class, I am doing the same amount of work. Maybe a bit more reading. But for writing, the once a week seems like a fair amount for this class. | ||
| Both. I think I'm doing more work for this class than others, but I should be studying more in other classes. | ||
| I would say I do a bit more work in this class, as some of the books are on the longer side compared to one chapter in a textbook (for other classes). | ||
| I feel I'm doing more work in this class than most in terms of time committed and allocating reading and writing time each week. | ||
| I think that I am doing the same amount of work compared to an equivalent class. The readings each week are quite long and take me a good chuck of time to finish. | ||
| More in terms of reading the books, but less in terms of what I actually have to do, which is writing one blog a week. It still is a bit more, but is reasonable for the grade. | ||
| Around the same amount, maybe a little more work in terms of reading every week, especially when there are long books, but on short book weeks, it's about the same. | ||
| Equivalent, because this involves attendance, blogs, comments, lecture, discussion. | ||
| I would say a less amount of work because we have a set workload and not extra quizzes, texts, or assignments. It's easier to plan and complete the work for this class. | ||
| I am doing a bit more work than I would be doing in an equivalent class, but not necessarily a lot more. I think that everything blanches out in the sense that I have lots of written work and more lectures to attend in terms of my other classes. | ||
| The same and maybe a little more. Because my other classes include "major essays" which happen twice every term, so deadline-wise I do more. | ||
| I think we are doing more work for this course, but it depends on the grade you choose to receive. | ||
| I am definitely doing less work that in my other courses. For my other courses, I am required to memorize terms and concepts and apply them in all assignment and test settings. For this course, I definitely have to do a lot of reading, which is what is different from my other courses. However, the assignments are not too difficult. | ||
| I feel like I'm doing the same amount of work. | ||
| The workload is about the same as other classes because my other classes also have readings which is equivalent to the readings of the books in this class. However, this class is less stressful compared to other courses since midterm/finals are optional. | ||
| I would say the amount of work required for the grade is fair. | ||
| The same amount of work as another class. the readings, lecture video, and blog are a decent amount of work. A book a week (for an A+) is as much as all my other class readings, sometimes even more. | ||
| It's a bit of a mix. Since I choose the books I want to read, to it's up to me if I want to read more books to achieve a better grade. Sometimes it may be a bit more work if the book is lengthy, so it can take up time. | ||
| Same or more. I do typically aim for / receive As though. So same does not mean easy. To be honest, this class might even tike up the bulk of my time/mind this semester. | ||
| I think it depends on how many books you are reading: for someone just reading the four mandatory books it might be less, but if you contracted for an A- and up it would be more. |
2. Do you think you are doing more work or less work (or the same amount) than you would be doing for the grade that you expect to receive? Explain.
| More Work | The Same | Less Work |
|---|---|---|
| I think that I have written blogposts to the best of my ability and have put in the same work as other classes. However, if it was graded for quality and followed a rubric, I would most likely try harder. | ||
| Yes. the only thing is we don't write essays, but I wouldn't take this course if we had to, because on top of the load from the reading and analyzing it would be too much. | ||
| I think about the same level of work for reading (i.e. time I would spend on writing/projects is spent on the books). I think the blog posts for me are also work but are shorter or a little less work. | ||
| I think people who opted for lower grades might be doing less work comparatively. However, people who must read and comment on one book a week are doing about the same amount of work as an equivalent class. | ||
| I think the workload is equivalent as you still have to rad the books all the way through, respond to them, and then think critically in lecture. | ||
| I think I am doing more work because I am doing my best work and I wish I was receiving a better grade for it, even if I don't read a ton of books. | ||
| Overall, considering the number of books you need to read for an A+, I'd say the work amount is about the same as I'd expect for an equivalent class. | ||
| I would say I'm doing the right amount of work for the grade I'm getting, especially seeing my friends around me who are going for higher grades. | ||
| For the grade I expect to receive, I think that I'm doing the right amount of work for this class's standards. However, compared to an equivalent class, I still think the assignments we're required to do are more straightforward and less time-consuming. | ||
| I doing the same amount of work, maybe a little bit less? | ||
| I think I'md doing the same amount: the amount of writing I do for the blog posts evens out to the amount of work it would take to write a good essay. | ||
| I would say it is about the same for an A+ as it requires a lot of reading and lot of effort and for some classes that would be more work, some less. | ||
| More or less the same. | ||
| I think the amount of work necessary to complete for the grade chosen accurately portrays the effort/amount of work you would need to complete in an equivalent course. | ||
| Again, I would say more work since I have to always be "on" in order the achieve the grade I contracted for (A+). In other classes, I find I can get the same or similar grade with less work. | ||
| Depends. I'm self-motivated and feel by blog posts are always striving for improvement each week. | ||
| I think I wouldn't get as high of a grade in another class. I tend to do worse at structured examinations like midterms, so I prefer the blog post where I can present my thought in a low-risk environment and get feedback. | ||
| I try to write blogs and read books every week. It needs lots of effort and time, but it is worth it to get A+. So for myself, I am doing more work, but this is what I need to get A+. | ||
| I'm doing the same amount because I only work hard n the assignments for this course and study hard on the other courses, which makes a balance. | ||
| I think that I am maybe doing a smaller amount of work for the grade I have contracted for. | ||
| Totally depends. If the book is short and sweet, it excites me to get to the roots of the reading, while when it is very long and feels endless, I think less sometimes. | ||
| I contracted for an A+ and I believe I am putting in the amount of work I should be to get an A+ in any other class. | ||
| It's hard to say, but I think it's around the same or at least average. I've gotten easier A+s but I've also gotten harder A+s. | ||
| Same amount. For each book I need to take a long time to read. I think it evens out with the time I would spend studying of an A in another class. | ||
| Maybe slightly ess. But at the same time the work is more consistent, so maybe it would feel like more if I was cramming for an exam. | ||
| This is a good question. I typically always aim for a high grade in each of my classes and I put in a lot of hard work to do so. Again, it depends on the class I am taking. For example, Math unfortunately requires many, many hours to get even a decent grade. | ||
| Less work, based off that my other courses are memorization heavy, this one being based on reading/writing is a nice break. | ||
| First of all, I'm not taking this course "just" for the grade. And second, I think I set the adequate grade contract, so I think it's okay for e, giving as much as I give to others. | ||
| I think I am doing a valid amount of work if I were to also strive for an A+ in my other classes. The course load is challenging, but I do think it's acceptable for achieving an A+. | ||
| I'm doing a little more work for the grade I'm getting, but I don't mind. | ||
| More, since other classes have less assignments, but are weighted more. | ||
| A bit more than I expected. | ||
| Same, because I need to re-edit and fix my writing for grade, but for this course, reading is pretty intense. | ||
| I feel I'm doing the same amount of work as I would in an equivalent class. I attend class less, but do more reading and writing. | ||
| I think slightly less because we have less formal assignments. However, because of the grade I contracted, I consistently put time in for the class. | ||
| Less. In some classes, even if I study like 80 hours a week, and A+ is still quite hard to get. | ||
| About the same to be honest, because it is less studying but the same amount of assignments and readings, if not more reading. | ||
| Nah, I'm aiming for an A+ and that would be hard. | ||
| I think I do a little less work to get this grade I expect to receive, as I do not have to do midterms for this class and there are no other assignments other than the blogs. | ||
| I must say, I think I am doing less work for the grade I expect to receive. After all, 400 words isn't a lot. And maybe something needs to be added so quality can factor into the final grade. | ||
| Personally, I contracted for an A+ so I find that I am doing less work than in other classes for an A+: a lot of times getting an A+ with other classes' grading schemes doesn't exactly reflect just effort, but this class does. | ||
| For the grade I expect to receive, I feel like I am doing the same amount of work. | ||
| Similar to the previous question, it depends on the class, but possibly equivalent overall. | ||
| Less work (for an A) because the work isn't necessarily difficult. | ||
| I am doing slightly more? I don't think I've ever erased and rewritten so many times for merely 400 words. I am also encouraged to do research outside of the book. | ||
| Less work than I would in other class for the grade I expect to receive as the course is more practical and less learning. | ||
| For the grade that I expect to achieve, I am doing less work because my effort (process) counts more than the outcomes which I very much appreciate. | ||
| I think I'm doing the same amount of work for the grade that I expect o receive, because in RMST 201 I got the same grade that I'm expected to get in this class. | ||
| I think I am doing more readings than any other class to reach the expected grade. | ||
| I feel like it is the same. Committing to entirely new novel and writing a blog post is a lot. | ||
| Same. I try harder sometimes because Jon is so cool, I want him to think I'm cool. | ||
| I think about the same amount. | ||
| Probably the same amount, as I contracted for an A- and I feel like the amount of work I put in this course is very similar to how much work I put in a STATS class to get an A-. | ||
| Same amount, spread out weekly. | ||
| Same--I can imbue my work emotionally. | ||
| I think I'm doing the same amount, effort-wise. I aimed for a B+, so I did not expect my work to go aloe and beyond, but I do have pride. So. | ||
| Depends on the course. I'd say generally more, but that may be because these types of courses are not my strong suit. | ||
| I really like scaling the grades with the amount of books you read. I personally feel like I'm putting in more effort in this class compared to some other classes just to receive the same grade (A-) because of hours spent reading. | ||
| No. I would definitely be doing more work in an equivalent class for the grade that I expect to receive. Maybe a little more assignments. | ||
| I'm doing more for the grade I'm getting in comparison to other classes. If the readings were just a little shorter or more current it would be more easier. | ||
| I'm doing less work. Since I contracted for an A+, the only thing I have to do is read the novel, write a blog post, write comments, and watch/comment on the lecture. I'm a reader, so it's not hard. And so I'm doing less work than for any other class, but still getting the grade I've contracted for. | ||
| Around the same amount of work, leaning towards a little less. | ||
| Less work, because I know my grade (that I have chosen) and therefore I am prepared for the amount of work, so no surprises. Other course are unpredictable in terms of grades. | ||
| The same amount of work as I would want to achieve a good grade in all my courses. | ||
| Less because, again, studying for a midterm or writing a final essay takes more effort, and its hard, and requires you to do more work, if you want a high grade. | ||
| I think this course is a lot more flexible in terms of how much work I am doing, but the workload is the same as other courses. | ||
| I think the grade I'm expected to get is equivalent to the amount of working I'm receiving. While I think it's a lot of work, I think it's fair for the grade. | ||
| Yes and no, because in this class there are just some times where you have to do the work even if it is not your best, when you don't understand the book. | ||
| Less work I think, because it's a pretty straightforward class. It really puts everything on the table, and I know what to expect compared to other classes where I would just be hoping the TAs think my work is enough. | ||
| Around the same amount of work. In the only "equivalent class" I have taken I am spending around the same amount. | ||
| More. Usually for a similar game, I would not be nearly as engaged and present for lectures. | ||
| Depends on the course. In comparison to Psychology, I am doing less for a better grade in this class. But for a literature class, I would say I am doing about the same amount. | ||
| Much less. To receive a grade that high (A), I would probably have to change my entire lifestyle to focus on studying. | ||
| Less work for the grade as my other classes require a lot of memorization. | ||
| I feel I'm doing more to get the contracted grade than I am in other classes, as reading definitely takes up a lot of times each week, more than expected. | ||
| The same amount. I think that for the length of time spent reading each week and the lecture video is sufficient work. | ||
| Less! It is hard to get an A+ doing the work I do in another class. | ||
| Less work. Much more studying for exams/tests is needed for other classes to receive the same grade. | ||
| Same. The grade encourages us to achieve, and once it fails, it's worse than equivalent class. This pushes me to achieve my goal. | ||
| I think I'm doing less work because most of my other classes are testing differently, not in the we are in this one, so I feel I'm doing less work for the grade. | ||
| I think I am doing a bit more work (as I did contract for an A+) because I am reading a book and writing a blog post for every week. But I think that it makes sense that I have to do this much work. | ||
| Less, because I know I'm working weekly for the grade I want/expect in comparison to other classes. | ||
| I think depending on the grade it could be equivalent or more work, but the quality of the work is not the same. | ||
| I think I am doing equivalent to less work because achieving an A+ in my other courses is definitely more difficult. However, if all the books were 200+ pages, that would make it significantly more difficult. | ||
| Definitely more. | ||
| For an A+, I think I am doing less work in this class than for the same grade in another class. I only need to worry about getting the work done, rather than also be concerned for the quality. | ||
| Similar workload should be required in an equivalent class for the same grade. A 500-word written response is a fair amount of work for getting the grade desired. | ||
| I think that if I could work towards my grade in all my classes, I would be putting in the work as motivation to get that grade. And having a flipped classroom actually helps me do my videos/lectures before class, rather than pushing them off. | ||
| I would say it's the same in the amount of content, but easier in the outcome. My other classes require a lot of reading, so in terms of that the "work" is the same. However, since there is no test or exams, it is easier to achieve a higher grade. | ||
| It really depends which class you equate this to. In the past I have done both less OR more work to get this type of grade. This probably lies in the middle for me. | ||
| I think it is the same amount of work for the expected grade. The work just looks a little different, but I feel like it is just as demanding, just in different areas. |
3. Do you think this course encourages you to do your best work, and improve the quality of your work? Explain.
| Yes | Other | No |
|---|---|---|
| I am always encouraged to do my best quality of work. I think as the class has progressed with discussions this has improved. | ||
| Yes. Having to write a blog post make us encouraged to use your creative liberties and take our blog where we want it to go. | ||
| I think with regard to the blog posts and comments, I tend to summarize or am not sure how to improve the quality. I think in that sense it's more stream of consciousness / relaxed than it is a focus on improving academic writing and communicating my ideas in a succinct/clear way. | ||
| I think the freedom of writing and the lack of guidelines on the writing encourages us to provide our most honest and creative work, which is my opinion is our best work. | ||
| I think the because the blogs are just for completion, it may also allow for people to just half-ass it, BUT I also do think it allows for a creative liberty that leads to better, more authentic work. | ||
| I think this course does, because the comments on the blog post encourage us and help us improve. | ||
| Definitely. The nature of the class discussions and things like the blog post award help motivate me to put effort into making my work as good and enjoyable as it can be. | ||
| Yes, the insistent and weekly feedback of the blog comments definitely helps to encourage me to also find a moment [?] to get a deeper understanding of the books to contribute more in class. | ||
| I think this depends on the person and their intentions in this class. Personally, some weeks are better than the others and the weeks that aren't my best work motivate me to do better (especially as a perfectionist). | ||
| Yes, it improves my reading and writing skills. | ||
| Yes, I think knowing that the professor / TAs / classmates will read and comment on my blogs pushes me to write high-quality posts. | ||
| Yes, I think the course pushes you to do work to the best of your ability especially when it comes to understanding and class lectures. | ||
| It does encourage you to work throughout the term (not just for certain exams or assignments). | ||
| The freedom the course gives me also motivates me to put creativity and thoughtfulness into the work I complete. It gives you a sense of responsibility because you choose and sign up for the work. | ||
| Unfortunately, I wouldn't say this is the case since I do things for completion, not quality. | ||
| I guess it depends on each person. I do my best work when I'm self-directed. | ||
| I think that the course forces me to present even on texts I didn't particularly enjoy, which makes me think in more creative and critical ways. I am trying to do the best work possible. | ||
| Yes. I need to read 11 books for this course, and I have never tried to read so many books in such a short time. | ||
| This course does encourage me to do my best work and improve the quality of my work because the main idea for the assignment is express my own ideas, which there aren't limits. | ||
| I definitely think that this course encourages me to do my best work and challenges me to always keep developing my thoughts and ideas. | ||
| Yes, this course makes me want to write better. Again, depends on the reading. | ||
| In my own beliefs if I'm contracting for an A+ I should be putting in my best effort, so I feel like I deserve it. I think the weekly awards have also given me an incentive. | ||
| I'm not sure if it encourages the best work, as it is only marked for completion, but you still have to at least do the reading, which is more than I've done for other classes. | ||
| Yes, since the discussions are so interactive and fun. It makes you want to participate and add to the conversation. It makes me want to do better work. | ||
| I think so. As students, I think it's pretty hard to turn off my motivation to put out good work. | ||
| Yes. I think each week we have a blog post due, we are encouraged to produce our best work as not only are our professors and TAs reading our work, but also our classmates. | ||
| The course does encourage you to do you best work through feedback, but since there's no grading it doesn't encourage improvement. | ||
| Again, reading every week and writing a blog post is not an easy job. So not optimally encourages to do the "best" of my work. | ||
| Yes, I think the blog awards has a lot to do with this. 🙂 But also the prof and TA comments on the blog always encourage a different way of thinking. | ||
| Yes, this course encourages my best work. I'm not sure if the quality of my work improved. | ||
| I think this course encourages you to do all three with weekly blog posts, which provides the opportunity to be more in depth and produce more quality work each time. | ||
| Yes! The more I read, the more thinking/working I need to do. (Putting a lot of effort in it.) Sometimes the books are difficult to understand. | ||
| Yes! I can express freely with my work. | ||
| Yes, I feel this course encourages me to do my best work and improve. The awards are motivating. | ||
| I think it does because of the discussions we have during class time. By learning more about literature and connections, I am motivated to improve the content of my blog posts. | ||
| In a way, yes. The blogs don't have to be of good quality, but weirdly I still go over the word limit and try to make it good quality. | ||
| I think so! Every week we do the discussion we improve on reading skills and the blog awards makes me want to do better on my blog posts. | ||
| I think that I personally try to improve each work but that is because I enjoy reading and writing about literature. | ||
| I think this course encourages e to do my best work, because it allows me to have freedom and express my true opinions. | ||
| This course does encourage me to do my best work. After all, I was genuinely surprised at the effort it took to get anA+, and I'd rather make my work worthy of it than just meeting the word quota. | ||
| yes I do believe that id eoes, mostly through a positive reinforcement, like it inspires us to engage more in different ays and this I find more so the case as classes go on. | ||
| Yes because it really lets us say what we really think about the book and encourages discussions and different point of views. | ||
| In the start, yes, but as other classes and workload took over as our semester progresses, I think it slowed down. | ||
| Yes and no. No, because blog posts aren't graded for quality. yes, after reading my peers' blog posts, I'm motivated to improve my writing. | ||
| This course encourages me to put out better quality work based on the fact that I want to be able to engage in discussions. | ||
| I think the quality of our work improves as we progress through the course, as we learn from the comments made by Jon and TAs on our blog posts. | ||
| This course does, because the flexible structures allows me to put more effort in my work. It seems that there is no definitive answer (dichotomous right or wrong). | ||
| I think it doesn't really encourage me to do my best work, but I don't think it would be fair to say someone's interpretation or blog is not good since the guidelines for what to write is very oopen and there aren't specific questions to answer in your blog. | ||
| Yes, I think this course does encourage me to do my best work, and engages me in new literature. | ||
| Yes because it prepares you for lecture. | ||
| I feel I have done a similar amount of work the whole time. But when we started getting the blog awards, I totally try harder. | ||
| I enjoy the push to work harder to receive the grade I want. | ||
| Yes, I do as the course encourages creativity and supports freedom, which I really appreciate. Having no stress about what grade I receive and just doing it and having the freedom to write anything encourages my best work. | ||
| Yes, this class makes me want to contribute to discussions and improve my readings discussion. | ||
| Yes--once again, emotionally imbued and creative. | ||
| Yes and no. Yes, in terms that it is a safe and comfortable environment, so we can state all our views and provide evidence on that. No, in terms that this is definitely more of a leisure/"easy" UBC class. | ||
| I still try to put in a decent amount of thought and effort into my posts and the midterm. That being said, I wouldn't say I spend as much time revising/editing my blog posts as I would a normal assignment for another class. | ||
| I think this depends on the students' intrinsic motivation. Personally, I initially wrote my blogs as low effort, participation points, but when I got negative comments from Jon, I began putting in more effort/thought in my blogs as well. | ||
| Yes, it does. Looking at other people writing such interesting blogs, I have the need to do the same. Regardless of the fact we're not being graded on them, I always want to write interesting blogs and do my best work! | ||
| I definitely think it's pushing me to work better because it is forcing me to write a lot. It also gives me more creative freedom and less test anxiety, so I don't have as many mental blocks. | ||
| I don't think it does. I remember being told if I contracted for an A+ (90-100%), it's unlikely I'll score anything besides a 90%. I personally dislike that because, if anything, it encourages us to do the "bare minimum" according to our grade. It kind of sucks because I'm one to put in a lot of effort in my blog posts, but I won't score more than a 90% | ||
| Yes. Since it is less stressful, I can write what I truly want without the pressure of doing it "right." | ||
| Yes, I think it does encourage, since I want to get the grade i chose, so putting in the extra effort and doing the best I can is worth it. | ||
| Yes, I really like the flexibility of this course as it allows us to write whatever we feel about the books without being judged or graded on the blogs. | ||
| Yes, because it gives us the opportunity to write based on our opinions and then in the discussion class you can see more opinions on the novel, and expeand your knowledge. | ||
| I think that I can get away with doing lower quality work, but in good faith of what I am contracted for, I do my best. | ||
| The fact people read the blogs and make comments encourages me to make my blog "worth it" to read. | ||
| Yes, because of discussion. | ||
| Yes, I want to make my blog posts nice and entertaining to read. And reading the books also helps me expand my vocabulary. | ||
| Yes, however I am a lot more motivated on the blog posts than the midterm (maybe the final as well) as they are more restrictive on what you can talk about. | ||
| Yes, especially due to the lax assignment guidelines, it allows me to express myself feely which lets me think and question more. | ||
| Yes, I really like how Jon encourages us. Even though quality is not graded, I just WANT to write a good post. | ||
| I believe it does, as feedback from peers and teachers encourages deeper thinking and expanding your understanding. The lectures and class discussions prompt for more complex ideas and analysis of text. | ||
| Yes, Jon makes it super engaging, making me want to put my best foot forward. The feedback on the blog posts also makes me think deeper for the next post. | ||
| I feel like this class encourages creative writing and I enjoy correlating the readings to other things in life. | ||
| Yes, I don't stress about the accuracy or grammatical errors but rather reflect on the literature. | ||
| I think the system of commenting on each other's blogs as discussion motivates/encourages me to write better blogs so I can get better and more comments. (And the awards, too. They're fun.) | ||
| No. With the grades for completion over quality, it is not incentivizing to improve work. | ||
| It does, since all stuff is up to own decision. At first it took me some time to get familiar, but eventually improve my stuff because I want my blogs to deserve the grade I receive. | ||
| Yes, it encourages me to do my best work because of how interactive and interesting the course is. I want to read and understand each book to the best of my ability, so I can write a good blog post. | ||
| Yes, I think that this course does! I feel that now I've written more and more blog posts, I've gotten comfortable with writing them and now take pride in what I've written. | ||
| For sure. Relying on my knowledge, opinion, is much more encouraging and better than memorization. | ||
| I don't think it encourages me to do my best work because I know that as long as I get it done I know that I'll receive the grade in my contract. | ||
| Yes, I think the blogs being public to literally everyone makes the person writing more wary of what they are writing or makes them try harder. The is personally how I feel because sometimes when I see my classmates' works, I feel a little insecure. | ||
| Yes... seeing other blogs made me want to give a more unique blog. | ||
| The course does to an extent encourage me to do my best, since I decide what grade I get and that everyone can read the blogs written. However, since the grace is given on the workload I commit to doing, so quality at times is not the top priority. | ||
| With the contract grading system, I feel like it does not encourage me to do the best work at times. For example, during midterm weeks I find myself not putting in as much effort as I would normally. | ||
| I think this course encourages me to do work, as I feel like I'm working towards a grade, rather than putting in the same or more effort for a class that I won't get the same amount of work for. | ||
| Honestly, no. There is a lot of "free work" in this course. The required blog posts don't have a strict guidelines, so it doesn't ahve to be written in a formal way, meaning you can make it as bad as you want. | ||
| I think it encourages you to do your best reading/thinking, but perhaps not best writing. It forces you out of your comfort zone though for sure. | ||
| I think it does. The discussions make you want to do a good blog post that opens up a conversation. |
4. Do you think that the work you are doing is of better or worse quality (or about the same) than that you would be doing in an equivalent class? Explain.
| Better Quality | The Same | Worse Quality |
|---|---|---|
| The quality I am producing is equivalent to other classes. | ||
| About the same, a little less because our blog posts aren't academic writing style. | ||
| I think because the main outward/written work is the blog posts, my work there is slightly worse in an academic sense (i.e. doesn't feel as professional as an easy, etc.). | ||
| The work I provide in this class is better in my opinion as I don't feel the traditional pressures and judgement of academia. However, I feel like some of the work I produced here is my best. | ||
| I think it's about the same level of quality. In some cases it might be a little less as I might have a heavier work load that week and take a tad less care in writing my response. | ||
| I think it is the same because I am always doing my best work. | ||
| I think the work is maybe of a little better quality. Because the blog posts allow for more creative flexibility and personal opinions, I feel that I can write more interesting, less structured work. | ||
| I would say better because there's less constraint, and I can be more creative with my engagement which deepens my understanding. Chatting about the books and doing open reflection is the best way to engage myself. | ||
| Although I put the load is less, I still put the same amount of effort. Again, as normal, some weeks are off but some I do better in. | ||
| I think the work is about the same quality, because I treat every class equal. | ||
| I think it is slightly better. In other classes you are often only required to deeply engage with a few texts you will write an essay about, and not bother about the rest. This class makes me critically engage with all the material. | ||
| I would say it is about the same as I try to put my best effort into all of the work I do. | ||
| It depends on the class, but more or less the same. | ||
| I think my work completed within the course is around the same quality as it would be in another course. | ||
| Better as I haven't take my Arts classes that seriously in the past. | ||
| About the same. | ||
| I think it is of the same quality, because I try in all my classes, but it forces different thinking which I try to express in my work. | ||
| I think I am doing better quality since I read the books carefully and writing blogs to express myself is also an interesting thing. | ||
| I think the work I'm doing is better than other courses because I'm expressing my own opinion. | ||
| I think that the quality isn't the same as we aren't graded for our blog post content. | ||
| Better quality. About time: I spend most time on this course work than on any other class. About quality: I cannot equate quality to quantity. | ||
| I honestly think my quality of work is the same. I still have to put my best work forward because I know my prof and TA will be reading my work. | ||
| I think it's around the same, but I would probably receive a lower grade in another class. | ||
| Maybe a bit less, since the blogs aren't graded I feel less pressure to submit something perfect. I enjoy this course more because I feel I am able to express myself more. | ||
| About the same. | ||
| I believe this is a subjective and a grey area, as basically all my other classes don't require any writing (just maths or Economics), so I believe each class's work is probably of the same or similar quality, just different modes of work or methods of testing. | ||
| Same as my effort towards my work, in eery class doesn't change. | ||
| I think it's about the same. Giving equal amount of energy for me equals to the similar quality. | ||
| I feel as if it is hit or miss, depending on how much I understand the book I'm reading for the week. Those I am passionate about and I understand, I find myself excelling more in. | ||
| I think my effort did decrease as I kept doing this routing. I burnt out. In comparison to my other classes. | ||
| I think the quality of the work in class could be better in a sense of being more in depth and proof-reading it. | ||
| Better quality! | ||
| Worse, because I might not aim for the quality as much due to not much of grading on quality. | ||
| I think the work I'm doing in this class is of equivalent quality due to the cancelling out of less pressure, but more interesting content. | ||
| I think it's the same because I honestly enjoy this class a lot and I'm motivated by my enjoyment to put in effort that I would for an other class. | ||
| I don't have any writing courses right now, but for my other courses, I do spend more time studying for them. | ||
| The same because I like to think I approach every class with the same mentality of doing well. | ||
| Honestly better because there is less stress. And Jon makes every lecture and class fun. | ||
| I think my work is about the same quality in other equivalent cases, as I do spend around the same time doing the blogs as I would other assignments in other classes. | ||
| However, I do think the work I'm doing is slightly worse quality since I technically only have to care about word count and interacting with classmates, instead of reading the text carefully. | ||
| Honestly I think better quality mainly because engaging with it more freely allows me to explore more different avenues of thought and expression, knowing that it's allowed. | ||
| Maybe of worse quality because we don't have to write in an academic manner, but it is authentic. | ||
| Possibly equivalent or worse, since it was said the quality didn't matter as much. | ||
| About the same. Feels a bit worse only because there's no rubric to follow, so I don't know if I'm "meeting requirements." | ||
| I think it's worse quality. This contradicts what I wrote above. But I feel (in a sense) comfortable to engage with this class and interact i a more casual way. I like how I can freely speak my mind whether I like the text or not. The work I am doing probably won't fare well in a normal class. | ||
| I think I am doing better work in this class because this class is interesting. | ||
| At better quality than an equivalent class. Other classes are evaluated solely based on quality, but at the same time they don't take into account of my effort, unlike this class. | ||
| I think the quality of my work in this class is actually better quality than what I did in RMST 201. I think I do have more freedom in this class for what I want to write. | ||
| I think it is the same quality as my other classes, although other classes may be more analytical. | ||
| Same quality or even more. But some weeks may be weaker than others. | ||
| Same? Maybe slight worse, but I'm doing it more consistently. | ||
| I think it varies depending on the reading and what other work I have that week. | ||
| I think that I am doing better quality as, again, the freedom and less pressure of getting a grade. Freedom as well makes me write what I want and I think that gives out the best quality in a work. | ||
| It is different work that I'm doing. Other classs (Economics, Maths) require more memorization, logical thinking. I can't really compare the two but I feel that it takes more or maybe the same time. | ||
| Same | ||
| I think about the same. It is a mix of academic and leisure-type of writing. So def, we can be more creative while living up to UBC expectations and our contracts. | ||
| Compared to my other lit requirement class, I'd say it's around the same. | ||
| I feel like the work I'm producing is funnier / more enjoyable than in other classes, and as a result I write more. I cannot really comment if this work is better or worse as I write so different. | ||
| To some extent, I feel like it is the same, but at the same time I also feel like it's of worse quality than I would be doing in an equivalent class, because it's like as soon as I get over with one blog I have to begin reading for the next one. There are no breaks, but at the same time it was my choice! | ||
| I think it is about the same, but also hard to tell because there's only one kind of work (blog posts). Other courses have me doing a variety of work (presentations, etc.), so I'm better at some things over others. | ||
| I mean, I have never had a course like this so I wouldn't know. Like, my blog posts I think are good quality, but in other other classes do I need to write blog posts. So, not really? | ||
| It is definitely better. Again, I can put my heart into it rather than being stressed about it 24/7. I can also enjoy the readings more. | ||
| I think the same quality since I put extra efforts in all my classes. | ||
| I think better as in this course we can express our own opinions about the course material, whereas in other courses, we are required to do set assignemtns. Though every course is built differently, so I think it is about the same. | ||
| I think it's about the same; I try to do my best in all my classes. | ||
| Equivalent. I think that the flexibility of the course makes me more inclined to do my best work. | ||
| Sometimes the work quality slips a little bit when I have a work-heavy week on top of this class, because I'm rushing to finish. | ||
| About the same. | ||
| Better quality because I put effot into the posts, I feel connected to the books,or I just have different opinions so I want to do my best to describe them. | ||
| Better in terms of I am more willing to put myself in the writing. | ||
| I think of better quality as it is more personal, and that allows me to be more serious and intentional. | ||
| I would say the same quality. I read more, but that isn't really quality writing. I try to do my best. | ||
| I think I'm doing better quality work as I'm constantly reading and writing week to week, whereas often in other classes I cram at the last moment, which doesn't allow for continuous improvement and longer-term retention. | ||
| I put the same amount of quality in all my school work, to get the full potential info I can. Profs put lots of work into a lesson plan, I feel it's the least I can do in return. | ||
| I feel the quality of work is better or the same as other classes, as each blog post tends to make me think outside the box. | ||
| The same, I put in equal efforts. | ||
| Better quality. In other classes, I just memorize and prepare for exams, which i feel I gain less from. In this class, I am encouraged to think, discuss, and analyze. | ||
| It's probably about the same quality, as in other classes I run out of time, hand in lower quality work, but in turn get a worse grade. | ||
| Better, because flexibility, it allows me to express more what I think about a book. (Since it might be different for someone who views the book differently.) | ||
| It's about the same I would say. I like to put in effort for all my classes, and want to write a good blog post. | ||
| I think it is of similar quality to the work I am doing in an equivalent class as, despite work not being graded for quality in this class, I wouldn't feel comfortable submitting/writing poor quality blogs or not watching the lectures. | ||
| Better quality because it's more original and unique. | ||
| I think that the quality of the work is worse than in an equivalent class because I'm just focused on getting it done. | ||
| Regarding the different topics and courses I am taking, yes it's the same. For my other courses, I need to do a lot of memorization and understanding concepts. For this class, I have to read A LOT of books and write blogs and read others and comment on them as well as watch videos. | ||
| Better, I believe, since I pride myself in writing a unique blog. | ||
| I think the quality of my work is not as good as that done in an equivalent course. Most of the time I do try to put in as much effort possible for the blogs posts. However, during times when being busy with other courses' homework and tests, I would only make sure that blog posts are finished and not put in as much effort. | ||
| Work I'm doing is better quality since I do not have the pressure of being graded heavily for assignments, allowing me to write anything I want with more freedom. | ||
| Better-ish quality just because I'm actually interested in the content compared to my other classes, so it actually im[roves the quality of my work. | ||
| Maybe it's a bit the same. Depending on the student, the thought that goes into the blog posts. So, based on that the same amount of critical thinking skills can be applied. | ||
| Perhaps slightly worse for the blog posts, or just more casual. BUT I think my reading/thinking is much higher quality. | ||
| I think quality is a bit depending on the book, because me personally if I don't like the book, my blog post isn't as good, but if I like it, it tends to be better quality. |
5. Any further comments about workload, grade fairness, motivation, and work quality?
| I think the workload is expected for the grade. Maybe blog post quality/motivation could be improved personally, but I also like having freedom and not worrying about academic/professionalism, being able to express thought and say "I don't know" or voice questions as well. Hope this makes sense. |
| I enjoy the way the course is structured. It allows for freedom of expression and allows us to develop and present our thoughts on the novels deeply and personally. |
| I really enjoyed the format of this class as I feel the liberty in this class has brought back some of the creativity and freedom to write about what I felt was important. |
| I actually really appreciate the freedom that comes with the contract grade and the comfortable space to share whatever thoughts we have during discussions! |
| I think maybe we can get more time to read the books during midterm week because it's bit hard for me to read the book quickly, and during midterm the workload is harder than usual, so it would be better to have more time. |
| I love the contract format, thank you!! |
| Love this course!! |
| I've had some ridiculous emails regarding comments as if I'm not participating when I've spoke many times during lectures and I always have positive comments when it comes to my blog, and I was ridiculed for being 1 (!) minute late on a non-mandatory midterm. [Jon's response: nobody in this course has been ridiculed, for this or any other reason.] |
| I wish there weren't required texts and all the books had two options, so there was more choices, because I have been struggling recently to find things to say about the recent books. |
| Can we have more time to read books, since we read it slowly? |
| I do sometimes feel like it's a bit strange when students receive critical comments from prof and TAs concerning the content of the blog as it is explicitly stated that we are not graded on content. |
| Please include more books that might spark interest in students. Usually the books are heavily based on history and, without context, they feel endless. Otherwise: this is one of my favourite literature courses. |
| I honestly love contract grading. It has made my semester. |
| No, but I really enjoy this class. 🙂 |
| Nope, nothing. I've really enjoyed the class. 🙂 |
| Keep the blog post awards, I think they are very motivating. I also like the more interactive in-class activities (like building case files for The Trenchcoat), because I feel as if I can discuss more on the novel. |
| Maybe just giving students a break during a reading break, without having to come back with having a blog ASAP out. |
| I believe workload is fair, the grade = work we put in (if seriously read). the work quality needs more effort (we as a group). |
| I hadn't taken a contract-graded class before and I enjoyed this one. I especially enjoyed knowing exactly what was required of me to get each grade. |
| I think this is a good system because it is flexible. The flexibility helps with motivation so when nothing is decided for you, it makes you want to engage with course content meaningfully. |
| I will say that I actually retained more information from these books than I would have if I was expected to write an "A+" quality blog post because I actually had time to enjoy the novels. |
| Nope! I really do enjoy this class, I look forward to being here every week. 🙂 |
| Nope, I like this course. |
| I think the book lengths are the perfect amount: any longer and it would be too much. |
| Personally, I think that the guidelines of this class are already perfect in a lot of ways, and altering some things might require a trade off like sacrificing freedom of choice for quality control etc. So I find this class already the ideal mix. |
| I like the overall structure. No comments or complaints. |
| I am very satisfied with this course and I hope UBC offers more courses like this when it comes to grading and assignments. 🙂 |
| I absolutely like the contract grading system, and I wish more classes would adopt the same system as well. |
| I usually have pretty poor motivation for reading the novels just because I'm not really into reading fiction right now. |
| I think this is a great workload and good course in literature. I think it is very fair. |
| I think this course is fair for the effort put in. I think it is hard to something is worth less. |
| No. Good class. Please keep it around. 🙂 |
| I have lots of anxiety as there is not as much leniency in messing up or being unable to get something done one week. |
| The workload is a lot but is fair for the grade I expect o receive. Having a contract makes me motivated to complete my readings weekly and attend class, whereas I usually skip my other classes. |
| Love this class! Good job, prof and TAs. <3 |
| The fact that the blog posts are public and everyone in the class can see them makes me want to put in a decent effort each week, so that I don't embarrass myself. |
| I think introducing the awards was a great idea for the blogs. I find this class doesn't reward effort that goes above and beyond the contract. I do not know how, but having some way to benefit the quality of blogs would be great. |
| The books are very long. Some are fine, but over 200-250 pages is too much per week. It doesn't let you enjoy the book. More modern texts!! A lot of the texts have a few outdated perspectives with things like feminism, sex, etc. [Jon's response: we go in chronological order; the most recent texts are still to come!] |
| There has to be some evaluation of quality. Like, in what grade between a 90-100% I get. Because I think it's unfair everyone who contracted for an A+ just gets a 90%. Like some people put in their heard and soul into the blog posts, and others do the bare minimum! |
| I think it is great! It is a stress-free, memorable, and an interesting course. |
| Love the class. |
| We have the freedom to choose our own paths in this course. |
| I think that Professor Beasley-Murray's passion for literature and teaching motivates me to do better. |
| In-person lecture I always look forward to and motivates me to read and do good-quality work. 🙂 |
| I think it might be useful to do the blog posts after discussion, because we can then include what we learned in our discussion in blogs. |
| I would say the workload for an A+ is a bit much, but I guess it's fair. I would suggest making sure or try to make the books similar length. Also the awards... I KNOW they're not a competition, but it is... I want to be good and when I'm not, I feel bad. |
| The easy-going nature is very attractive. I honestly was a little shocked in the beginning with everything, but adjusted quick. |
| I believe the workload and grade is balanced, but perhaps there should be more freedom in book choice. |
| The workload is a perfect amount as you "choose your path." |
| I really do appreciate the contract grading system. It provides structure and eases grade anxiety (whcih I have really been struggling with). It also aligns to the aim of the class to expand our reading horizon without stress of grading. |
| I am very grateful for the grades! |
| With the mandatory blog posts every week, I am engaging more with readings than I would in any other class. Even though it's a lot of reading, without pressure from grades this class is much more enjoyable than others. |
| Workload was manageable as told at the beginning of the course. It motivates me a lot to fulfill my goad. The grade is fair since we must achieve our own goal, and each person has different ability. |
| I really like the layout of this class and the content. It's a really refreshing way to do a class. It's probably one of my favourite classes! I feel like I'm learning more because of how interact ive it is and because of pressures of memorization and testing is removed. |
| I think that the workload is pretty fair. |
| All good. |
| I like the contract because it motivates me to get the work done, but the quality of my work isn't great. |
| The course helps me express my opinions more which I really like. In class, the instructor mentioned that those people who don't like reading should pick the "B" option instead of "A" or "A+." However, I feel that most students here are overachievers and take advantage of this opportunity. At least, that is how I feel like. |
| It's a lot of reading... the most I've done in such a short period of time. |
| I like the idea of a flipped classroom a lot. I feel like a lot of classes could use this type of style, rather than the typical reading off of slides. I also like the flexibility of choosing which day to come. |
| I really enjoy this course. I was dreading the literature requirement, but this course makes it enjoyable and a breather. |
| The reading workload is heavy, but is made up for by the lack of papers and the grade incentive. In my mind the grading is quite fair: we both are aware of and sign the contract. |
| I think the class is very good and is fair: you choose how hard you want to try, and therefore the grade. |
