New Publication: Ungrading Game Making

I’m excited that the JCMS Teaching Media Dossier has now released both parts of a double issue on ungrading, edited by Lisa Wells Jacobson and Jennifer Blaylock (Part 1 and Part 2). The second issue includes my essay, “Ungrading Game Making: Incentivizing Creativity and Risk-Taking for Inexperienced Makers.” The issues include short and snappy essays on the theory and practice of ungrading, and I appreciate how each piece deals with both the benefits and drawbacks of this pedagogical approach.

In her essay, Misty D. Fuller writes:

“I have learned that students do not stay the same and our expectations of the experiences and knowledge they come to our classes with should not either. To account for these changes and be effective teachers, we must consistently be in the process of trying something new, always experimenting.”

My experience of ungrading game making this year was different than the experience detailed here. And it’ll be different next time too. That is one of the things I most appreciate about ungrading – it keeps me on my toes and demands continual reflexivity + grappling with my successes and failures.

If you read the piece and have thoughts, please let me know!