2 Methods

This project began in the Spring of 2021 when I, the researcher, conducted 7 interviews with faculty members and students for a final project in an effort to find out if the Middlebury population felt as strongly about grading as I did. Once I had established that this was a much bigger topic than I had even realized, I decided to turn this into an independent study for the Fall of 2021.

Over the course of the fall 2021 semester, I developed an IRB-approved research project that included interviews and surveys that asked a multitude of questions about learning, grading, and wellbeing. The surveys were disseminated via email to Middlebury College students and faculty. The research study was voluntary and all responses are confidential.

The student survey consisted of 23 questions which were a variety of Likert scales, multiple choice, and open ended questions. Overall, we collected 57 responses.

Similar to the student survey, the faculty survey had 21 questions including Likert scales, multiple choice, and open ended questions. We collected 29 responses from faculty.

Additionally, this project uses data from voluntary semi-structured interviews and those individuals’ identities will remain confidential.

Data was scrubbed of any identifying information prior to analysis. Quantitative data was analyzed using Qualtrics and Excel software. Qualitative data used in-vivo coding in which the themes of academic performance and behaviors, experiences with grading models, and general wellbeing were identified through specific discursive markers in the interviews and responses to open-ended survey questions.