Despite widespread historical criticism, grades are still awarded in most universities. Is it time to move beyond grades - and if so, how?

In this seminar, Dr Juuso Nieminen will critically discuss why higher education systems continue to use grades despite plenty of evidence on how they don’t work, and whether we should now move on.

Grades have been criticised for as long as they have existed. For at least a century, scholars have claimed that grades are inaccurate and unreliable; that they provide overly simplistic reductions of what students can do; and that they orient students towards cramming and competition rather than learning. Despite such widespread historical criticism, grading practices remain stubbornly stagnant. Grades are awarded in most universities, and gradeless courses and programs remain at the margins. Recent years have seen extensive attention to assessment redesign, but grading policies have not undergone systemic change. Why do universities – harbingers of knowledge, truth and critical thinking – keep using grades?

In this presentation, it is argued that perhaps it is time to move beyond grades. Yet critiquing grades and proposing better solutions (such as removing grades) will not be very helpful here; if it were, the critique would have already prompted sustainable change. It is argued that critiques of how grades 'don't work' have run out of steam. Critique has lost its power to bring about positive change and to produce meaningful analyses of grades. What is proposed instead is a post-critical approach to research and practice on grades. Post-critical views suggest that rather than debunking – criticising or moving away from something – we should focus our concern towards something. This way, we can move our attention from ‘what doesn’t work’ to understanding and shaping the work that grades do in education. The presentation asks us to move beyond grades by reassembling the work they have traditionally done in higher education.

Join us in person at Deakin Downtown or online to hear more about why it might be time to move beyond grades.

About our seminars

The main seminar session runs for one hour (2.00-3.00 pm AEST) and includes the seminar presentation as well as time for audience questions. If you only have an hour to spare, don't worry - you'll get the full experience in this main session!

At the conclusion of the main session, the discussion continues in an extended Q&A session (approx. 3.00-3.30 pm AEST). All audience members