bq. After returning to teaching after several years as an administrator, I found grading to be the most outmoded, inconsequential, and irrelevant feature of teaching. Thus for ISIS 120, S 2010, all students will receive the grade of A if they do all the work and their peers certify that they have done so in a satisfactory fashion. If you choose not to do some of the assignments and receive a lower grade, thats permissible. You will be given a chart at the beginning of the course with every assignment adding up to 100 points. A conventional system will be assigned (95-100 points = A-, etc). We total the scores at the end and you get the points youve achieved. If, on any one assignment, peers rank the work unsatisfactory, you will either not be assigned any points for that assignment or you can submit a revised assignment in response to the class critique. Revision and resubmission results in full points. In other words, everyone who chooses to do the work to the satisfaction of his or her collaborative peers in the course will receive an A, but no one is required to do all of the work or to earn an A.
bq. In lieu of a final exam, students will write an evaluation of the class (in addition to the university-required student evaluations). This will emphasize what you learned in the class, what you feel you accomplished (with “accomplished” self-defined). I will offer feedback on your self-assessment, amounting to an “evaluation” of your contribution to the experiences of, in Toffler’s phrase “learning, unlearning, and relearning” that are central to “Your Brain on the Internet.”
From the syllabus of class taught by Cathy Davidson, a Professor of English at Duke. Here is more on her blog.