Episodes
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165 – Go on Offense: Make It About Learning, An Interview with John Warner
When students can outsource much of their schoolwork to generative AI, is the answer to make assignments harder to cheat on? Or is it to make learning more worth doing? In this episode, Sharona and Boz are joined by writer, educator, and Inside Higher Ed columnist John Warner, author of More Than Words: How to…
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163 – Can Alternative Grading Work with 300 Students? An Interview with Jordan Kostiuk
What does alternative grading look like when your class has 300 students—and what happens when generative AI forces you to rethink a system that had been working? In this episode, Sharona and Boz are joined by Jordan Kostiuk, Associate Teaching Professor of Mathematics at Brown University, to talk about his use of team-based inquiry learning…
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162 – What if First-Semester Grades Didn’t Count?
What happens when a university responds to concerns about grades not by limiting A’s, but by making first-semester grades largely disappear? In this episode, Sharona and Boz examine the University of Michigan College of Literature, Science, and the Arts’ new First Semester Grade Covering Pilot Program, which will replace visible letter grades for first-semester students…
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161 – MathFest 2026 Rountable: Challenges, Questions, and New Directions
Recorded live at MathFest 2026 in Boston, this special episode brings together mathematics faculty from institutions across the country for a wide-ranging conversation about alternative grading. With the practice becoming increasingly visible in mathematics education, Sharona invites the group to reflect on what they are hearing, questioning, and thinking about as they move through the…
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160 – Schoolishness, AI and the Future of Education: A conversation with Dr. Susan D. Blum.
What if the biggest challenge facing education isn’t grading—but our assumptions about school itself? In this episode, Sharona and Boz welcome anthropologist and author Susan Blum for a wide-ranging conversation about how her research into plagiarism led her to question the fundamental purpose of grades, assessment, and formal education. Drawing on her books Ungrading and…
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159 – The Birth of Specs Grading: A Conversation with Linda Nilson
Few people have had a greater influence on the alternative grading movement than Linda Nilson. In this episode, Sharona and Boz welcome the author of Specifications Grading and Specifications Grading 2.0 to reflect on the origins of one of the most widely adopted approaches to grading reform. Linda shares the experiences that led her to…
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158 – Reflection is the Real Revision: Six Years of Standards-Based Grading
Alternative grading systems are never really finished. They evolve as instructors learn more about their students, their courses, and their own teaching. In this reflective episode, Sharona and Boz use a recent six-year retrospective by mathematics instructor Hilary Freeman as a springboard for exploring what long-term iteration looks like in practice. Rather than focusing on…
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157 – The Next Chapter of Specifications Grading with Joe Packowski
Specifications grading has become one of the most influential approaches in the alternative grading movement, but how has the model evolved since Linda Nilson first introduced it more than a decade ago? In this episode, Sharona and Boz sit down with Joe Packowski to discuss the newly released second edition of Specifications Grading and the…
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156 – Reflections from the 2026 Grading Conference with Katie Mattaini and Drew Lewis
The 2026 Grading Conference brought together hundreds of educators from across disciplines to share research, classroom innovations, and practical strategies for rethinking assessment. In this episode, Sharona and Boz are joined by conference organizers Katie Mattaini and Drew Lewis to reflect on the conversations, presentations, and emerging themes that stood out most this year. Rather…
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155 – Retakes at Scale: A Key Pillar of Alt Grading Meets Computer Based Testing Facilities with Craig Zilles
One of the biggest objections to alternative grading is also one of the most practical: How can this possibly work in large classes? In this episode, Sharona and Boz welcome computer science professor Craig Zilles to explore what happens when technology is designed not just to make grading easier, but to make better assessment practices…