Just One More Thing?

Abstract This study addresses the paucity of literature on the impact of ungrading — contract grading, specifically — on international students at American colleges. Over the course of four semesters, 307 international and domestic students were surveyed (anonymously) about their perceptions of grading contracts in their writing (and writing-heavy) classes. Specifically, the survey was designed to find out if grading contracts serve as “just another thing” to navigate as international students transition into the Western educational setting and, furthermore, to find out if grading contracts inadvertently do more harm than good. Ultimately, international students perceive more overall benefits than drawbacks of ungrading. However, the data show that international students do find contract grading confusing — especially at first. This article analyzes the sources of confusion along with mitigating topics named by the survey participants, such as fairness, student agency, and stress reduction. The data also show that ungrading practices can serve as a transitional tool to ease international students into American education; a portion of students identify the grading contract as a means of facilitating the transition into American education, rather than as a barrier to it.