WIP: An Alternative Grading Scheme in a Graduate Disciplinary Engineering Course

This work-in-progress innovative practice paper describes the implementation and initial evaluation of a graduate course that has been redesigned to integrate principles of mastery and specifications grading. The target course was a graduate Advanced Thermodynamics of Solids course, a required course for students in the Materials Science and Engineering graduate program. Previously, the course used a traditional grading scheme, where students' grades were assigned based on weighted performance on homework, exams, and other projects. In 2022, the instructor redesigned the course to base students' grades on their achievement of minimum grading thresholds for each assessment category. Using virtual tokens, students could repeat assignments (including homework and midterm exam problems). Interviews with five students were conducted and initial feedback was that the unweighted grading scheme did not motivate them, although several students appreciated the ability to retake exam questions. This paper also discusses instructor reflections and insight into future work.