Does "Ungrading" support Sensemaking? A preliminary comparison of Scored vs Unscored physics courses

We have developed a method to identify and code for evidence of students' Sensemaking in written work. Using this framework, we are analyzing data from active learning introductory undergraduate physics courses (Newtonian Mechanics, calculus-based) taught across two consecutive terms with a key difference: In the first term, no scores or grades were provided for any assessments— we refer to this as "Unscoring" (a practice sometimes called "Ungrading" in recent literature, though with additional nuance). In the second term, numerical scores were assigned, and students could receive partial or full credit for earnest engagement with confusion, even if their answers were not canonically correct— we refer to this as "Scoring." In both courses, feedback was carefully provided to address the substance of students' work, encourage reflection on physical coherence, and support Sensemaking. In this contribution, we present our methodology and preliminary findings from our analysis, comparing the evidence of students' sensemaking in each grading context.