Ungrading A Modern Physics Course

In this talk we will discuss efforts to ungrade a modern physics course in an effort to improve intrinsic motivation and learning outcomes. The course was composed primarily of physics majors and structured around three one-on-one conferences with students spread across the semester. During these conferences students reported their motivation for succeeding in the course, their learning goals, proposed activities to support these goals, and developed an assessment plan to determine their grade in the course. Throughout the course, the instructor provided formative and summative feedback as well as a variety of active learning activities. In place of a final exam, students showcase their work during a poster session. We will discuss grade distributions, student course evaluations, and results from the Quantum Mechanical Concept Inventory.