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EPISODE 629

The Story of Grades with Luke Green

with Luke Green

| July 2, 2026 | XFacebookLinkedInEmail

https://media.blubrry.com/teaching_in_higher_ed_faculty/content.blubrry.com/teaching_in_higher_ed_faculty/TIHE629.mp3

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Luke Green uses the Santa Claus story to rethink what grades measure and the case for ungrading on episode 629 of the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast.

Quotes from the episode


What are grades, and what purpose do we want them to serve?

Each student at some point throughout their academic career is going to receive a grade, receive some sort of an assessment that is going to fundamentally alter how they feel about the classroom.
-Luke Green

The narrative that we sell to our kids is that these gifts are earned. The metric is, those who are good children or better children, you receive more.
-Luke Green

What are grades, and what purpose do we want them to serve?
-Luke Green

Usually, it's a proxy of understanding a student's overall experience. And GPA is even worse, because you're putting all of your course grades into a meat grinder and spitting out one number.
-Luke Green

Resources

  • Luke Green, St. Cloud Technical & Community College
  • Luke Green Recognized at MinnState Board Awards
  • Grading for Growth, by David Clark and Robert Talbert
  • Unmaking the Grade, by Emily Pitts Donahoe
  • Learning About Grades from an Emerging Failure, with Emily Pitts Donahoe and Hannah Stachowiak
  • Campbell's Law
  • Hood Politics with Prop
  • There Really Is a Santa Claus, by Glenn P. Crone

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ON THIS EPISODE

Luke Green

Assessment Coordinator | Communication Instructor

Luke Green, Ed.D., serves as the Assessment Coordinator and as a Communication Studies instructor at St. Cloud Technical & Community College in St. Cloud, Minnesota. His passions include confronting assessment myths and promoting affordable course materials to improve student outcomes. These endeavors led to him being named Minnesota State Colleges and Universities Outstanding Educator in 2024. His interest in improving the educational experience is motivated by a negative experience with his sixth-grade math teacher, a paralyzing injury he suffered during his senior year of high school that altered his engagement with college, and the constant awareness of how the grades he assigns affect his students’ futures.

Bonni Stachowiak

Bonni Stachowiak is dean of teaching and learning and professor of business and management at Vanguard University. She hosts Teaching in Higher Ed, a weekly podcast on the art and science of teaching with over five million downloads. Bonni holds a doctorate in Organizational Leadership and speaks widely on teaching, curiosity, digital pedagogy, and leadership. She often joins her husband, Dave, on his Coaching for Leaders podcast.

RECOMMENDATIONS

There Really Is a Santa Claus, by Glenn P. Crone

There Really Is a Santa Claus, by Glenn P. Crone

RECOMMENDED BY:Bonni Stachowiak
Hood Politics with Prop

Hood Politics with Prop

RECOMMENDED BY:Luke Green
Woman sits at a desk, holding a sign that reads: "Show up for the work."

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Related Episodes

  • EPISODE 401The Problem with Grades

    with Josh Eyler

  • EPISODE 533Even More Problems with Grades

    with Josh Eyler

  • EPISODE 423A Classroom Observation Story
    1
  • EPISODE 534Cultivating Hope and Action Beyond Grades

    with Josh Eyler

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