Exploring Undergraduate Students’ Experiences with Standards-Based Grading

In rethinking undergraduate assessment, Standards-Based Grading (SBG) offers a promising shift from traditional point-based grading by focusing on students’ mastery of specific learning targets. SBG aims to foster motivation, reduce stress, and encourage self-regulated learning. In this presentation, I will share findings from our study on SBG’s impact in courses with small (<25 students) to large (~500 students) enrollments, across multiple Penn State campuses and STEM disciplines. Through surveys, interviews, and focus groups, we examined students' experiences, highlighting benefits like increased control over learning, challenges like procrastination, and the need for structured support to help students navigate self-paced assessments.