Category Reflections & Provocations

Reflections & Provocations:
Short reflective pieces
Connections between culture and teaching
Personal narratives as entry points into pedagogy

Categories Academic Identity & Professional Learning Assessment & Feedback Innovation & Future of Higher Education

Why Are We Locking Students Into Early Judgments? Rethinking Point-in-Time Assessment

In my previous post, I explored the distinction between assessment and assessing. Assessment is usually the fixed product, a grade, a test, an assignment. While assessing is the ongoing process of feedback, dialogue, and growth. I also raised the possibility that we might need different language altogether, such as narrative evaluation, to better describe this developmental process. But this distinction leads to a…

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Categories Assessment & Feedback Reflections & Provocations Student Learning & Engagement

Assessing vs Assessment – Are They Really the Same?

In higher education, the terms assessing and assessment are often used as if they mean the same thing. At first glance, both relate to the act of “judging” student learning. However, a closer look reveals an important difference, one that influences how students experience learning and how educators design their teaching. Assessment: The ProductWhen we…

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Categories Assessment & Feedback Reflections & Provocations Student Learning & Engagement

The False Precision of Grades: What Are We Really Measuring?

  • By echoes
  • September 17, 2025

For centuries, grading has been the dominant language of education. From Yale’s early descriptors in the 1700s to the familiar A–F scale, grades were never created to capture learning but to sort students. Despite their longevity, grades remain a blunt instrument, reducing the complexity of the student experience into a single symbol. The critical question…

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Categories Academic Identity & Professional Learning Reflections & Provocations Student Learning & Engagement

From Hilltop Hoods to Higher Ed: Why Silence Matters in Teaching

Recently, I was listening to Hilltop Hoods’ new album Fall From Light. On the track Rage Against The Fatigue, there’s a deliberate three-second silence between the words “cliff” and “hangers.” The first time I heard it, I thought something was wrong. But it was intentional — and it made me think about silence in teaching.…

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