A guided ungrading example for independent research projects in an upper-division ecosystem ecology STEM course

Ungrading is a pedagogical approach that, in some iterations, emphasizes formative feedback and student self-assessment over traditional point-based grading. While increasingly popular in the humanities and social sciences, ungrading remains uncommon in STEM courses, particularly those that are content-intensive. This article presents a structured example of ungrading implemented in an upper-division ecosystem ecology course through a 7-week independent research project. Students used public or previously collected ecological data to investigate a scientific question, culminating in a short-format, manuscript-style research paper and a 10 min oral presentation. The project was scaffolded with multiple checkpoints, including structured reflections, peer review, and instructor feedback. Students were invited to define personal growth goals, determine how they wished to be evaluated, and reflect on their progress throughout the project. While the rest of the course retained traditionally graded assessments, this ungraded project accounted for 40% of the final grade. Students reported high levels of engagement and ownership, with ~86% of students opting to receive both an instructor grade and self-grade, and a further ~9% of students opting to entirely self-grade, with only ~5% of students preferring a traditional grading schema. The model was particularly effective in a small, seminar-style course with students specializing in environmental science and may require adaptation for larger courses, lower-division settings, or to accommodate generative artificial intelligence usage guidelines. This case study offers a replicable framework for integrating ungrading into STEM curricula and highlights the importance of in-class support and iterative feedback when using an ungrading approach. By emphasizing student agency and identity "as a scientist," this approach aligns with the goals of authentic research experiences and provides a flexible alternative to traditional grading in content-heavy STEM courses that could include independent projects.