2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

To shift student focus from performance to mastery and improve metacognitive skills, assigned and graded homework was replaced with assigned homework that was not collected or graded. Instead, the course homework grade was derived from the completion of a weekly survey that asked students to reflect on their homework effort and study habits. This study took place in a required, third-year fluid mechanics course for mechanical and civil engineering students at a small liberal arts university.

The impact of the intervention was assessed quantitatively via a concept inventory and in-course exams. To assess conceptual knowledge, students completed the fluid mechanics section of the Thermal and Transport Concept Inventory (TTCI) as both a pre- and a post-test. The data showed that both groups (N_traditional = 17, N_ungraded = 19) began with equivalent conceptual knowledge. However, the ungraded group achieved significantly higher Post-test TTCI scores compared to the traditional group (p = .021, d = 0.805).

Considering the exam scores of students taught with the respective methods over the study’s duration, the ungraded group (N_ungraded = 38) scored significantly higher on the first midterm exam (p = .016) than the traditionally graded group (N_traditional = 58), suggesting an acceleration of initial content mastery. Scores on subsequent midterm exams and the final were not significantly different between the groups.

In addition to the quantitative results, selected comments from the in-class surveys and the instructor’s anonymous mid-semester evaluation are discussed. Feedback reflected a two-way experience, noting the value of flexibility but also the struggle for motivation in the absence of grades. These findings suggest that an ungrading approach that includes a metacognitive survey is a viable pedagogical tool in core engineering courses, fostering self-regulated learning without compromising student performance on traditional technical assessments.