Emily Pitts Donahoe

What Grad Students Need: Institutional Literacy (opinion) We’re preparing Ph.Ds. who lack basic knowledge about how universities work.

I've been saying this for YEARS www.insidehighered.com/opinion/care...

Hey you - yeah you! See below and then go write an abstract to join us in June. It's all online, and full of great ideas and inspiration.

Being human at work isn’t unprofessional How an email from my dean and a forced office move inspired a days-long crying jag and the discovery that I’m autistic.

I'm so ... relieved? excited? nervous? (yes^3) ... to share this piece with the world. I've been wanting to do so for years, but I needed (a lot of) time to find some peace around these events first. #ActuallyAutistic #HigherEd engagedlearningcollective.substack.com/p/being-huma...

www.centerforgradingreform.org/grading-conf...

Graphic that reads "The 2026 Grading Conference is June 16-18. Posters, talks, workshops, and panel discussions all welcome! Abstracts are due February 13th. Scan the QR code for more information."

Friends, if you're doing cool things around alternative grading in your classroom, your research, your teaching center, or your institution, we want to hear from you at The Grading Conference! It's held virtually June 16-18, and abstracts are due tomorrow. Link in the comments.

If you are working on course design this week, and you teach a lot of students, let me recommend this guest post on my blog from three fantastic instructors who are pursuing innovative grading methods in their large lectures. It's a lot of work, but alternative grading can be done in big classes!

The reason so many of yesterday’s free-speech champions transitioned so easily into today’s pro-Trump censors is that their definition of free speech never included the right of others to talk back. They were not defending a universal right to freedom of speech; they were defending a right to monologue. They could say what they want, and you could shut up and like it. The cynicism of the effort can be known by its fruits: an administration that issues executive orders “protecting” free speech while engaging in the most sweeping campaign of state censorship since the Red Scare.

The “free speech” and “cancel culture” panics have led to overt state censorship because that was always their purpose. (Gift link) www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...

It's me! I wrote about how I use IBL, collaborative grading, and much more all together in my favorite course: Euclidean Geometry.

Air Your 2025 Grievances Plus more on AI, and alternative grading in large courses

The semester is finally over, so now it’s time for my annual celebration of Festivus. Liz Norell and I are getting together to air our grievances on a podcast, and we’d like to discuss yours as well! More details on how to share your grievance here: emilypittsdonahoe.substack.com/p/air-your-2...

Alternative Grading in Large Classes How to implement pedagogical values within logistical constraints

Excited to share a guest post on my blog this week by Jayme Dyer, Katie Mattaini, and Eden Tanner about alt grading in large classes. This is something I get asked about all the time, so I'm glad to have an opportunity to share their work on the topic! emilypittsdonahoe.substack.com/p/alternativ...

Episode 40: Emily Pitts Donahoe "It’s not: do you have integrity or do you not. It’s: are there conditions in place that allow people to act with integrity?” “One of the things that alternative grading can do is to help shift studen...

Really enjoyed this conversation with Tricia Bertram Gallant on academic integrity and alternative grading. Give it a listen to hear me tell a story about myself as a high schooler and also lament the lack of support for grad students in higher ed! www.theoppositeofcheating.com/post/episode...

I'm being made to understand that grades don't "mean anything anymore" but I'm hoping someone can point me to the time when they were meaningful.

I'm working on a genealogy of alternative grading practices for the book @empittsdonahoe.bsky.social and I are writing for Princeton UP. We're calling the book *How to Grade: Alternative Models for the College Classroom*. 1/x

They broke the republican supermajority in the Mississippi state senate

respect to the organizers and power to the people

Snafu Edu - University of Oklahoma Press No matter how skilled, thoughtful, and well prepared professors are—or how motivated and engaged their students might be—things sometimes go wrong. In th...

Stiked to be visiting 'Ole Miss to give a talk on #SnafuEdu! @josheyler.bsky.social, @empittsdonahoe.bsky.social & @liznorell.bsky.social are my awesome hosts.

But I already made a mistake: ordered toast instead of grits for breakfast this morning.

www.oupress.com/978080619546...

The Dangers of using AI to Grade Nobody Learns, Nobody Gains

Please do not use AI to grade. If demands on your time are such that you cannot provide students with timely and substantive feedback, that is a labor issue, and you should join your union. open.substack.com/pub/marcwatk...

I'm one of the facilitators for the institute, along with my fab colleagues @derekbruff.bsky.social, @drew-lewis.com, Michael Palmer, Adriana Streifer, and @lindsaymasland.bsky.social. We're looking forward to working with a great group of educators on their alt grading practices!

Only one week left to apply for the Center for Grading Reform's Alternative Grading Institute! This two-day, hands-on, virtual experience offers opportunities to connect grading with your values and design an alt grading system for one of your courses. www.centerforgradingreform.org/alternative-...

Really honored to be included in this list!

Really enjoyed this conversation with colleagues about AI in the classroom! It left me with lots to think about.

Thank you, Bonni, I am so honored that you thought of me for this episode 😭

Thank you, Cyndi, I was so honored that Bonni asked me to participate!

Learning About Grades from an Emerging Failure and Special Guest Emily Donahoe – Teaching in Higher Ed Emily Pitts Donahoe shares what we can learn about grades from an “emerging failure” on episode 588 of the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast

Absolutely thrilled to be on a very special episode of @tihe.bsky.social with @bonni208.bsky.social today for a discussion about Grading for Growth (cc @dccmath.bsky.social and @roberttalbert.bsky.social)! teachinginhighered.com/podcast/lear...

Are you ready to align your grading practices with your values?

Join us December 17–18 for the Alternative Grading Institute (online), which will bring together faculty from across higher education for a two-day, hands-on experience in standards-based, specifications, and collaborative grading.

Donate to Help Support Our Children's Literature Colleague, organized by Angel Matos Recently, our colleague Melissa McCoul was fired from her position as a S… Angel Matos needs your support for Help Support Our Children's Literature Colleague

I overlapped with the instructor, Melissa, as grad students in Notre Dame's English department. One of her former ND colleagues has started a GoFundMe for her: gofund.me/3f5b12078

Neurodivergence and Alternative Grading, Part 3 What We Learned and Where We Might Go Next

Third & final post in my series on Neurodivergence and Alternative Grading w/ @empittsdonahoe.bsky.social

We share some of our thoughts on how to make alt-grading more neurodiversity-informed, based on our research and conversations, plus ideas for future research
open.substack.com/pub/beyondth...

Well, it's been real, I guess!!

I'm really looking forward to visiting the UM CETL in October! Gonna talk about Snafu Edu & hang out with #SoTL superstars like @josheyler.bsky.social, @empittsdonahoe.bsky.social & @liznorell.bsky.social.

Excited to share this new post in our series on neurodivergence and alternative grading!