Jesse Stommel (Jessifer)
@jessifer.bsky.social
Irascibly optimistic. Ungrading. Critical Digital Pedagogy. Professor at U of Denver. Owner of PlayForge. Co-founder of Hybrid Pedagogy. Author of Undoing the Grade and An Urgency of Teachers. One of Hazel’s dads. he/him. https://www.jessestommel.com
Pinned
The Practice of Ungrading
Ungrading inspects the inequities of schooling, asks hard questions of the structures of our schools, and offers a critique of the labor conditions for teachers at all levels of education.
www.jessestommel.com
Can we do assessment differently, in ways that increase access, support greater inclusion, improve learning outcomes, and enhance the experience of teaching and learning?
“He also pans the use of Turnitin as a scare tactic. ‘We see this with the criminal-justice system,’ he said. ‘Deterrence doesn’t actually work.’ What does work, he argues, is building trusting relationships with students. ‘Turnitin immediately fractures that relationship with students.’”
June 27, 2025 at 10:50 PM
“He also pans the use of Turnitin as a scare tactic. ‘We see this with the criminal-justice system,’ he said. ‘Deterrence doesn’t actually work.’ What does work, he argues, is building trusting relationships with students. ‘Turnitin immediately fractures that relationship with students.’”
“Stommel said faculty members often believe cheating is on the rise and that detectors are one of the only ways to keep students honest. But he shares evidence that cheating rates have long remained largely flat, even post-ChatGPT.”
June 27, 2025 at 10:50 PM
“Stommel said faculty members often believe cheating is on the rise and that detectors are one of the only ways to keep students honest. But he shares evidence that cheating rates have long remained largely flat, even post-ChatGPT.”
“He then encourages students to ask him if they have questions about how to properly cite sources and directs them to an essay he co-wrote if they want to learn more about Turnitin or how to protect their intellectual property.”
June 27, 2025 at 10:50 PM
“He then encourages students to ask him if they have questions about how to properly cite sources and directs them to an essay he co-wrote if they want to learn more about Turnitin or how to protect their intellectual property.”
“In his syllabus, he tells students, ‘It is my commitment to you that I won’t submit any of your work to Turnitin. Plagiarism-detection software like Turnitin monetizes student intellectual property and contributes to a culture of suspicion in education. I trust you. I trust your work is your own.’”
June 27, 2025 at 10:50 PM
“In his syllabus, he tells students, ‘It is my commitment to you that I won’t submit any of your work to Turnitin. Plagiarism-detection software like Turnitin monetizes student intellectual property and contributes to a culture of suspicion in education. I trust you. I trust your work is your own.’”
“Jesse Stommel, a professor @uofdenver.bsky.social, started speaking out about the company’s database of student papers in 2011, when he discovered his dissertation was in it. As a writing instructor, he takes issue with schools unquestioningly handing over student work to a for-profit company.”
June 27, 2025 at 10:50 PM
“Jesse Stommel, a professor @uofdenver.bsky.social, started speaking out about the company’s database of student papers in 2011, when he discovered his dissertation was in it. As a writing instructor, he takes issue with schools unquestioningly handing over student work to a for-profit company.”
“Turnitin monetizes student intellectual property and contributes to a culture of suspicion in education.”
I’m quoted in a recent article from @themarkup.org @calmatters.org and @chronicle.com
themarkup.org/artificial-i...
I’m quoted in a recent article from @themarkup.org @calmatters.org and @chronicle.com
themarkup.org/artificial-i...
California colleges spend millions to catch plagiarism and AI. Is the faulty tech worth it? – The Markup
Colleges and universities renew Turnitin subscriptions year after year even though its flawed detectors are expensive and require students to let the company keep their papers forever.
themarkup.org
June 27, 2025 at 10:50 PM
“Turnitin monetizes student intellectual property and contributes to a culture of suspicion in education.”
I’m quoted in a recent article from @themarkup.org @calmatters.org and @chronicle.com
themarkup.org/artificial-i...
I’m quoted in a recent article from @themarkup.org @calmatters.org and @chronicle.com
themarkup.org/artificial-i...
Agreed on the blue checkmarks. I was eliding a bunch of complicated thoughts about those into that line.
May 30, 2025 at 1:54 PM
Agreed on the blue checkmarks. I was eliding a bunch of complicated thoughts about those into that line.
Ooh. I better go back over there for a bit. I need some plastic plants. 🪴 😜
May 30, 2025 at 1:51 PM
Ooh. I better go back over there for a bit. I need some plastic plants. 🪴 😜
Just hit follow all. The menswear guy is one of my favorites, if you don’t follow him already.
May 30, 2025 at 1:49 PM
Just hit follow all. The menswear guy is one of my favorites, if you don’t follow him already.
Also definitely old and cranky here! :)
May 30, 2025 at 4:28 AM
Also definitely old and cranky here! :)
Yes, to it all being better if everything were not on fire. And I totally agree with you about the short form. I miss the 140 characters actually! :)
May 30, 2025 at 4:28 AM
Yes, to it all being better if everything were not on fire. And I totally agree with you about the short form. I miss the 140 characters actually! :)
Just grabbed a link to your timeline cleanse list. <3
May 30, 2025 at 4:26 AM
Just grabbed a link to your timeline cleanse list. <3
Good point. I'll be clear, not making a case for Bsky to not exist, just still wondering what I can get from it. I'm gonna keep working to curate it as a newsfeed and then hope for random exchanges like this one! :)
May 30, 2025 at 4:24 AM
Good point. I'll be clear, not making a case for Bsky to not exist, just still wondering what I can get from it. I'm gonna keep working to curate it as a newsfeed and then hope for random exchanges like this one! :)
Yeah, I think I’m struggling with the doom scrolling thing a little, which definitely wasn’t my experience when I first signed up here. Kind of a state of the world problem, but also this isn’t really the place I want to go to process that,
May 29, 2025 at 5:49 PM
Yeah, I think I’m struggling with the doom scrolling thing a little, which definitely wasn’t my experience when I first signed up here. Kind of a state of the world problem, but also this isn’t really the place I want to go to process that,
I’ll work the lists approach. I often didn’t feel like I needed to use my lists on Twitter cause I’d curated my main follow list so carefully over the years.
May 29, 2025 at 5:48 PM
I’ll work the lists approach. I often didn’t feel like I needed to use my lists on Twitter cause I’d curated my main follow list so carefully over the years.
I was gonna ask you to send that link!
May 29, 2025 at 5:46 PM
I was gonna ask you to send that link!
Agreed on the international, ideological breadth. I’ve been finding this site successful as a newsfeed. That’s the piece that still mostly works for me, but it took solid curation to get it there (OG Twitter did too).
May 29, 2025 at 5:46 PM
Agreed on the international, ideological breadth. I’ve been finding this site successful as a newsfeed. That’s the piece that still mostly works for me, but it took solid curation to get it there (OG Twitter did too).
I may also just need to post more. The implosion of Twitter (and the bullying that became rampant there in its final years) kinda turned me shy on social media.
May 29, 2025 at 5:10 PM
I may also just need to post more. The implosion of Twitter (and the bullying that became rampant there in its final years) kinda turned me shy on social media.
I was also an early adopter of both but haven’t felt at home here yet. Seeing you pop up in a reply is a nice help, though. 😊
Engagement, ephemerality, and happening across happy things is what I’m missing. But I’m still working on it. I worry Bluesky is moving toward being more algorithm-centric.
Engagement, ephemerality, and happening across happy things is what I’m missing. But I’m still working on it. I worry Bluesky is moving toward being more algorithm-centric.
May 29, 2025 at 5:08 PM
I was also an early adopter of both but haven’t felt at home here yet. Seeing you pop up in a reply is a nice help, though. 😊
Engagement, ephemerality, and happening across happy things is what I’m missing. But I’m still working on it. I worry Bluesky is moving toward being more algorithm-centric.
Engagement, ephemerality, and happening across happy things is what I’m missing. But I’m still working on it. I worry Bluesky is moving toward being more algorithm-centric.
It definitely feels bizarre to find myself telling people that LinkedIn feels like the social media most conducive to human life.
May 29, 2025 at 4:59 PM
It definitely feels bizarre to find myself telling people that LinkedIn feels like the social media most conducive to human life.
What killed Twitter:
- Algorithmic feed
- Blue checkmarks
- People who called people “blue checkmarks”
- Harassment at scale
- Bullies with impunity
- Academics shitposting about students
- Racism, ableism, transphobia, etc.
- J K Rowling
- Donald Trump
Most of these feel alive and well here…
- Algorithmic feed
- Blue checkmarks
- People who called people “blue checkmarks”
- Harassment at scale
- Bullies with impunity
- Academics shitposting about students
- Racism, ableism, transphobia, etc.
- J K Rowling
- Donald Trump
Most of these feel alive and well here…
May 29, 2025 at 4:57 PM
What killed Twitter:
- Algorithmic feed
- Blue checkmarks
- People who called people “blue checkmarks”
- Harassment at scale
- Bullies with impunity
- Academics shitposting about students
- Racism, ableism, transphobia, etc.
- J K Rowling
- Donald Trump
Most of these feel alive and well here…
- Algorithmic feed
- Blue checkmarks
- People who called people “blue checkmarks”
- Harassment at scale
- Bullies with impunity
- Academics shitposting about students
- Racism, ableism, transphobia, etc.
- J K Rowling
- Donald Trump
Most of these feel alive and well here…
So far, my review of Bluesky is that it is everything that was unpleasant about 2015 Twitter and not much of what was truly great. I’m still not sure why it ever made sense to clone the structure of a platform that had so thoroughly combusted. I’m here for now, and will attempt to remain open.
May 29, 2025 at 4:43 PM
So far, my review of Bluesky is that it is everything that was unpleasant about 2015 Twitter and not much of what was truly great. I’m still not sure why it ever made sense to clone the structure of a platform that had so thoroughly combusted. I’m here for now, and will attempt to remain open.
Reposted by Jesse Stommel (Jessifer)
“The work, though, is not to imagine that the hierarchy doesn't exist (it does), but to work together with students to dismantle it. That work starts by talking frankly about how these systems work and how the culture of grades impacts us.“
Can we do assessment differently, in ways that increase access, support greater inclusion, improve learning outcomes, and enhance the experience of teaching and learning?
The Practice of Ungrading
Ungrading inspects the inequities of schooling, asks hard questions of the structures of our schools, and offers a critique of the labor conditions for teachers at all levels of education.
www.jessestommel.com
May 24, 2025 at 2:12 AM
“The work, though, is not to imagine that the hierarchy doesn't exist (it does), but to work together with students to dismantle it. That work starts by talking frankly about how these systems work and how the culture of grades impacts us.“
Can we do assessment differently, in ways that increase access, support greater inclusion, improve learning outcomes, and enhance the experience of teaching and learning?
The Practice of Ungrading
Ungrading inspects the inequities of schooling, asks hard questions of the structures of our schools, and offers a critique of the labor conditions for teachers at all levels of education.
www.jessestommel.com
May 24, 2025 at 1:32 AM
Can we do assessment differently, in ways that increase access, support greater inclusion, improve learning outcomes, and enhance the experience of teaching and learning?