Shockingly Simple RealizationsI used to dread grading. In-class discussion thrilled me, but the grading was terrible. Or at least until I realized something shockingly simple: students submit tedium because I assigned it. It was not their fault but mine.  Seizing this responsibility/freedom, I started experimenting. Soon I was teaching courses in which we read and wrote only letters (“epistolary philosophy”), philosophy of food courses with choreographed philosophical meals and annotated menus as exams ( “gastrosophia”), and ancient courses dramatized as five-act Shakespearean plays. The more creative the assignment, the more enjoyable to grade—and the more meaningful for students.   It was not long, however, before I noticed something amiss. Things were too teacher-centered. I was designing assignments without real student input. While creative, if assignments did not engage the individual students—their personal interests, underlying concerns, cultural backgrounds, etc.—they’d bring yet more tedium.  Then a second shockingly simple realization: Students should design their own exams.  Although I usually sensed what did or didn’t work in class, I suspected students could articulate something essential about their own …