There are subject matters to which traditional grading standards are irrelevant. As an adjunct at USC for twelve years and now teaching at the Academic College of Tel Aviv-Yafo in the spring semester, I see the same non relevancies in two very separate societies. I teach Team Creativity. I tell the students the first night that their grades will be based on their effort, attitude, attendance and ability to be a good teammate. I explain that it’s my job to inspire and teach them so they perform at then”A” level and I know how to do that. Their performance “A” is my challenge. So now just relax and learn without stress and be ready for the ride. Till this day, my alums thank me for what they say was one of the most meaningful classes contributing to their careers.
I just found out the GPA of a friend's son, graduating from the same law school that I did in 1985. I was really impressed w/ his GPA compared to mine. Then I remembered the amount of grade inflation in the intervening 40 years & d/n feel as bad!
I am a professor at a university very close to where Prof. Feldman teaches. Grades at the undergrad level have a different purpose than at the graduate or upper undergrad levels (depending on the type of major). I teach engineering and for lower levels of education, the goal is to teach basic skills. But later, I think that grades are dysfunctional. I have to spend a lot of my time trying to teach students that they are NOT supposed to parrot back to me what they think I want to hear. Those who get into my university are very expert at doing that. I want them to learn to think for themselves. My assignments for each week all involve reading short papers that provide opposing viewpoints on a problem (in engineering). They then must write a short analysis of what they think about the controversy and why. I warn them (and take off points) if they quote or cite anyone. I don't care that they know what others have said, they need to tell me what THEY think. The first weeks are uncomfortable for them, and I usually can tell that they are still trying to please me and I tell them that. By the end, they are all thinking for themselves. The class gets very high student evaluations and I get mail from former students who tell me it was the most valuable class they ever took.
The problem is not that grades are good or bad, but we need to understand the different goals of evaluation for different types of classes.
There are subject matters to which traditional grading standards are irrelevant. As an adjunct at USC for twelve years and now teaching at the Academic College of Tel Aviv-Yafo in the spring semester, I see the same non relevancies in two very separate societies. I teach Team Creativity. I tell the students the first night that their grades will be based on their effort, attitude, attendance and ability to be a good teammate. I explain that it’s my job to inspire and teach them so they perform at then”A” level and I know how to do that. Their performance “A” is my challenge. So now just relax and learn without stress and be ready for the ride. Till this day, my alums thank me for what they say was one of the most meaningful classes contributing to their careers.
I just found out the GPA of a friend's son, graduating from the same law school that I did in 1985. I was really impressed w/ his GPA compared to mine. Then I remembered the amount of grade inflation in the intervening 40 years & d/n feel as bad!
I am a professor at a university very close to where Prof. Feldman teaches. Grades at the undergrad level have a different purpose than at the graduate or upper undergrad levels (depending on the type of major). I teach engineering and for lower levels of education, the goal is to teach basic skills. But later, I think that grades are dysfunctional. I have to spend a lot of my time trying to teach students that they are NOT supposed to parrot back to me what they think I want to hear. Those who get into my university are very expert at doing that. I want them to learn to think for themselves. My assignments for each week all involve reading short papers that provide opposing viewpoints on a problem (in engineering). They then must write a short analysis of what they think about the controversy and why. I warn them (and take off points) if they quote or cite anyone. I don't care that they know what others have said, they need to tell me what THEY think. The first weeks are uncomfortable for them, and I usually can tell that they are still trying to please me and I tell them that. By the end, they are all thinking for themselves. The class gets very high student evaluations and I get mail from former students who tell me it was the most valuable class they ever took.
The problem is not that grades are good or bad, but we need to understand the different goals of evaluation for different types of classes.
Yes, this. I have taught all grades k-12. 20 years in middle school. Grades de-incentify curiosity and resilience.