What are the relationships between grading system, effectiveness of instructors, student expectations and their learning? Are grades granted by the same standards across faculties?
In Robert Schlesinger’s op-ed article “College Students Need to Toughen Up, Quit Their Grade Whining”, originally published in the U.S. News & World Report, Schlesinger asserts that today’s students expect that an average or higher grade should be favored by simply relying on attending classes, without demonstrating much of an improvement in their performance, leading to the watering down of the fair grading system. Schlesinger describes it as “grade inflation”. Schlesinger references a study on student’s expectation of grades conducted by the
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University of California – Irvine in which one-third of the students responded that a B should be awarded based on the attendance level to the class, while almost half of the students in the sample would expect to take a B by performing “required reading”.
He states that the understanding of grades has changed from the time when he was a college student and “C” was the average grade. Schlesinger points out two reasons to demonstrate the correlation between grade inflation and faculty meeting the students’ satisfaction on their desired grades. The first reason is when in the case of a B is considered as an average grade, it may demean the truthful assessment system. Secondly, students don’t have a proper understanding of the true value of their work and how it should be evaluated, which will be a disadvantage to them when they meet the real world after graduation of the school. Students should be assessed based …show more content…
on their hard work, academic rigor, performance and true reflections of the student’s accomplishments; however, students also deserve some credit for attending classes and putting in some effort. I think then student satisfaction will rise, it isn’t as satisfying to endeavor to do something that isn’t that challenging. Students will evolve dignity and have greater feelings of achievement when they have to study harder to accomplish their aims. And it would be better option when students stop feeling eligible to receive a B or higher grade by performing the minimum effort. If student expectations on the grades are curbed, it could solve the entire problem, benefiting everyone including faculty members, students and overall education of society. On the other hand, high grades are going to motivate students, and perhaps students could put a lot of effort to earn those marks. Schlesinger’s major concern is not high grades per se, rather the impact on students’ learning and their expectations. Because grades may impact on the students’ choices of courses and majors, or even to the graduate schools they may enrolled into. When I was an undergraduate at Westminster International University in Tashkent (WIUT), I struggled for the first two years of my education to pull my average grade over 60 which is considered as a B at WIUT grading scheme. It seemed fair and I had to study hard in order to earn that grade. The fact that the basic grade students now receive is a B instead of a C has inherently devalued the higher educational system.
Many students have convinced themselves that if they put in a lot of effort, they deserve a higher mark regardless of quality of work. Schlesinger cites the study by Professor Greenberger built on earlier work by Dean Hogge where the findings indicated that more than half of the students responded that in a situation where their effort were high but performance was low and if the instructor knew how much effort students did, then their grade should be ascribed to effort. Schlesinger acknowledges that there is no appropriate measurement of how a student’s effort should be measured. Students want their efforts to be counted when they work hard but their performance don’t give the expected results. On the other hand, how about brilliant students who achieve excellent performance results without making much effort? And here we have a paradox: is there a possibility of fair effort measurement? Can it be estimated as per class attendance or by regular participation in the classes? From my point of view the effort is best measured based on the performance on assigned task. If the student is working very hard, then it will be seen in the work they performed and on their test
scores. In general, the article by Robert Schlesinger wasn’t very straightforward, in the first paragraph and the reader won’t realize the point until he gets to the second paragraph, it would be better when the author writes a concise introduction, so more readers will be involved. I don’t think it is one of the best articles, but it addresses the issue of a fair grading scheme and the problem students are facing today. However, author doesn’t show any concrete guidelines for how issue should be solved. I think students have to concentrate on learning which is occurring rather than the high grades that they are getting, because the main reason for attending school is to obtain maximum possible benefit. Moreover, students need to stay away from the “bad teachers” who are pushing them to the fringe of their comfort zone. Instructors should try to maintain academic rigor and advance students’ knowledge as much as it is possible. Faculty members and the entire education society should set the highest expectations and standards, and students’ assessment should be reflected based on their performance results.
In her article, “The Case Against GRADES”, Alfie Kohn discusses the grading system and its faults. She opens her argument with information from an older psychological study that proves the negative impact of the current grading system, and she reinforces this with the proof that “no” research has contradicted this statement. Also, she gives many key reasons including: “Motivation”, “Achievement”, “Quantification”, and “Curriculum”. Kohn supports these topics with other reasearch for why the system is failing the students. She asserts that, “… the absence of grading is a necessary condition for promoting deep thinking and a desire to engage in it.” As support, she offers other solutions and then debunks them by proving that they would not solve
“About 15 percent of Harvard Students got a B-plus or better in 1950. In 2007, more than half of all Harvard grades were in the A range.” One of the questions being proposed by him is could the grade inflation be due simply to the fact that students are getting better? Primack simply refutes this argument by stating, “Privately, many faculty members and administrators say colleges are unwilling to challenge and possibly offend students and their hovering tuition paying parents with some tough grade love.” The writer claims that “grade inflation hides laziness on the part of the students, and as long as it exists, even faculty who want to do a good job grading don’t feel they can.”
In “Grades and Money,” Steven Vogel makes it clear that he is disappointed and frustrated with what grades have become. He believes that grades have become commoditized and that students’ grades suffer because of their relation with money. Vogel also believes that students no longer take any risk with their education. I agree with Vogel that grades are being equated to money by students, that students’ work suffers because of grades, and that students no longer take risks in their educational process.
However, such accusations such as laziness and entitlement, although common, have been prevalent amongst those of college age as proven in “A’s for Everyone.” Shepard had investigated the cause behind this and had put the blame on grade inflation in the years prior to entering college, the pressure to get superb grades due to high tuition costs, and most importantly the belief that “effort” constitutes a grade bonus. However, if one has entered the school system in America, one could see the relative ease in which one could improve their grades through inordinate amounts of extra credit. Multiple students have heard and even seen fellow students ask their parents to even come in for meetings of which equate to blaming their child’s poor grades on the teacher and harassing said teacher to allow their child, soon to be a hardworking, productive citizen of society, to get the “grade they
For one thing, weighting grades gives students and colleges the ability to examine a more accurate comparison of students from various schools with varying course schedule difficulties (Clinedinst). The thing is, these benefits mainly aid the gifted, college bound students in that it makes them stand out. This brings the opposition of weighted GPAs to argue that the actual weighting does not provide an equal playing field. J. Bravin argues in his book, The Executive Educator, that “The traditional reporting method, assigning grades of A, B, C, D, and F to student work, discourages college-bound students from electing to take classes that require rigorous effort… and leads to an inconsistent standard” (40). Since weighted GPAs lead to inequalities, educators around the country have protested traditional reporting methods, saying things similar to, “The only ones being penalized by not having weighted grades are our students” (Cognard
Staples wrote, “Professors at every level inflate to escape negative evaluations by students, whose opinions now figure in tenure and promotion decisions”. (935) to tell the truth, I disagree with Staples opinion. I ponder on if it really the students or is it the professor. If a couple of students leave a bad review that will not make the professor look bad if they are giving them the grades they deserve. Why are the students in charge of the professor’s job? That is a question no one can answer. There are several aspect to consider whether or not the professor could be doing the job for the money or have too much pride in letting others see them do bad. Those aspects should be taking into consideration when speaking about grade inflation. I feel as if Staples is putting more blame on the students and parents than the teachers and administrators. Even if colleges use Staples’ proposal colleges are still faced competition among online universities. Students who attend a college campus generally end up in debt causing more people to steer toward receiving their diplomas online. Therefore, grade inflation will continue to rise because of the fear among
Former professor of geophysics, Stuart Rojstaczer, in his informative op-ed piece, “Grade Inflation Gone Wild,” featured in “Christian Science Monitior(2009),” investigates grade inflation among universities today. Rojstaczer’s purpose is to inform and educate universities on the inflation of grades, and how an A has become the average grade among those schools. He adopts a dismissive tone when generalizing and addressing the students on their behaviors and actions. Rojstaczer found over 80 universities with data on they’re grades, using this he was able to better understand the inflation and also analyze possible solutions. His logos based writing portrays a negative connotation on todays students and their ability to achieve within the classroom. There is no hiding that the standard for grades has been on the rise sense the 1960’s, and is now at an average GPA of a 3.0, but rojstaczer may have lost his audience with his arrogant approach.
We see a constant struggle between students and professors when it comes to the grading scale. These differences make learning a hassle. “I am placed in the position of having to figure out new ways to trick them into learning by designing ingenious new ways to grade,” says Vogel (339). The present grading system pushes students to take easy classes. Students on scholarships are afraid of taking hard classes because they run the risk of loosing financial aid if their grades don’t meet the average (Vogel 339). Farber agrees, “Getting graded turns people away from hard subjects,” (334). He offers his readers a utopia free of grades. This new...
Where I think that Rojstaczer loses his credibility is when he is going on and on about how bad grade inflation is affecting the colleges and Universities then proceeds to say that he commits grade inflation himself. This tells the audience that sure, it is wrong and certainly, it’s bad for everyone in the long term, but if “I” as a professor do not do it then I will be looked down on as a bad professor. As a college student, myself I don’t not want to see a C or especially anything lower on any of my grades it does upset me and may say that it’s because I have a teacher that grades to hard or some other justification of why it's not my fault. However, no matter how long it takes me, I always am the one that must change or my grade won’t. Instead of teaching students that lesson, the dishonesty grading that is in the classrooms, is teaching them that if they were an A student before then it is the teacher's fault if you’re not an A student now. Which I can’t imagine how difficult it can be from a professor in a college to grade honestly. I say that grade inflation has sadly become part of the status quo from elementary through college. Trying to change the present circumstances can be difficult, but it’s not impossible. I still believe that there are honest professors and teachers that grade fairly, yet frank. Nevertheless, after doing all his research Rojstaczer
America is quickly changing to be a nation of inflation. Grade point averages have risen from 2.93 during the ‘91-’92 school year to 3.07 nearly a decade later (Harding 21). This is mostly due to the change in grading scales from a traditional seven point grade scale, which a student could only earn an A if obtaining a 93 percent or higher and doesn’t award students with any “minus” grades, giving a student a B if he gets a 92 percent, and a 10 point scale which adds “minus” grades, so it is possible to have a 91 percent and only have an A- rather than a B. Some states, such as North Carolina, are now requiring all of the high school to grade on a 10 point scale (Lee 1). This is supposed to aid students not only in getting into college, but getting a job as well, because that is the ultimate goal in everyone’s life, right? One is supposed to get into college to get a degree so they can make money for the rest of their life. But the problem arises because the importance of getting a job has surpassed the importance of getting an honest education. John Harding even made the point that grading has changed from a measure and motivator for students to perform and learn to an external evaluation
The article “College Students Need to Toughen Up, Quit Their Grade Whining” is a persuasive piece written by college professor Robert Schlesinger. The article goes over the new expectations of college professors in respect to grading. No longer are the days of giving a C for someone doing the bare minimum, as students now expect to get B’s or above for just showing up and completing their homework or classwork with marginal effort. Most students these days attribute success to working hard, their justification being that they have worked hard, so they deserve a higher grade. Students desire that their effort put in should be reflected in the grade they receive. But, as Robert details in the article; effort is not a substitute for results. He then goes on to state that if
When students arrive at university, professors expect them to understand the material to an exceptional standard. The problem is that grade inflation is occurring more regularly in secondary schools and universities across the country and when these students’ marks are sent to universities or colleges, the student may be given multiple scholarships for something that he/she should not have earned. Grade inflation is conceived between both students and teachers, meaning that the students are given higher grades when they have inadequate learning, reading, and verbal skills, while the teachers do not have to grade as many papers as they should in the real curriculum. There have been multiple examinations that have confirmed that grade inflation is very real and still occurs today. Students seem to think that they do not need to put forth much effort in school to do well and grade inflation encourages this thought.
One of the issues, which Boyer points out , is that teachers and students have different expectations from college education. She says that the teachers are mainly concerned about students’ comprehension of the material, their attendance and attention while students’ hopes are to get good grades and to be well prepared for exams. It seems that the system of grading pushes students to not care too much about what is being taught from an understanding perspective, but only promotes more concern about grades instead. Some students don't really pay attention unless the instructor mentions an exam or something that will be graded. Furthermore, be...
By nature, most students are brought up in an academic environment motivated to get A’s and B’s on their report cards. Those grades sometimes don’t thoroughly report how much a student has learned or gained knowledge in each topic. Some instructors throw in factors totally unrelated to learning, when the main objective of academic institutions is to learn. In order to clearly demonstrate how much a student has learned in the classroom, schools should change their current grading system and teach students how to learn.
In Kristin Butcher’s article “The Effects of an Anti-Grade Inflation Policy at Wellesley College” she states, “Based in part on grades, students make choices about how hard to work, courses, majors, and careers. Graduate schools make choices about whom to admit and employers make choices about whom to hire”(1). By participating in Grade inflation this is helping professors, students, and schools succeed. Students will receive good grades so they can pursue in post education practices. Teachers and school reputations will remain high. Teachers and schools want to give a good impression and in order to do that they need to produce something that all students want, a good grade. Some say grade inflation helps show students they are smart and capable of working hard and receiving good grades. This motivates them to work harder to keep those high grades. Grade inflation also gives students the opportunity to apply them selves to the next level University. But is this really helping a student succeed? How are they going to succeed if they have not gained any knowledge? It is not right for someone to give a student a grade they do not deserve. Stuart Rojstaczer in “Grade inflation Gone wild” has an interesting opinion on students. He says, “When students walk into a classroom knowing they can go through the motions and get a B+ or better, that’s what they tend to do, give minimal effort”(75). This is a great point because in today’s society too many people just give bare minimum effort because that’s all they have been taught. Students need to learn as much as possible and be challenged so they can succeed in the future. Like Rojstaczer said all Grade Inflation is doing is making lazy students, teaching one to give no effort because everything is given. This is setting students up for failure in the future, as work does not come easy for the everyday