If you got your classwork back what would you rather hear, an C or a pass? I would rather hear a C because I know how well I am doing or know how much I need to improve. Many schools have switched from the traditional A-F grades to the new pass/fail grading system. Famous colleges have even adopted the pass or fail grading system, “Yale has adopted the pass or fail system, Harvard and Stanford followed suit” in the 21th century (Strittmatter). The reasons why we should keep the traditional letter grading system is students would get specific feedback from their grades, and letter grades promotes competitiveness. First of all, letter grades give specific feedback on how well students are doing on their assignments. Pass or fail systems only offers two options, while letter grades provide 5 levels of achievements “to pinpoint a student's work ethic and comprehension”(Morgan). With 5 levels, grading is more accurate and it also shows the areas of weaknesses and areas that have improved better. In a letter grading system an A or C grade can differentiate an excellent student from an average one. With a pass or fail grade students are only put into two …show more content…
Students would try harder to get the grade they want, but if students take a pass or fail grade students “will result in...becoming lazy and less focused”(ConnectUS).There is an incentive to do better when having a letter grading system, students would try harder to get that A, while the other students would easily get a pass. Students will also try to compete with each other to get the better grade and see who can do the best in the class. With a pass or fail students can pass with a C, but nowadays average students are not good enough to succeed in the future. So the pass and fail grading system is promoting laziness. While on the other hand, letter grades promotes competitiveness and gives students incentives to do better in
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
In “What is a Grade” by Pat Belanoff, she explains the pros and cons of the grading system. In Pats ' essay she states “Perhaps the solution would to abandon grading altogether in writing class. I confess that this a solution that appeals to me greatly.” (151). Grades should not be present in the way we test students’ learning ability.
Worrying too much about grades can cause students serious problems like not really understanding the work, make them not feel smart enough and lose interest in school and can cause anxiety and other health issues. In the article Mr. Bains said “ Indeed, there are several problems with strategic learners” (Project Information Literacy October 10, 2012 page1/4). One of the problems is students don 't really understand what they are learning if once they reach that high grade they want they will just stop. I am very guilty of only performing for the grade because I did it all throughout high school. I was taught that getting an A was the highest grade you can get so once I reached that A I...
There is a student Emma, who has recently graduated from Austin High School, where 90/10 grading system is used; 90% of Emma’s grade is knowledge based with scores such as tests and projects, while her practice work such as homework is worth 10% of her grade. Emma, finds school somewhat easy and since homework was only 10% of her grade, so she often did not bother to do her practice work. Even though she did not do her homework through high school she managed to keep above a 3.00 GPA. When Emma enters college, she is shocked to see that she would have to complete homework, and that it would affect her grade drastically if she didn’t complete her homework. Emma is feeling unprepared and overloaded with work. She is not prepared for college,
The grade scale furnishes students with superior achievements the opportunities to receive Scholarships. The grade scale allows professors and colleges to average a point value for academic reviewing. The chart below shows the different level of achievement for a grade scale and a pass/fail scale. The grade scale f...
In today’s society we feel the need to be graded in order to learn. The topic of the grading system has sparked three essays, by three different authors, about the pros and cons of the grading system. First, Jerry Farber, professor at University of California at San Diego, wrote A Young Person’s Guide to the Grading System (333). Next is Steven Vogel, professor at Denison University, who wrote Grades and Money (337). The last two authors in this compilation are Stephen Goode and Timothy W. Maier. They both are journalists for Insight on the News. While each of these authors have their own point of view on the grading system, all three essays talk about how being graded affects learning.
In the regular grading scale, grades do vary widely because of these four factors: a teacher's conception of achievement, a teacher's sense of equity and rigor a student's effort. The student's knowledge is based on the graded assignments that the student has completed. Getting rid of these standardized testings removes the insecurities that student's have due to low score and many more factors. Abolishing this test can lead to recognition of our grading differences and create a common conception of achievement on our own based on what we need to work on
The Consequences of Grade Inflation 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.
Yes, good grades do lead to good colleges, which do open doors, and yes, making students have the need to avoid bad grades is good as well. However, despite common belief, good grades are not that important. People like Steve Jobs prove that the label grades give mean nothing. The world has seen glory and success earned by many confident, jubilant people, and some of those very same people did not attend college or have perfect scores. If confidence and happiness are the keys to a good life, then what is the point of taking away such key factors when grades are involved? Yes, achieving the best grades can help students have a better life, but having a low grade on a report card does not dictate their
Throughout my past schools years, I have been the type of student who not only wants but needs, an A. As I am working towards applying to prestigious universities I am working for the best grades I can
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...
One change institutions should make to the grading system is to eliminate all factors that have noting to do with learning outcomes from affecting the students’ grade. According to the article, “Assessment of Learning Outcomes: What’s the difference?” written by Carnegie Mellon University, grades are often based on more than learning outcomes. Instructors usually include factors unrelated to learning outcomes such as attendance to class, participation, improvement and in some cases, grades are boosted a bit due to how hard the student is working.” These factors are
Teachers have always used grades to measure the amount a student has learned. This practice is becoming ineffective. Many students have a wide range of grades, which show that grades may not show what a student really knows. Therefore, the standard grading system should be replaced. Some reasons why grades should be replaced are bad grades can hinder a child’s performance, grades define who a student is in the classroom, and grades are not an effective way to see if students have learned the material. The current grading system should be upgraded and every school should incorporate the plus/minus system in their method of grading.
When students have easier grading criteria, it increases their ability to learn the material instead of focusing on earning better grades without understanding the material. Students sometimes need grading criteria that will allow them to focus on their studying more than focusing on how they will be able to pass their classes with good grades that will not affect their GPA’s. For example, I have taken many classes throughout my college career such as Psychology, Philosophy, and Statistics, some of them I need as major requirements. I took the classes and I have no idea until this moment what I have learned in those classes. As said, I have learned the material for these classes to pass the exams, and forget what I have learned the day after the exam. In this case, I do not blame myself that I have not learned the material as I have to, because I learned it to pass the class with a good grade instead of passing the class with the
Students entering college for the first time look forward to the numerous tests that they are required to take least of all. Test taking and college are in tandem for many, but some debate that using testing as a grading system should be discontinued in universities. In theory it sounds like a great idea. It would cut back on stress and, more than likely, class time as well. However, stopping testing as a form of grading in universities would be soon regretted. Grading systems are an essential part of any education. Tests insure that that the student is learning what the teaching is teaching and identify areas that may need improving. The results from grading systems also show future employers or schools a glimpse of the kind of worker that a student will be. The numerous lists of positive effects on not only the students but the teachers, and even the university as a whole, outweigh the cons of using testing as a grading system.