For many students in the United States who aim to get into good colleges, grades are of absolute importance. Therefore it makes sense that things like extra credit and “fluff” grades (Grades just for doing something) pique our interest. Whether that’s a good thing for our mental health or not is not what we are discussing today. Extra credit can motivate students to do something they wouldn’t have done otherwise, such as a charitable act. However, the ramifications of this “reward for charity” system could result in both positive and negative externalities. Whereas a grade could be a welcome reward and encouragement for students who do a good deed, it puts pressure to contribute on students who may or may not actually want to to it, and it could overshadow the cause or charity it is actually meant to support. …show more content…
One way to encourage students to do something is to offer a reward. This is the ideology behind offering a grade for contributing to a charity. The grade encourages doing a charitable act, a charitable act is inherently good, therefore the grade must be ethically good. For students who are already contributing the grade is just rewarding a good-natured student. For students who either didn’t know about the opportunity the grade could bring attention to it. The act of charity can be defined by a benevolent act done of someone's free-will. Under that definition the grade doesn’t violate the definition of charity. Education itself most times started as an act of charity, such as in the late 1800s when the civil war ended and carpetbaggers from the north went to the south to offer education to the poor african americans who had no other place to learn. Of course in later years teachers began to earn salaries. Does their reward diminish the fact that what they are doing is ethically good?
In his essay, "Why Colleges Shower Their Students With A’s,” Staples claims that student grades are increasing for the wrong reasons, causing college degrees to become meaningless. Staples provides evidence that average grades have increased significantly over the last several decades, but claims that it is not because students are working harder. The real explanation for grade inflation, he argues, is the effect of grades on both students and their professors. Teachers give more A’s to receive better evaluations and increase job security. Students give more importance to their grades as a result of the rapidly increasing cost of a college education. Staples argues that modern
From the beginning of high school, students strap on their seatbelts and prepare for one of the most vigorous races of their lives – becoming successful. With the rare occurrence of a break, kids are expected to keep on driving as fast and as powerfully as they can in order to get into a “great” college, which would be followed by graduate school and then an actual job that would make a lot of money. In American society, common values include working hard, determination, and being so productive that free time is not even a question. However, this philosophy is taking a major toll on American college and high school students. For at least 40 years, America’s future has been steadily growing unmotivated, tired, and hopeless due to the overemphasis on performing well in school. This phenomenon is appropriately expounded in William Zinsser’s “College Pressures”, which takes a look at the top four sources of tension that cause these feelings of dejection and agitation. After reading this article, I came up with a few solutions to this national problem. It is time to switch the harsh, over-encouraging green light of education to a comfortable yellow one. In order to make this ideal transition, directors of education across the country need to primarily reduce the amount of out-of-class assignments, lighten the grading system, and incorporate days in the school year that allow students to express their thoughts about school and provide useful feedback.
On the topic of weighted GPAs, people often suggest two main outcomes: a strong academic society and a weak academic society (Abbott). Seeing that weighted GPAs are rewarding to students
Is it more unethical to give only when you get something in return, or to not give at all? Giving is always beneficial, and charitable donations can always be put to good use. Whether or not the donator gets something in return does not change the fact that their donation is helping others. While incentives should not always be employed to inspire people to give, generally, the end results and donations justify the incentives used.
Attending college is not only a chance for students to further their education, but it also allows them to experience the lessons life has to offer. One of the hardest lessons to learn is how unfair life can be. Students who work diligently to achieve academic success in the classroom may quickly realize their academic efforts do not “pay off” as much as the student-athlete who possesses the ability to kick a football fifty yards. There is an evident failure in the educational system when the student-athlete’s performance and how they contribute to a winning season, is more valuable to the university, than the academic student who strives to graduate with honors. Students who focus their efforts on an academic based education are not rewarded with the same benefits, resources, and perks as their student-athlete counterparts.
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.
When this idea for extra credit came up it really caused some mixed thoughts for me on the subject of social norms. The reason for these thoughts were the reactions of other students in class as to what societal norms they would break, and the amusement or satisfaction they would have in breaking those norms. For the most part, it appeared that the consensus was to, in some way, break a social norm that would reveal them as a nonconformist, or as an individual. With that it mind, I really began to reflect on why it is so important for people to be noticed, and how especially in the individualistic culture of the United States, it is celebrated to be a “breaker of the rules” or a nonconformist.
The argument on the debate on whether or not the academic grading system is fair or not, isn’t something that is discussed too often. We have come to accept that the current grading system is the norm and that it is something that is unchangeable. To question the fairness of grading in this debate, isn’t on how it was adopted, but rather on how much of a student’s progress is up for interpretation. With varying opinions from Professors, it makes it difficult to set a standard of work across the board. The need for a grading system is understandable, even necessary to be able to mark the performance of students, especially in higher education. A student’s knowledge is pivotal in obtaining employment and becoming
As the cost of college tuition continues to rise each year, many individuals are questioning if a college education is worth the time and effort needed to obtain a college degree. In today’s society, however, a high school education or diploma is not enough to insure a chance at having a good future. For many students, the decision on whether or not he/she should pursue a higher education is a major conflict for many young adults who are graduating high school. Therefore, while some students wonder if going to college is worth the price tag, in the end, the benefits associated with earning a college degree are proven to uphold numerous opportunities for individuals in the future.
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.
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
Students should be paid for having good grades. According to Psychology Today, the United States has fallen behind other nations in education. In addition to this, approximately one in four students in the U.S. drops out of school before graduation. The main reason for this is that students have little to no motivation. Students are either bored with school, or they are distracted by the other things that go on in their lives such as sports, jobs, friends and their own family life.
A large number of college students who haven’t scored too well in college regret their grades. They believe that if they would have studied harder they might have scored better.
A statement from the Huffington Post states, “From a very young age, we are told the importance of getting good grades. Especially in high school, we are told time and time again that our grades affect what college we will get into. While grades are extremely important, people often forget about the importance of learning, not just getting good grades. There is a difference between the grade received in a course and the amount of learning that took place in the course.” Parents and institutions should teach the importance of learning. The society around the upbringing of students emphasizes getting good grades as apposed to getting every detail and aspect mastered. School priorities should be reevaluated and changed for future students
For something to be both morally relevant and invariably relevant, it means that the subject, in this case generosity, cannot change in its importance. This means that if we give a value system to acts, a certain act will always have the same value points. To put this into more concrete terms, if generosity has a value of positive points, it must always have positive points if it is invariable relevant. For something to be morally relevant, it has to be important in determining whether an action is moral or not. As an example, take Cans Around the Oval. If I were to donate food to the program, I would be generous; I would have +100 points. But what would happen if the food I donated was expired, taking this further, what would happen