Philosophy
Thinking about grades for obvious reasons. I am ambivalent about grades. On the one hand, it is certainly true that students rise to expectations and the mechanism by which those expectations are communicated is grading work. If one teacher gives the easy A and another doesn't, students will tend -- all other things being equal --- to work harder and learn more for the tougher teacher.
At the same time, grades replace the true purpose of the class. The goal becomes to get a grade, not to become smarter, better trained, more well-read, well-rounded, or a deeper, more thoughtful intellectual. Grades, in this way, keep students from working and learning. Surely, we've all been in the position, "I'm going to get a B, no mattter what, so why think about it?" Or then there are those who are so worried about their grades that they take no risks because it is better to play it safe and get a sure ok grade, then to really try something interesting and risk a swing and a miss because teachers are always there with the red pen to punish misteps, no matter how well intentioned.
So, do grades help or hurt? Do they turn education into a commodity and strip it of its true joy and value or is it necessary for making sure a minimum amount of learning takes place? how can we take the emphasis off of grades, if we keep them?
- The Objectivity Of Grades
I was going to respond to the ongoing thread in yesterday's post, but thought that the argument deserved its own space in order to be thorough. The claim has been put forward and agreed to that grades on work like papers is subjective and thereby...
- Other Than Grades
With the holidays last week, I wasn't able to answer several questions, so let's get to a few more of them this week. Jeff asks, "So the problems with the "grade model" of education are fairly obvious, and discussed before on this blog. The worry,...
- Right And True And The Way We Educate Our Kids
I'm reading Strawson's Introduction to Logical Theory and in a footnote in the first chapter, he draws a distinction between a student giving a correct answer and giving a true answer. The point brought to mind a conversation I was a part of over...
- A Grading Thought Experiment
This is one of the times of year when those of my ilk turn from teachers into graders. A colleague of mine proposed an experiment the other day and I'm interested to see if your intuitions are the same as mine. Take a stack of papers, grade just...
- Do Grades Hurt As Well As Help The Educational Process?
It's early in the semester and grades and grading does not yet have the bite it will have later, so this distance may allow for some more open minded consideration. For the project on Maria Montessori that I've been working, I came across this...
Philosophy
How Can You Have Any Pudding If You Don't Eat Your Meat: The Effectiveness of Grades
Thinking about grades for obvious reasons. I am ambivalent about grades. On the one hand, it is certainly true that students rise to expectations and the mechanism by which those expectations are communicated is grading work. If one teacher gives the easy A and another doesn't, students will tend -- all other things being equal --- to work harder and learn more for the tougher teacher.
At the same time, grades replace the true purpose of the class. The goal becomes to get a grade, not to become smarter, better trained, more well-read, well-rounded, or a deeper, more thoughtful intellectual. Grades, in this way, keep students from working and learning. Surely, we've all been in the position, "I'm going to get a B, no mattter what, so why think about it?" Or then there are those who are so worried about their grades that they take no risks because it is better to play it safe and get a sure ok grade, then to really try something interesting and risk a swing and a miss because teachers are always there with the red pen to punish misteps, no matter how well intentioned.
So, do grades help or hurt? Do they turn education into a commodity and strip it of its true joy and value or is it necessary for making sure a minimum amount of learning takes place? how can we take the emphasis off of grades, if we keep them?
- The Objectivity Of Grades
I was going to respond to the ongoing thread in yesterday's post, but thought that the argument deserved its own space in order to be thorough. The claim has been put forward and agreed to that grades on work like papers is subjective and thereby...
- Other Than Grades
With the holidays last week, I wasn't able to answer several questions, so let's get to a few more of them this week. Jeff asks, "So the problems with the "grade model" of education are fairly obvious, and discussed before on this blog. The worry,...
- Right And True And The Way We Educate Our Kids
I'm reading Strawson's Introduction to Logical Theory and in a footnote in the first chapter, he draws a distinction between a student giving a correct answer and giving a true answer. The point brought to mind a conversation I was a part of over...
- A Grading Thought Experiment
This is one of the times of year when those of my ilk turn from teachers into graders. A colleague of mine proposed an experiment the other day and I'm interested to see if your intuitions are the same as mine. Take a stack of papers, grade just...
- Do Grades Hurt As Well As Help The Educational Process?
It's early in the semester and grades and grading does not yet have the bite it will have later, so this distance may allow for some more open minded consideration. For the project on Maria Montessori that I've been working, I came across this...