We have all heard this question asked at least once in grade school. “Is this going to be on the test?”, if the teacher said yes, you probably wrote the information; if the professor said “No” chances are, you didn’t write it down. The traditional a,b,c,d,f grading system, has made students shallow learners, unmotivated students to learn, and is causing more harm than good. We have talked about in class how this vague way of grading affects students. This grading system promotes students cutting corners to getting the best grade, instead of taking the time to learn the information.
Students once or twice, have cut corners to get a good grade. Whether it was simply taking an easier project to do or taking an easier course for a better GPA. In the video “Why grades shouldn’t exist”, Professor Alfie Kohn says “We don’t have to have grades. Research shows that grades have three effects; one, they make students less interested in whatever they are learning for a grade. Two, they become less likely to pick something more difficult. After all, if the point is to get an “A”, you’re gonna choose the shortest book or the easiest project, because that makes it more likely you’ll get the “A”. Three, when students are graded, they tend to do things in a more shallow or superficial fashion. They’re less likely to really push and reflect…”. Professor Alfie Kohn explains in his quote why grades are leading students to become shallow.
Instead of students being categorized by using the same way, factories have been grading their chunks of meat, students should be graded by truly being assessed. With a shallow grading system, like most schools around the USA has, it’s no wonder why the students in the system are being taught, how to be just as shallow. Students should be assessed by finding what level learner you’re currently, finding their strengths and weaknesses and how they can improve. Not represented by numbers and not represented by a vague letter. In the scholarly article “The changing of landscape of grading systems in US higher education” says “Furthermore, it may be time that we reconsider the value of higher education and begin to focus more on the process than the outcome.”. Letter grades and GPAs focus on the outcome of the student, not at all on the student’s commitment and progression. The traditional US grading system doesn’t show the sleepless nights of studying, it doesn’t show how much time and effort a student has put in. Letter grades just show how good a student is at taking tests. Students start prioritizing how to get good grades instead of being curious and learning, like higher education is meant for.
The traditional grading system can also lead to harm. It can cause students to be unethical and start cheating in higher education. It is well known that cheating only cheats students out of the information that could be learned, but grades are prioritized instead of learning so students’ cheat. Students that take the time the study will get lower grades than students who cheat. That causes more students to cheat. The grading system wires students to think that grades are more important rather than the actual information taught. Students forget why they really go to school. Not to get grades, not to go to the most prestigious schools to get good grades, the purpose is to learn and use your curiosity.
Some professors believe if there were no grades then students then students wouldn’t prioritize their work. This is a form of coercion. Forcing students to be graded so that they learn about topics they have no personal interest in. Professor Alfie Kohn from the “Why Grades shouldn’t exist” video, believes that skilled professors are able to get students interested in topics without having to force grades on them. Professor Kohn does not agree with students being bribed into learning with grades.
Students should be taught how to be curious, and how to integrate that curiosity into the real world. Students should have a desire to learn, so they get satisfaction from it rather than getting good grades. The traditional grading system does more harm than good, students lose the desire to learn and be curious. In order to stop students from being shallow, you have to change the shallow system.
Works cited
Steven B. Kleinman, Mary Beth Leidman & Andrew J. Longcore (2018) The
changing landscape of grading systems in US higher education, Perspectives: Policy and Practice
in Higher Education, 22:1, 26-33, DOI: 10.1080/13603108.2017.1279692
https://doi.org/10.1080/13603108.2017.1279692
“Why grades shouldn’t exist.”. Youtube, uploaded by “Fiddlestick Productions” 21 Feb 2016 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfRALeA3mdU&t=19s