5. Assess the practice of establishing prescribed ranges (fixed standards) for grades. Is it a better system than grading on the curve?
I consider that fixed standards impact students in a better way when used correctly. According to Anita Woolfolk grading on the curve could be harmful to both, students and teachers. Author Woolfolk explains that when grading on the curve the relationship between students and educators could be detrimental because students lose motivation, and they might feel like a failure (Woolfolk, p. 587, 2016). When thinking about case 30, I considered that Allison’s fixed standards were not valid because the grades did not reflect the real effort that each student put into the class.I would agree that in that case, curving
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In the first place, it would have been important to show students their grades and explain to them the importance of being professional when grading. Allison could also remind students that project grades were equivalent to half of their final grade. To avoid the grading problem, Allison could have to ask provided students a rubric with a lower point scale (1 to 5 instead of 100-point scale) to achieve reliability (Woolfolk, 2016, p.585), and to ensure that quality is met (food quality, appearance, taste, ingredients, etc.) Another possible solution could be that students in charge of grading were required to show their names in the grading sheets where they would include: a picture of the dish, and a written description of the positive aspects of the meal as well as areas of improvement. On the following project, students would have to demonstrate improvements and reported to the teacher. In this way, students would take the assignment more serious, and be mindful when grading each …show more content…
This can happen by using grades to achieve the desired learning experiences.(Woolfolk, p.589, 2016) From my point of view, I consider that tests should be used to motivate students, otherwise, students would think of tests as a negative part of a school. To learn students need to be engaged (behaviorally, cognitively, and emotionally.) (Woolfolk, p.443, 2016) If students think about tests as an opportunity to observe their learning progress, to ensure that they learn well the material, then their sense of self-efficacy and intrinsic motivation would increase. When a student is motivated, they stop thinking about learning as an obligation. Tests could be helpful to increase students’ motivation as long as they receive feedback on the areas where they struggle. If a student notice that he did not do well on a test, but the student knows that he can re-learn the material or correct the mistakes, then student’s motivation would increase because the student knows that he or she is capable of answering the question correctly. It is also important to teach lessons in a way that every student in the class participate in all possible manners, this will help students to remember each experience as they complete the
The article written by Michael Thomsen addresses the issue: should we as a society continue using a standardized grading system. Thomsen includes many reasons supporting his ultimate conclusion that we should not continue with any system of standardized grades. However, the reasons he uses to support his conclusion are affected by significant ambiguity which weakens the overall argument.
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.
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.
...ed. An Instructor who is able to see the actual grade is able to tell a student what specific they need to work on with the grade scale compared to an Instructor who is using the pass–fail scale they are not to much help to a student who is trying to improve in the course. The grade scale method is important for Instructors to see where students’ weakness and strength is so they can insist students in the help that they may need.
Colleges in America grade students academically for successful careers. For years students grades were calculate by an alphabetic/numeric grade scale. Today colleges are questioning whether grades should be determined by continuing to use a grade scale or switch to a pass/fail scale. Although, there were numerous of factors both positive and negative about a pass/fail system to take into consideration before making a decision. I feel that colleges in America should continue to use a grade scale to convey to students that grades have consequences, open doors to opportunity, and alleviates perturbation.
I believe that to motivate students to do work, practice work needs to be worth more than 10% of a students’ grade. Ideally, I believe the grading scale should be closer to 75% knowledge, and 25% practice. I believe this would help students want to do their work because practice work is worth much more than 10%. If the students do not do any practice work, they can end up with a C, which in many cases is deemed average. Also, those who do their practice work well can use practice assignments to bring up bad test scores. Due to this, more students will do well on their practice work, therefore leading to better scores in tests because students are trying on practice work and they are doing work. Those on the school board may think that 75/25 would be too much weight on practice work, due to this I also think an 80/20 grading scale would be a good option. Seeing as students would still be getting more credit for their homework. The 90/10 grading system needs to be changed for Emma and for all the students at Austin High School in order to benefit them in the future, in both college and their future
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...
“Motivation is the process whereby goal-orientated activity is instigated and sustained” (Schunk, Pintrich & Meece, 2008. As cited in Eggen & Kauchak, 2010, p.284). Motivation comes in many forms and can be divided into two broad categories - extrinsic and intrinsic motivation. Extrinsic motivators are external factors which can motivate a student; rewards are an example of this. An issue with extrinsic motivators is that the desire for the learner to participate often lessens, once the rewards are withdrawn (McCullers, 1987). On the other hand intrinsic motivation comes from within - learning for the joy of it - where the desire to learn leads to a higher level of knowledge, and is a reward in itself. Kohn (1996, p.285) states that research suggests, “Rewards actually decrease interest in intrinsically motivating tasks, therefore sending the wrong message about learning” (as cited in Eggen & Kauchak, 2010a)
Jesness elaborates in his third section on a way to, “fix the floating standard,” (44) by allowing for a fixed standard, not just for the best and poorest students but for all the students in general. Nevertheless the education system will allow for a more practical approach to preparing students instead for teaching students information that will only be beneficial for taking a test. Having a fixed standard will allow for a less basic skills approach to studying, as it is currently, but the teachers will now be able to teach more of the important stuff; knowledge that they will take not only throughout the rest of their public schooling days, but also they will be taking it into college as well. For example this fixed standard is a monstrous
At my high school all students in the tenth grade were required to take the Graduation Qualifying Exam. Many students did not pass the test their first time, and were forced to go through the test up to four more times, and if they did not pass the test in this amount of time, they did not graduate. It is hard to test students in this way since no one was taught the same way all 12 years or learned the same exact things; these differences are why people are different (Popham 2). School is more about testing now, and we have veered away from creative teaching to teach a test. We need to have teachers who inspire kids to want to ...
Grading System Reform 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 shows 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.
By forcing state-wide evaluations of students, teachers are forced to teach for the curriculum deemed necessary for the standardized test rather than focusing on more important material or the student’s comprehension (Williams). By requiring these basic tests, teachers must rush a students learning of a subject and puts the focus on memorizing basic facts or equations rather than truly having a deep understanding of the subject. These tests also fail to provide an accurate representation of the student’s ability. Due to the mass number of tests that must be graded and the impersonal manner of it, graders often are forced to look for a strict format that may not appeal to all students. This is apparent in grading essays where the grader is given a strict rubric.
Some teachers agree that if the students show an understanding of the material being taught, it is okay to grade on a curve. Some teachers also support curving grades because it allows them to align classroom exams with advanced placement exam standards set by the College Board. This way, they can give more difficult tests without resulting in low class averages. Contrarily, most students agree that they will work harder if they know there will not be a curve to help them out.
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
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