Do you believe that students should receive letter grades or should receive grades based upon performance?

Question

Having noticed when I was in school and college that students receive a letter grade based upon the material that they learned in a book and the fact that they could not apply this material in real life seems contirdacting.Also that different people had different types of intelligence(personal,Mechinical,academic,etc)do you feel like it would be better for schools and colleges to find out what the students intrests and abilities are and put the student into that type of program(s)so that the student could come out of the educational system(s)being able to apply what he/she has learned while benefiting their community as a whole?Would this be better than making the student(s) better than trying to make them more"well rounded"I would like to hear from educators(working and retired)and really get your opinion on this.If you have points to back up your thoughts or websites that I can go to for more info pro and con I welcome that also.Thanks for the anwsers

Answer 1

I think grades should be given for the following:

Attendance
Class participation
Homework assignments/projects

Too many teachers I've noticed in my years of being in high school and college have been giving grades to people who straight up didnt earn it and should have been flunked since students plagiarized work by turning in papers of other students or works. They should also give grades to students who adhere to academic integrity not plagiarising work or cheating(I caught a good chunk of classmates cheating on exams and tests by getting a hold of the actual exam if they had friends who worked as office assistants for professors). It's sad when teachers give lower grades to those who actually put forth the effort and adhere to academic integrity.

Answer 2

Depends on the professor. I was always quickly recognized as being ahead of the curve, so I was allowed to do my own independent study as long as it was the same approximate workload I got to do that instead of the stuff being taught to the rest of the class. It worked for me in High School, College, and Grad school. Just ask and you might get a similar setup if you have a good attitude and really are intelligent.

The only way you are going to get real world experience in school is if you are working at the same time or interning.

So bottom line grading on "performance" is subjective and really sounds like an excuse from somone who wouldn't do the work, or just didn't get things. Furthermore, how can you test on 'performance' if it is not taught? However, exceptional professors can test for this, it is all a matter of phrasing quesitons, I had many great professors that tested not on the material but on it's relevance to current events. To answer these questions you would have to master the reading and be able to use critical thinking to apply the concepts.

"Performance" testing is an excuse of lazy students, and lazy teachers who will not challenge themselves.

Work is the only place in life you get performance based grades and even those are based off projects like those given in the classroom.

Btw I am a Computer Systems Engineer with a MA in Global Political Economy that did help with my career by making me a great researcher and critical thinker. I also worked full time the whole time I was in school too.

Answer 3

It is a simple system. You are presented with materials at the beginning of the semester. If you read and diligently study it, consistently do the practice questions, pay close attention to the lectures, and ask questions as they arrise, you will learn the material. Throughout the semester, tests are presented that are designed to determine to what degree you did those things. If you did them well and have learned the material, the test will show it. In most curriculums, all you have to do is prove you learned 92% or so to achieve the highest grade. Actually that is a pretty decent margin of error for someone who is serious about learning the information.

Answer 4

at my school we only get P's or F's

P= passing
F=failed

I think that this system worked for me because it motivated me to get all my work in so I passed. I have been getting a 4.0 for the past 3 years.