Grade Expectations: Symptoms of Goal & Objective Setting?
As part of my first day, first class meeting, I lay out my expectations for student work and class participation. I will go through what I sincerely believe to be the habits of an A student, a B student, etc. I will then ask each student to take a moment and reflect on what kind of a student he or she wants to be this term.
I will then explain to my students what I believe about Cs in courses outside their core focus area. I ask them to think about the importance of an A in 20th Century Literature vs. an A in International Cuisine.
Helping students to see the goals that I have set for them in my course next to their professional ambitions has reduced the number of complaints about the general education courses that I teach and the grades they earn.
I also tell my students about the Cs and C-s that I received in college in fields of study outside of my major focus. This knowledge about me seems to help put perspective on their own experience.
The reason that I’m interested in this subject is my experience with student who do not see a C as a C but rather as an F. Bellow is an article from the New York times on the subject. Enjoy!
EDUCATION
Student Expectations Seen as Causing Grade Disputes
By MAX ROOSEVELT
Published: February 18, 2009
College professors have observed that their students feel entitled to receive A’s and B’s for simply completing basic coursework.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/18/education/18college.html
This post and related NY Times article are right on the money! I still have trouble with students' attitude that they deserve an A for a course just because they showed up and did (most of) the work. This attitude is very different from the one I grew up with going to school in the Netherlands. Grades ran from 0-10 with 10 being the highest and 0 the lowest; anything below 5.4 was considered an F. Even in elementary school a 6 or 7 was considered an average grade, an 8 was good, and 9 and 10 were considered very good grades. In high school, 9s and 10s were even more elusive than in elementary school since:
a) most our exams were essay based;
b) there was no way you knew everything there was to know about any given subject, no matter what grade you were in.
Harsh? Maybe. But when you did manage to get an 8 or 9 (or even - gasp - a 10), it gave you a tremendous sense of accomplishment, and not of entitlement.
Hi Nicole,
Thank you for sharing your personal educational experiences. These experiences I know help to influence the instructional planning and accountability that you expect of your students. We have to keep the standards high as reflected by the industry plus the students have to "earn" their grades not have them gifted to them.
Gary
Hi Aaron,
Thank you for sharing this perspective about grading. Based upon my experience you are dead on with your assessment where students are coming from. Also, thank you for the reference article. I look forward to reading it.
Gary
Hi Aaron,
Thanks for sharing the article. I look forward to reading it. Your comments about grading are dead on. You are giving them an accurate profile of how grades impact their professional development.
Gary
