Sajila Nudrat | Health Editor
Featured Image: The grading system is not the most effective means to measure the intelligence of students. | Courtesy of Flickr
A bad grade can ruin your day. The reaction to a poor grade differs greatly from person to person. A few may laugh it off, others may use the criticism as motivation to do better, and some let the assessment of their work by another person consume them.
The purpose of a grading system is to assess various levels of achievement based on standardized measurements.
For some students, a bad grade can lead to more than just a wake-up call to do better next time. The poor grade can alter their mood, and affect both their physique and psyche. A simple letter at the top of an essay, assignment, or exam can create undue stress on a student, and cause them to spiral down a dark hole of self-doubt, culminating in an inaccurate examination of their own self-worth, all based on a subjective assessment by someone else.
The driving force behind studying for students is to get a good grade; in a society excelling in academia, this can only be achieved and showcased through quantified measures. With the need to excel constantly plaguing the minds of students, they set goals for themselves, and sometimes, when those goals are not achieved, it can be emotionally exhausting.
The question is, do these grades produce the incentive to work harder and focus one’s mind, or are they simply a tool to keep one in check, and shape an individual’s thought process to conform to standards society deems acceptable?
Essentially, this depends on how professors or teaching assistants grade students, and what they base their marking scheme on. If students are graded based on how rigorously they follow the criteria provided to them, it’s not necessarily an examination of their knowledge, but how well they can regurgitate what the professor wants to read, on paper.
Dr. Celia Popovic, director of the Teaching Commons at York University, was asked what effects she believes the grading system has on students. “Assessment of learning is a complex subject—from the students’ point of view, it can be the focal point of a course, for an instructor, it might be the least important part—instructors want their students to learn, and, while students also want to learn, it is the grade that seems to matter the most, since this can be the barrier to what comes next. Worry about grades, maintaining a particular average, or fear of failing an exam, are common causes of stress for students. Ironically, stress is an inhibitor when it comes to learning,” she says.
An anonymous third-year health and society student was asked about her beliefs regarding the grading system. “I believe grading is a form of judgement, and that, in most cases, belittles one’s confidence throughout their academic years. I don’t think it’s fair for them to place a grade on someone’s performance in tests or assignments because it doesn’t take into consideration that individual’s mental state when trying to complete academic tasks. Personally, during my high school years, I would always compare myself to my classmates who would get better grades than me, and I would always think I was dumb. If I did get a good grade and told them, they would make me feel as though the assignment was too easy, hence the reason for my ‘easy A’ so to speak,” they said.
It’s understandable for a grading system to be considered a necessity within a university setting, however, it may not be sufficient as a form of measuring both intellect, and competence.
When Dr. Popovic was asked about the positive effects of the grading system, she replies: “Grades focus minds. Instructors often feel discouraged when students say ‘will it be on the exam?’ or ‘what do I need to do get an A, (or a B etc)?’ But this is a reasonable response when, as a society, we put such weight on grades. Aiming for a particular grade, and that might be an A or it could be simply to pass, can be motivating, and it can help students to focus their attention. In some circumstances, it is the most effective way to rank students. For example, when applying for a competitive course, the grade achieved in a previous course or program can be the best indicator of who is most likely to succeed in the new course or program.”
The grading system can have adverse effects on students. Instead of being a means to motivate them to do better, it can pit them against one another. Friendly competition turns into a race to determine who can be the best, all while tearing the competition down. Instead of helping one another, students instead try to outdo each other. This benefits no one; instead of learning from one another, students are forced into competing with their peers, especially if their grades are a determining factor towards their future. When it comes to post-secondary and graduate school, a student’s grades play a large role in determining whether or not they continue their academic pursuits. That is how post-secondary institutions and graduate schools determine which students to accept, and who they turn down.
The anonymous student also agreed that grades can be beneficial, however there should be some limitations. “I believe that grading should only take place when attending college or university. For someone to attend university or college means that they are seen, or view themselves as an individual. So receiving a grade for your completion of work either shows your progressing well, or that you may not be grasping the information as well as you thought. Better alternatives to the current grading system would be one-on-one peer reviews. Students can write personal journals, then provide a grade for themselves on what they think they deserve and why, compared to the program requirements.”
Limitations on the grading system from an early age may help to improve the self-esteem of students. However, should the system as a whole be abolished? Dr. Popovic agrees that there are negative aspects to such a system. “Grades can get in the way of learning. We tend to measure what is measurable, which may not always be the same thing as what we consider to be the most important learning. For example, if the final assessment is a multiple choice test that relies on memory and recollection of facts, students get the message that memory recall is what is important. While that may play a role, other more complex skills such as critical analysis or application of ideas may be undervalued if they aren’t also measured.”
Hannah Williams, a third-year French studies student, echoed Dr. Popovic’s sentiments. “I think it’s necessary to be graded, but at times it can be stressful because it convinces us a grade or a number represents our entire intellect, when that’s not all it is.” When asked if the grading system has its merits, she agreed, but acknowledged it is not without its limits. “It’s good to know where you are in your learning, but I wouldn’t say that that is the only indication of your knowledge of the subject—people learn differently. It has affected me mentally—I feel like a lot of people just see a number or a letter and they think that they’re dumb or they’re not smart, but they’re smart in other aspects. Sometimes I get anxiety and sometimes people might get depressed because they think they’re going to fail their program or they’re not going to get a grade high enough to pass.”
These ideas or notions of ‘inadequeay’ lead to self-doubt, which in turn affects students’ self-esteem. Some of the consequences of such thoughts have physical implications as well. In her experience, Dr. Popovic believes that the grading system does have physical and psychological effects, and not just for the students, “but also for the instructor or TA who is doing the grading. There is pressure to ensure that grading is fair and consistent—will two students with the same performance achieve the same grade? When there are several people grading the same course, are we sure that they are doing so consistently or is one grader a hawk and the other a dove (i.e. one gives higher grades than the other for work of similar standard.)? There are many ways to mitigate against this, but the worry is there for instructors to ensure they are being fair.”
Darian Panton, a second-year, interactive media design student, says a student’s regard for grades being fair or not has more to do with personal performance. “For my course, if a mark is low, I know it’s also because I was not putting in that much effort, or I just half-assed it at the last second. Low marks, if I deserve them, make me feel like I should have done better. If I feel like I put in a lot of effort and I still got a low mark then I’d be like ‘oh man what did I do wrong?’ or ‘why does this teacher have to be so hard?’”
Criticism is not always constructive. Sometimes, students pour their heart and soul into a piece of work, only for it to fail to meet the marker’s standards. What good does that really do for the students? If the work they believe to be their best is not rewarded as such, how can they sharpen their creative minds without the spark of this dying ember extinguishing?
Panton does believe there is some merit to being graded. “If you can tell what areas you need improvement in, then you know how to do better the next time. If there is a way to mark someone that doesn’t involve the writing of an essay, then I think that should be explored.”
When asked what ways he would change the marking system, Panton responded with making the letter B grade more attainable. “I know a bunch of people that get like 67-69 and they’re just like ‘oh man if I just did something a little better, if didn’t mess up that one word, I could have gotten a B.’”
Dr. Popovic was also asked if she believed grading students is the most effective way of evaluating performance. “I wonder if we could consider grading less, and learning more. Do we really need to assess every course, or could we implement fewer exams? There are alternatives, some might seem quite radical, some are commonly used in other countries. One that I personally would like to advocate is to move away from using grading to distinguish between different students, instead to look at competences. To ask ourselves ‘what are the key things that a graduate on this program needs to know or be able to do?’ We already do this, as each program has Program Level Outcomes. We could think of these as competences, that students are required to demonstrate—have they achieved the competence? Yes or no. With this approach the onus is on the student to show they know, or can do something, rather than how they compare with anyone else. The end result is fewer exams, a focus on the positive, and more engagement from the student in focusing on their learning,” she responds.
Timothea Huynh, a second-year criminology student who recently transferred to York, is still figuring out the ins and outs of York’s grading system. “Sometimes it makes me feel like I’ve done really well, better than I thought I would have done, and other times it just brings me down because their grading is really tough.”
Huynh also discussed the grading system’s merits and says: “I believe the feedback they give, benefits me, but the grading itself doesn’t give me any motivation to do better because the way they grade is very nitpicky.”
Dr. Popovic wanted to remind students that all hope is not lost. “Your instructors at York teach what they teach because they love their subject and want you to be as enthusiastic about it as they are! They aren’t trying to trip you up with exams and graded work, they want to help you to succeed.”
The system may seem like it’s failing to achieve anything other than the recognition of those who excel in ‘book smarts.’ Unfortunately, in this society, intellect in the classroom is valued more than anything else. If that is to change, the ideas and norms surrounding the perception of intelligence must change. There are more ways to measure and evaluate an individual’s knowledge. Albert Einstein—one of the greatest minds in human history—is famously quoted as saying “Everyone’s a genius, but if you judge a fish on its ability to climb a tree, it will live its entire life believing it is stupid.” Whether or not Einstein said this is irrelevant. The message remains the same.
Ironically enough, it is the people running our universities who need to be educated on the problems we have with grading, and learn ways to adapt them.
