For most students the idea of receiving an education without being judged based on letter or numeric grades is one that is totally foreign.
For some, the mere thought of earning a diploma or degree without having received any prior A’s, B’s, C’s, is an idea as unfathomable as an earth without gravity.
But simply because something is not comprehensible clearly does not mean it is not possible.
I do not assert that we abolish the current fundamental measure of educational success or failure. In fact, I am afraid that any serious alterations to the grading status quo might crumble the precarious foundations of our current system of education evaluation.
Rather than prophesize about an educational apocalypse, I would question what are perhaps illegitimate assumptions concerning the current understanding of our perennial methodology of student evaluation.
In all of my experiences so far as a student, I find it easy to conclude that many students are motivated to simply receive a higher evaluative grade. Obviously on a rudimentary level all students are motivated by grades; one must meet certain standards in order to achieve success.
What would happen if students derived their motivation from a desire to inherit coveted knowledge, strengthen critical and independent thinking skills and develop not just their academic capabilities, but also their personal and professional talents?
I maintain that the student who attends class and works towards a degree for these purposes would intellectually profit more than the student who lollygags through his or her classes, but still manages to make numerous meaningless “A’s”.
Sometimes an “A” is not meaningless and truly does represent an award for superior academic work, but often it is deceiving and actually does not.
I do not want to appear hypocritical so I must admit that I too plead guilty to having completed a course or two without putting forth any sincere intellectual effort.
However, I have sat through far too many engaging classes where students dozed in private woolgathering sessions to naively suggest that all students possess a true passion to learn. Yet I must insist that perhaps not all of the blame for such lackadaisical efforts be placed entirely upon the students. I believe that the compartmentalized nature and commercial priority of values in 21st century society places a subtle, yet serious pressure on the development of vocational or technical talent.
Therefore society is slowly hijacking and handicapping the true intentions of academic institutions.
The pressure exuded upon college students by the professional and post-graduate realms to maintain a certain GPA or, even worse, achieve a certain score on a standardized test is essentially transforming our universities into factories where the student is absent, but the robot present.
When classrooms become product lines and rows of desks conveyor belts the beauty of education is desecrated.
Do you think school would be better off with no grades? Email [email protected]