this is the class blog for the EDUC 578 Learning and Technology course at the University of San Diego
Monday, October 24, 2011
Daniel Pink on Grades
I found this shortened video of Dan Pink on a Washington D.C. television show from Larry Ferlazzo's blog. As we have been reading Pink and I am extremely interested in the concept of learning versus grades (as we have discussed in class), I thought you all might find this interesting. . .
So my question for the class is this: By taking grades out of the equation, do you find that you are learning more in this class over a class where you have to worry about the grade? Explain.
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I think for me, personally, I get a little bit stressed out about not working for a grade. This is because I have been "conditioned" in society to always be looking for that "A". Sometimes that means extreme effort and application of knowledge, but sometimes it is for regurgitating information all semester long. I got mostly As growing up (before I got to college), and I feel like I couldn't tell you anything I learned. I am a total "do what I have to to get an A" person. I've been trying to change that by adding my personal best in the equation. I am very hard on myself and I always ask myself what else I could be doing to be a better student. I think that it is now intrinsic in me to do my personal best, but I still want the A. Why do I want the A? Because society cares about the A. Because grad schools look at your GPA. Because it matters to important people who will give you the opportunities you need (such as getting into a Masters or Doctorate program or getting a job in some cases). I think in order to fix this "problem" with grades, we have to change the "system". When the people who "matter" such as colleges and hiring managers stop caring about what grades you get, only then will we be able to take the emphasis off of grades. I like Pink's stance on what is motivating students, the grade or the learning? I think it takes a lot of time and maturity to transition from placing the importance on the grade to learning, and in our society where grades are valued so much, I'd say it would take a heck of a lot of work to change that.
ReplyDeleteMuch like Sherilyn, I have been so conditioned to the grade mindset. Between self-satisfaction and cultural expectations, getting an "A" is what was needed throughout my schooling career. But because I have always been so grade oriented, I cannot guarantee that I actually did learn because my focus was not necessarily on the content but rather the grade. I think taking the grade out of the question does relieve some pressure. However, it does not mean that I do not think about it. I am all for learning and know that a letter grade is not the best representation for it. If we are judging learning through understanding, then we may never truly know how much a student has actually learned because there are clear cut lines. And that is the issue with grades, we are trying to put a definite on something that is subjective. Therefore, I do believe that more learning occurs in content centered classrooms over grade centered classrooms.
ReplyDeleteI don't see a correlation between 'grades and learning' so much as 'grades and motivation' or 'content and learning'. However this may be a symptom of my being a fairly intrinsically motivated student.
ReplyDeleteDo I care about my grades? Absolutely. Am I learning more or less in this class because the grade issue is off the table? I don't think so. I feel that I am learning a great deal in this class thanks to the content. I would do that with or without the pressure of achieving an A (though I must say it is quite a relief to have that pressure relieved for the first time in my academic career). Still, it's not affecting my performance. After 17+ years in the system I don't know how to be as a student without grading myself and I think that pressure is what keeps me focused.
I like what Christina said in the send of seeing a correlation between grades and motivation, but at the same time I can also see that as an inverse relationship. I think that grades have taken over as the main purpose of why we go to class, but that is not created always from the teacher, but from society. You can't go to Harvard unless you have a 4.0. You might not be able to be an engineer unless you have a good grade point average. In my opinion, grades aren't always the retention from the content you learn, but your ability to learn a content. School is a way for you to find answers, not just memorize them. In my curriculum class I really like how we are discussing that sometimes its how you grade, not what you grade. By grading students with real world assessments (such as interviews and projects) instead of traditional cut and dry topical multiple choice we are giving them a better connection to the learning instead of just memorization of the content. Like it was said in the interview, he got an A in the six years of french, but he doesn't speak the language. The only thing however, is that if he really wanted to, he would have the ability to know HOW to learn the language, even though he did not memorize every verse.
ReplyDeleteLike how everyone else mentioned, I have definitely been conditioned to do my best or meet the necessary requirements to get an A in a particular class. With taking grades out of the equation, it definitely relieves some pressure to meet those top requirements and I definitely feel less pressure to be perfect and let myself really learn because I actually want to learn more about the tools and ideas we have been talking about these past few weeks. On the other hand, like Sherilyn and Marissa mentioned, I still do think about the "grade" in the end because we are so conditioned to be grade-oriented.
ReplyDeleteI think that I don't worry as much about this class as I do the others that I am so concerned about the grade. Not having to think about the grade to me makes it a little more relaxing. In the back of my head I know that there is inevitably a grade that I should worry about but for time being its not that big of a worry. It makes me feel like I can explore the tools at my pace and have it be more about me learning it to learn, not to get a grade.
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