Jaden Dickinson, PharmD
VA Maryland Health Care System
The education grading system was implemented over 300 years ago when European universities needed a ranking system to evaluate participants for a tournament.1 Since then, this idea of assigning and ranking students has spread worldwide as a means for evaluating one’s performance and learning. Letter and number grades have been the mainstay on how students are assessed and evaluated for acceptance into higher education. While this way of assessing learning gives some insight into the knowledge a learner has gained, it is not the most effective means of doing so. By assigning a number/grade to students, this drives conflict, lowers motivation for learning, creates higher stress levels and learning outcomes are less likely to be achieved.1,2
Our current A-F and percentage grading system leaves room for disagreement on grades and creates conflict between the learner and teacher.1 While A-F is a five rated gradation, it is defined by a number. The more gradations possible the more disagreement is likely to occur, especially if expectations are not laid out prior to assessment of the learner. The greater the likelihood for disagreement on a grade, the greater the potential for conflict to arise. Stress over grades can be related to goals one has in the future, whether it be acceptance into college, receiving a scholarship/award, etc. The lower the grade a student receives, the more likely they are to disagree with the rater and appeal their grades, even when it may not be justified. Resorting to this type of conflict hinders the relationships that students build with educators and creates an unhealthy environment for both parties.
Changing the educational grading system to one of mission-based or rubric-based outcomes motivates students to learn and excel.1-4 The current grading system does a poor job of assessing whether each learning outcome has been achieved. In other words, awarding a student an A doesn’t necessarily mean all the learning objectives were met, it is more related to task-completion. How can a letter grade assess each objective/outcome, and if so, which ones were we assessing? For this reason, many colleges/post-graduate studies have relied less on GPA and more on the whole picture (philanthropy, activities, clubs, etc.). Another way that our current grading system hinders motivation is by creating competition between students and weakening their work ethic. Students know that if they apply this much effort into their education, they will get this for a grade. Middle and higher levels of education are seeing students try to put in the least amount of effort and time to achieve the highest results.3 This may be correlated with cheating or a lazy behavior. Partial credit is a big factor for a student’s motivation to succeed.1 Educators who allow for partial credit encourage students to produce less than satisfactory work while still achieving an acceptable grade. This may be part of what is fueling the lack of motivation for students to put in effort into their education.
Stress plays an important factor into one’s education, and the intrinsic motivation for success.1 Our current education system puts pressure on the acceptance into colleges for future jobs and financial security. While colleges are slowly moving away from relying on GPA as a means for acceptance, it still plays an important factor. Many students are extrinsically motivated to simply get a good grade, but this does not necessarily mean they are truly motivated to learn. Implementing a mission-based or objectives-based grading system would evaluate students on each aspect of the outcomes and where they stand in each category. While stress would always play some role, students may find relief knowing that they are responsible for their grades. Having a system where a student is assessed on a rubric for how they meet each objective gives a clearer picture of how they can achieve the results they want while allowing for reflection and feedback from the instructor. The focus then becomes less about points, and more about meaningful ways to expand on learning. A rubric allows for less room to disagree on performance, either you didn’t, did or exceeded expectations. In the end, this can reduce stress on the student for not relying on a number to decide whether some objectives were questionably met or not, and less stress on the instructor due to less confrontation and disagreement on progress.
Overall, converting from a number-based to an outcomes/mission-based grading system promotes motivation and a healthier learning environment for teachers and students.1,2 Our current education system is a long way from seeing this change, but it can be seen in certain medical professional programs or areas where you are assessed based on actions. Here, learners are given a specific rubric with criteria for each category of meeting objectives. Rating criteria that is explicitly laid out leaves little room for interpretation and is clearly defined. Rather than focusing on grades, students can work on evaluating how they learn and implement feedback. This relates directly to future education and how to ensure students are getting the most out of their learning experiences. As a potential future educator, I want to move away from this idea of assigning numbers based on work. Pharmacy and medical programs specifically have implemented this type of rating for students when evaluating patient interactions. Students are assessed on whether they met the requirements or not. This practice of grading is clear, and students can take the feedback presented and apply it to future experiences. Changing our current educational grading system to one of objectives and outcomes can increase student motivation, especially when it is not defined by a letter or number grade.
References:
1. Nilson, L., 2015. Specifications Grading: Restoring Rigor, Motivating Students, And Saving Faculty Time. Sterling, VA: Stylus Publishing.
2. Barton A, Thomas W. A New Take on Traditional Grading System. National Association of Independent Schools. https://www.nais.org/magazine/independent-school/summer-2017/remaking-the-grade/. Published 2017. Accessed October 13, 2020.
3. Parrish Morgan A. Is It Time to Reexamine Grading?. JSTOR Daily. https://daily.jstor.org/is-it-time-to-reexamine-grading/. Published 2020. Accessed October 13, 2020.
4. Brookhart SM. Chapter 2. Grading on Standards for Achievement. In: How to Use Grading to Improve Learning. Alexandria, VA: ASCD; 2017.
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