12 Responses to “The Grading of the First Exams”

1. 

   Cole February 22nd, 2009 at 5:04 pm

   These are tough questions, but good ones to be asking. The first two are sort of tough for me to answer as I work really hard to not give tests — admittedly that is easier to do in doctoral seminars than in undergraduate courses. I spent about 6 years teaching only undergrads — sometimes with classes approaching 100 students a semester and assessing them without tests was a lot of work. So with that said I probably don’t have great advice for you. I will say that just by the fact that you are moved to write, share, and seek feedback on this topic is an indication that it concerns you. Should yo make your class easier? No. Should you curve your scores? Up to you.

   The third question is the one that is more interesting and difficult. I don’t think you come off as sounding like an elitist, but as a concerned member of the academy. My wife and I spent the morning having a very similar discussion and both ended up so angry about the state of education in the US. We’ve become a nation that is so dialed into assessment and standards that we’re working to destroy what is great about education — learning. Our first grader comes home every night with nothing but worksheets from a state approved curriculum book and our graduate students read textbooks and take multiple choice exams designed by publishing companies. Sorry to say it, but it is a mess as far as I am concerned.

   I think what needs to happen is a destruction of the new social contract in our schools that sees our teachers saying I’ll give you and A if you don’t tell on me for not doing my job. Its not the teachers and it isn’t the students its a system that is so jacked up beyond recognition that fixing it may be impossible. I am proposing ignoring the system and working as hard as I can to create new opportunities for faculty and students to engage, build learning communities, and really create something meaningful where learning actually happens. I don’t know what that looks like yet, but it is certainly different than what we have.

   So with all that I can say I don’t know if College is for everyone, but that’s what we’ve said collectively for too long. I think we’ve turned education into a corporate sponsored money making scheme that is set to implode. I’ll leave you with a question — where do our best and brightest go to be challenged and to be great? I don’t know what the answer to that is.

   Thanks for the post and the invitation to participate!

2. 

   Patrick Murray-John February 22nd, 2009 at 5:25 pm

   I’m with Cole that the third question is an area where we need deep soul-searching. In the past two weeks I’ve read a NYT article (partially) about how students expect at least a B if the just read the assignments, and a blog post expressing exasperation about the state of US education. (Sorry, I don’t have the references handy).

   The upshot to my mind is that College (I’m intrigued by your use of the capitol ‘C’?), as it is currently implemented, is not for everyone. But a better, future, college is for everyone. There are wonderful contributions that people can make to the state of human knowledge even without complete, correct sentences. If we apply present-day standards to things like the US Constitution, and maybe even Milton (that’s my invitation to Gardner!), the red pen would leap right out. Brilliant paintings and sculpture don’t depend on linguistic grammar.

   That said, I do want students to know how to negotiate the expectations of any given writing context they find themselves in, and they should learn those expectations.

   To your last question, ‘where do our best and out brightest go’, I’m starting to think that right now, there aren’t any good alternatives. But I also see a lot of brilliant people rebelling against that, and looking for new arenas that can invite those people in. Maybe it’s a little slow revolution to go along with slow blogging (”Hi bgblogging!”)

   Right questions, right probings into the system.

   Patrick

3. 

   rax February 24th, 2009 at 9:39 am

   Putting in my curious two cents from a student’s side…

   Do not make your class any easier. Anecdotal evidence, but in the past I’ve had classes where the teacher did dumb things down as time went on, and it was frustrating and tedious. The kids who had been keeping up before (and I was not always in this section) were bored and felt belittled; the kids who had been struggling didn’t seem to suddenly get it, didn’t seem to try any harder than they had. Of course, the question remains how you’d make your class easier; cover less material? change your tests? grade more flexibly? Some of these may be areas to consider, others, not so much. If it’s a senior level class, though, students should expect challenging work.

   The question of mediocrity is also an interesting one; it brings to mind the George Carlin bit where he discusses PC names, actually. The problem, I think, is not of averageness itself but of the stigma and of the sense being fostered recently that no one could be average because everyone is a beautiful shining star. But not everyone’s academic performance is going to be superlative, and of course academics are not everyone’s focus. It seems that academic performance is conflated (younger and younger, too) with one’s personal worth, and that’s damaging too. Some people aren’t good at science, or math, or English, or what have you, but that in no way reflects a person’s worth.

   I had an experience very recently which I think may relate: I was writing a midterm essay. I’m an English major, this was a paper on a subject and author I love, and I was miserable doing it. I stopped for a while and tried to figure out why it would make me so miserable–why expressing myself on a subject that I am so enthusiastic about would induce in me such unpleasantness. Part of it is the idea of responsibility to the work, true, but a lot of it is the idea that every grade, every paper, etc, is another test to prove I’m human enough. It’s an attitude too often induced by the atmosphere of many schools, particularly public schools, and it seems to lead to terrible things.

   So no, I don’t think you should make your class easier. But maybe you could see how to make the material more accessible? See if there’s a way to make sure that people really are learning? The question of why students aren’t learning is one I am not at all prepared to answer, but it is worth a serious consideration.

   I’m sure this is all kind of facile analysis, but maybe it will help to hear one student’s view of things.

4. 

   rax February 24th, 2009 at 9:41 am

   (Also, because I forgot to say it earlier: Animal Behavior seems like a really fascinating class. Is it exactly what it sounds like?)

5. 

   Mike February 24th, 2009 at 11:02 am

   As a former teacher and, of course, a former student, I can relate to these questions on both sides of the coin. I did dumb down my tests at times and felt horrible about it, but I say I was just young and was trying to figure out what was wanted of me: pass the kid, or make him/her learn? I became even more frustrated that “pass the kid” was always the ultimate goal, especially since I was teaching in a private school where parents spent ‘good money’ to put their child through this worthwhile experience.
   I never saw the need to scale because I always had kids who worked for a good grade. I felt I would cause more damage to the hard-workers’ motivation and self-worth than those who didn’t put forth the effort by presenting false results.
   I agree with opinions professed herein that the system is to blame. I also think that a university education is not for everyone. Teens often need to work at 16, and are sometimes best suited to continue working right out of high school, asserting their right to a college degree if and when they see the need. In other words, the choice of pursuing a college education is generally not in the kids’ hands. While it can be argued that most kids are not yet ready to make those kinds of choices, it ends up not benefitting anyone when low-motivation or low-aptitude kids get into college, through no fault of their own.
   The system is too comfortable with itself to just change overnight. There are also major social factors at work that keep it in place: ‘legacy’ students getting a good degree because of social standing and not hard work, employers equating a bachelor’s degree with ‘competence’ based on supposed standard guidelines needed to have graduated to that point, college being the accepted measure of one’s growth spurt from adolescence into adulthood, et al. However, like the business world where these social inhibitors intensify, there are places where one can go to get the most out of their education and to flourish in the real world. There are educators like you who do not dumb anything down, who have high standards, and who know the value of and reward hard work. Though we want to help the children as a whole through difficulties of life with simplified or standardized rules and regulations, they need to find their own path to learning that the world is not so simple and that the most important thing to making positive contributions to the world is to keep their integrity and maintain high standards for themselves, even when others don’t seem to be.

6. 

   Steve Terry February 24th, 2009 at 5:41 pm

   Playing the role of the protagonist, with regards to teaching and learning at a large public institution – I am not sure I totally agree with any of the comments that college is not for everyone. As a part-time adjunct professor, coupled with my current career as an information technologist in higher ed and having a former background as an artist (if actors can still be labeled artists) – I have always been fascinated with what makes a student “tick”. You have to admit, we have all been fascinated by the experience of having a student, that was initially considered below average, suddenly making the leap to next level to become one of the best students we have ever seen, or that became successful beyond our wildest dreams. In fact, at Ball State, David Letterman has a plaque that reads, “Dedicated to all the C students before and after me”.

   When I became an IT administrator at Memphis eight years ago, and since I had a terminal degree in theatre, I thought it would be a terrific idea if I taught an Introduction to Theatre course as a way to re-connect with students and the academic community. My first experience was a disaster. My students were ill-equipped for college, most did not seem to be very interested in learning about the theatre and since this was a gen-ed class, they treated the course like a high school requirement rather than the glorious college course I had created for them. I became disillusioned and cynical with how far higher education had slummed since my glory years as an undergraduate student. However, when I reflected back on the details of my undergraduate career – I quickly realized I had been one of those students I was now trying to teach. My undergraduate career had ended on high note, by winning a full graduate scholarship at a prestigious institution – but it began with a cumulative 1.75 GPA my freshman year.

   For me, I found my connection to the academy through the collaborative art form of the theatre. I quickly became fascinated with plays, the technical aspects of the theatre and with world views and historical events that helped shape this art form. The catalyst of “..the play’s the thing” (couple with the fact that beautiful women hung around the theatre department) took me on my academic journey that was rich and life-changing. That catalyst, or hook is what we must all strive for if we are to continue to work in higher ed.

   Of course, I strongly believe that technology might be the enabler to which we can begin to find new tools to engage the “below average student”. My most recent epiphany about how we must strive to find those “hooks” to help students connect came a about eighteen months ago, when after building a new a new podcasting service for my university, I asked a very senior, full professor if podcasting his lectures was a benefit to his students; he responded, “…you know, I don’t if podcasting my lectures is breaking any new ground – but if there is a potential for a “F” student to become a “C” student, or a “C” student in becoming an “A” student by listening to my lectures more than once – then I say it is more than worth it.”

   Just like a hit song or a TV commercial that appeals to broad audience – we must look for the “hooks” to engage the majority of our students, especially the below-average student.

7. 

   Terry February 24th, 2009 at 7:11 pm

   Asking questions, reflecting on teaching can lead to powerful insights. One thing I have been considering is: why are these students in this class? I realized that I was making an assumption: that students were in my class to learn to be a scholar, like me. Are we really just teaching these classes to “weed out” the 95% who won’t go on to graduate school to become scholar/ teachers. So what ARE the outcomes that the students and I can agree on? What should they know and be able to do by the end of the course? When will they get to practice the skills in a formative way, getting feedback? I also realized that most of my students don’t learn in the same way I do. There was a good article about this in Change, and it has also shaped my thought on this. I think the key is to shape the course not around readings and lectures, but around “face time” and ways that they can use the classroom time to work on material using the kinds of skills they need to practice. For instance, can they work in groups, collaborate, work on case studies, etc. Check out all the great ideas at this site:http://www.vcu.edu/cte/resources/active_learning.htm

   It really isn’t about “harder” or “easier.” It is about creating a learning environment where students become inspired– and feel supported– to meet challenges that will serve them for a lifetime.

8. 

   Steve Terry February 25th, 2009 at 8:29 am

   Terry – I really liked the comment, “So what ARE the outcomes that the students and I can agree on?” Any thoughts on how to manifest this contract for a course?

9. 

   Dr. C. February 25th, 2009 at 8:46 am

   Quick interjection from the peanut gallery: I’d love to find a different word than “contract,” as it just reinforces the goods-and-services-for-pay metaphor that (in my view) is well on its way to ruining education.

   Back to the discussion!

10. 

    Steve Terry February 25th, 2009 at 11:46 am

    Valid point – I will acquiesce to Dr. C. However, what should you call it? A pact or an understanding?

11. 

    Gardner February 25th, 2009 at 10:14 pm

    Two good options!

    Covenant, maybe?

12. 

    admin February 27th, 2009 at 9:01 pm

    Thank you all so much for your input! I appreciate the time and effort that were clearly put in to your comments, you’ve given me a lot to process.

    I found the idea of the covenant/pact/understanding with students interesting…it raised additional questions for me (shocker)in terms of teaching in science. Unfortunately, a science education isn’t always super engaging and sometimes there’s not that much to be done to make the material more interesting. An example: in the lab I teach at Baylor, we’ve been working on neuroanatomy. It is very tedious to learn, and very hard to learn by doing anything other than lots and lots of repetition and wrote memorization. It’s hard, all the structures look the same, and it’s no fun to learn. The problem is: if these students want a degree in neuroscience, they’re going to have to learn neuroanatomy, regardless of how little they might enjoy it.

    So what do we do with classes like that where there’s a clear agenda of what the students should know on the other side?

    The other point I very much resonated with was the idea that the public school system is simply flawed. There was a great report that came out in 2007 (McKinsey & Company) that investigated why the world’s best schools come out on top every time. Turns out it has nothing to do with class size or funding, but everything to do with the quality of the teacher, and until the US starts valuing their teachers and makes teaching a competitive and high-status position, public schools will continue to flounder.

    Anyway, all that to say, I very much enjoyed reading your thoughts on these topics, and I hope to interact with you all again soon! Thanks!