Letter Grades, Percentage Scores, or Points

Credit: iStock.com/Neustockimages
Credit: iStock.com/Neustockimages
The importance of grades to students is difficult to overstate. The teacher arrives in the classroom with a set of exams and papers, and feel the tension start to rise. Eyes dart nervously from the stack to the teacher—will she pass them back now or make us wait to the end of period? Whenever she does, it’s quiet but for the eloquent emotional responses crossing student faces—elation, dismay, anger, frustration, despair.

To continue reading, you must be a Teaching Professor Subscriber. Please log in or sign up for full access.

One Response

  1. I love it! Especially the story about giving animal stickers. Grades really are pretty meaningless. When our college moved from numbers to a simple A-B-C system (no pluses or minuses) we saw a dramatic shift in focus from grades to learning. We need to fight against the artificial metrics that administrators and employers love so much.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Related Articles

I have two loves: teaching and learning. Although I love them for different reasons, I’ve been passionate about...
“Why does my edition of Hamlet read ‘O, that this too, too sullied flesh would melt,’” my student...
After all, nearly every large language model (LLM) is good at summarizing readings, synthesizing large amounts of data...
In 1906, Francis Galton was visiting a livestock fair when he stumbled upon an interesting contest. Local villagers...
I often wear sunglasses on my walk from my parking spot on campus to my office. I recently...
Students taking online classes represent a key part of the college-attending population. Demand for online classes and online...
As AI use continues to grow in the field of education, we are only beginning to discover potential...

Create a free account, or log in.

Gain access to limited free articles, news alerts, and select newsletters

Login here

Get unlimited access to The Teaching Professor

Stay informed. Subscribe Now.

WELCOME OFFER

$19.00 $14.00/month

for your first 6 months. Use coupon code TP6MO.

$19.00 thereafter. Cancel anytime.

Enjoy unlimited access to all of The Teaching Professor

You only have  free article views remaining.

WELCOME OFFER

$19.00 $14.00/month

for your first 6 months. Use coupon code TP6MO.

$19.00 a month thereafter. Cancel anytime.

Are you signed up for free weekly Teaching Professor updates?

You'll get notified of the newest articles.