Quantcast
Channel: Looking to the Future » PFP14S
Viewing all articles
Browse latest Browse all 10

What would I change about higher education?

0
0

So…I have been thinking about this post for a while now. One could almost say that it has been looming over me. I have been trying to figure out what it is about this particular blog prompt that has made it so challenging for me, and I think that what it boils down to is that I do not have a good answer. I mean, I can write an answer, and I can ramble on at length about ideas that I might have, but I do not have a definitive solution that I can offer. I am not sure why that bothers me. I suppose that, having finished two semesters of coursework related to pedagogy and issues in higher education, I feel like I should have answers and solutions. Anyhow, I am rambling a bit. Let me get back to the topic of this post. The thing that I would most like to change about higher education is our reliance on quantitative grading and assessment. Frankly, I feel that our grading system, and the related issue of standardized testing, are an issue at all levels of education. Rather than make up elaborate examples, I think I will just reference the discussion that took place during our second-to-last class session (April 28th). During this class, we spent an inordinate amount of time discussing criteria for evaluating our assignment to make regular, insightful blog posts. We actually spent a frustrating amount of time discussing quotas, and length, and quality versus quantity in our very first class of the semester. The recent discussion was even more frustrating, but I suppose it helps to illustrate my point. We are a class that consists entirely of graduate students, most with a professed interest in teaching and working in academia. Some already have such experience. Yet still, within our midst, are people who find it difficult to let go of the traditional outlook on grading and evaluation.

Throughout my entire educational experience, grades have overshadowed actual learning. Whether intentional or not, most students in the United States grow up knowing that grades are not only important, but can actually influence your future success in life. I want to laugh at this notion, an dismiss it with haughty derision in my voice, but my own experience tells me that I must do otherwise. Success at standardized testing allowed me to have a qualitatively better educational experience as a child than many of my peers by allowing me to participate in an accelerated program that gave me cause to love learning and school in a way that I had not previously thought possible. In high school, I took all of the most challenging classes that I could, and worked to try to earn college credit. Meanwhile, many of my classmates played it safe and took a less challenging course load, consequently earning higher GPAs than me (and understand that my GPA was not bad). These were also the students who earned scholarships that I had applied for and been denied. Flash forward many years, and you will find me applying to graduate schools once more. It has been almost a decade since I earned my M.S., and even longer since I earned my B.S. I naturally must retake the GRE, and I score quite well upon it. I contact numerous faculty members at various institutions about possibly conducting research in their respective labs. I interact at length with one, and everything goes well. The only thing that needs to be confirmed is my eligibility for a fellowship that would cover my stipend and tuition. I then learn that I am denied, because my undergraduate GPA is too low. My. Undergraduate. GPA. My almost perfect GPA and almost perfect GRE scores matter not. I am still declined. So sadly, despite my disdain for grades at this point in my career, I understand why students place such emphasis on them.

The result of this emphasis on grades leads students to have priorities that sometimes conflict with actual learning. Concern for grades makes students exceptionally risk-averse, and rather than taking classes that are challenging or interesting, students are often more inclined to take the path of least resistance. Completing minimum requirements and looking for ways to “work the system” become more important than exploration and discovery. Another drawback, as evidenced by our in-class discussion last week, is a loss of adaptability. Rather than being comfortable with general guidelines, suggestions, and recommended amounts, we find ourselves looking for guidance and structure, for rules and quotas. Students develop a dependence of sorts on this structure, and end up being uncomfortable when that framework is altered or stripped away. I think that our grading system and standardized testing also contribute to lower quality teaching on the part of instructors. Teachers can end up “teaching to the test”, in order to improve scores on standardized tests. For some teachers, this also facilitates “laziness” on the part of those who arrange assessment that requires the minimum amount of work necessary. Providing a numerical score on a multiple choice exam is far less taxing for the instructor than providing a qualitative assessment for each student…but it is also far less valuable for the student.

So if I am so unhappy with our grading system, what do I propose to do about it? That is the question that I really did not want to have to answer. Still, I think I would be remiss if I did not at least speculate on this topic. My first thought is that it would certainly be difficult to get rid of assessment altogether. Rather than having a grading scale, however, I wonder if we would be better off adjusting our criteria to accommodate a pass/fail model. Assuming that students meat the learning objectives of the class, why does there need to be a range of grades, especially at the level of higher education? Perhaps during the course of a college career, students could be tasked with building a “portfolio”. Along with putting together and justifying a course of study, and collecting letters of reference, students would essentially build a collection of projects and representative samples of work that highlights the student’s experience and training. This portfolio could then be judged by a panel in order to determine eligibility for graduation. Maybe it would also be the basis for applications to continue in higher education, or for job interviews, etc. I am sure that there are flaws with this idea, and I imagine that better ideas have been proposed. I would love to hear some of them! Just…no more discussion about blogging quotas, OK?

Thanks for reading!

 

 


Viewing all articles
Browse latest Browse all 10

Latest Images

Trending Articles





Latest Images