Talk:Foundations and Assessment of Education/Edition 1/Foundations Table of Contents/Chapter 14/14.1.1

Reader Responses
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I feel that teachers should assign grades to students for assignments so students have motivation to complete assignments and to complete them well. I feel that teachers should assign students grades of a,b,c,d,or f not zeros though. The reason I feel this way is because students should not be given zeroes because it brings down their average way too much if they receive a zero on one assignment, and the zero does not teach them to do well on the next assignment. I feel that grades should also be used as a way to monitor students progress so they know where they are with the material throughout the semester. I feel grades are a good way for students to realize how they are doing on assignments, and also what they need to do to change the way they are doing assignments so that they can get a better grade. I feel that without grades students will not be able to measure their progress as adequately. Rburt005 (talk) 00:46, 5 August 2009 (UTC)

I feel that grades should always be assigned. The normal grading scale (A-F) should be used. I also believe in giving zeros. Though they may bring down averages, if given the correct way, the student will be motivated to do better on the next assignment to bring up their grade. Good teachers give zeros but also provide ways for their students to bring their grade back up. Grades are a good way for students to monitor how they're doing and how close or far they are from their final goal. Without grades, what is school, really? Sbutl016 (talk) 21:12, 6 August 2009 (UTC)

I stand firmly by the concept of given grades and maintaining today's grading policy. This article really went into details of the grading system and even the "zeros". believe that student should work for what they get, even if it is a zero. How ever I believe in positive feedback and giving the student a chance to realize that improvement is needed. I fell as though sometimes a bad grade can motivate the student to do better in the next assignment. This was overall an article I really enjoyed reading.Ehern004 (talk) 22:40, 9 August 2009 (UTC)

Burn the grades. Throw them to the lions. Smash them with sledgehammers, we could have kids step up and demolish huge, symbolic A’s and B’s and C’s for three bucks a swing. Grades should not be one’s motivation for learning. Grades will only make a student perform up to par, in order to inspire true learning, or any semblance of retention of knowledge a student must want to learn. Grades merely inhibit those who wish to learn with additional tripe and discourage those who don’t want to learn from trying to improve. I think grades are archaic. They’re done. They should go the way of asbestos insulation and A-track players. BitterAsianMan (talk) 07:26, 10 August 2009 (UTC)

It is obvious that you spent a lot of time on this article. I’m not sure where I stand on the whole grading issue. For me grades were never motivational, I was expected by my parents to get good grades, it did not matter if that was an A, 100 or Above expectations on an Interim Report. I also learned by High School how to manipulate the system to get the exact grade I wanted, that way I could slack off when wanted. So maybe the author is right in stating that if students are less aware of what grade classification they are being assigned at any given time, they could be more intrinsically motivated. Rcoll029 (talk) 05:03, 11 August 2009 (UTC)

Grades are worthwhile. It is useful to everyone in invovled in education for students to have grades. No grading system may be perfect, but in general, grades gauge students progress in a way that is important and helpful. The author of the section on grading, lists a number of drawbacks to grading. While these drawbacks need to be considered by educators, they are avoidable, even within the context of a system of grading. A student's interest in learning can be maintained while there are still expectations for grading. Students might look for short cuts and forget some of what they learned, but these problems are no less of a problem without grading. In my view, all of these problems can be corrected and maintain a system of grading. Mbrowder (talk) 01:18, 17 August 2009 (UTC)