Education and its grading problem
The education system has gone through numerous changes and revisions since it was first established. However, one of its biggest problems often holding students back is yet to be fully addressed. This problem is the grading system, which is often seen as a core component of the education system and challenging to change or replace. In the following part of the text, we will discuss why grading can be so problematic for so many students and some currently suggested ways of dealing with this problem that plagues all schools.
The grading system
According to the article by Christine Lee[1], letter grading has started being used in education only in the 1940s, with only a bit more than half of the American schools adopting the system 30 years later. While this information is specific to the United States, it is sufficient to say that what many consider a traditional form of assessing students is quite a young system that has had a limited time to evolve enough to overcome its potential and proven shortcomings.
The same article also mentions that this form of grading students was somewhat contested ever since its conception. Among the listed reasons are the shifts in priorities that might occur in students subjected to this system. More specifically, the worry was that grading could move the primary focus from the learning process to the outcomes of exams. In practical terms, this could mean anything from using less creative learning methods to an incentive to cheat rather than learn. In our opinion, these worries were well-founded and have persisted to influence students even today.
There are, however, more problems that can be found within this kind of grading system. As is briefly described by Scott Jaschik[2] in his article, attendees of a workshop focused on this very topic complained about things like the lack of consistency in grading. This fact can become apparent in any test not made entirely out of closed questions. Different teachers can give different grades for a test with the same answers in this regard. This fact contradicts one of the most often used defenses of the traditional grading system, the notion that it is an entirely objective measure of a student’s knowledge and their ability to apply it.
Such a problem can even be observed in more objective fields such as mathematics. The teacher is the one who determines the worth of any single mistake, a measure that quickly becomes entirely subjective. Some can ‘go easy’ on the students and still grade a task with many mistakes positively. In contrast, others can give an F to a student who made a single mistake while claiming that the error they made was so critical that it reduced the value of the rest of their work to zero. When we view grading from such a position, it becomes exceedingly more difficult to see it as an objective way of measuring what a student has learned.
Furthermore, testing often takes place out of broader context. For example, many questions in both a written and a spoken exam can be intentionally made straightforward to test the basic theory. Answering such a question can determine that the student has the necessary knowledge but won’t let us know if they can appropriately apply it to something more practical. This issue can be partially resolved by introducing more detailed questions to simulate a situation outside the academic field. Still, we will leave this area alone as it goes beyond what we want to discuss in this article.
Grading supplements
The inclusion of feedback in the grading system attempts to improve this problematic way of assessing students. However, even this area of education is often subjected to scrutiny from various viewpoints. Among the more common issues highlighted both by students and other external viewers is the lack of personalization, the feedback being too general to be helpful, or even too vague or straightforward to provide any information that the student could use. On the teacher’s side, we can also get some complaints, primarily time constraints, when giving feedback to dozens if not hundreds of students. Combined with other professional duties, it can become challenging to find the time necessary to provide feedback that will be both helpful and supportive of the student.
This debate can also be shifted to the question of whether something like written feedback is even desirable. Olga Wojtas wrote a short article[3] in which he expresses the idea that students are not interested in what their teachers have to say. He based this claim on research at Sunderland, which concluded that some students would even throw the feedback away if they do not like the grade they have received. We once again return to the shortcomings of the grading system when we consider this idea, as it seemingly creates a tunnel vision in many students who become disinterested in learning as the final grade is all that matters to them.
While the implication of a statement claiming students don’t even care about getting feedback from their teachers and tutors can be harrowing, it is also contested. Research conducted on students in Malaysia presented findings showing that most students were appreciative of the feedback they have received and recognized the value in getting these messages from their teachers.[4] However, the idea that some students are so focused on the grade they were given that they pay little to no attention to the feedback that came along with the mark is still there and presents a cause for concern.
Grading as motivation
Quite often, grading will be used as a motivation for students. Teachers and schools can do this in many different ways, from reminding them that their future careers depend on how well they will perform in the school to offering tuitions if the student’s grades remain above a set line. One of the researches regarding feedback we had already mentioned before [4] looked into the option of a lecturer posting the marks that their students get on a notice board in a fully public setting. This act was to allow students to assess their position regarding their peers in hopes of increasing motivation. However, such an approach could also create competitiveness within the classroom environment.
While all of this can sound fine or even good on paper, some studies suggest that using motivation like this can be more detrimental than helpful. For example, an older article from the year 1985[5] studied the effects of presenting a reward to groups of writers. Results showed that whenever a potential reward was proposed, the writers would become less creative in their work than those who were not writing for the sake of being rewarded. While this study is quite old, another one from 2018[6] partially affirms these findings by stressing that their creativity will significantly suffer if individuals perceive a reward as a potential threat. As a result, their behavior will become more hostile and aggressive towards others. On the other hand, if an individual perceives a reward as a challenge, the opposite can occur, and their creativity will increase along with the usage of creative work methods.
Considering these articles’ findings, we can infer that motivation can positively and negatively impact students’ work. While the 2018 article focuses on working adults and their workplace practices, the core idea of their findings can be transferred to the classroom environment as well. In that case, the previous example of creating a competitive atmosphere among the students might not necessarily be a negative form of motivation. However, due to the subjective nature of how different individuals may perceive such motivations, it can become challenging to find a universal way of boosting student creativity. Therefore, as the authors that came to these conclusions suggest, it becomes crucial to stress the importance of being creative and reinforcing the student’s existing intrinsic motivation.
Another issue that can happen early on is associating motivation with the lack of usefulness in the act itself. For example, suppose young children or even adults are clearly presented with a reward at the end of a specific task. In that case, it can instill the idea that the task itself has no inherent value, as there has to be a reward for anyone to be doing it in the first place. Suppose this concept becomes part of an individual’s view of education. In that case, intrinsic motivation to study for the sake of learning might be replaced by studying for the sake of rewards. On such an occasion, the student becomes more incentivized to cheat or choose less complicated classes instead of classes that might interest them. Not to mention that their work efficiency will then be significantly reduced once such rewards are removed.
Proposed solutions
Changes to the education system on a bigger scale come slowly and with great difficulties. However, despite the current trends observed in schools being relatively young, they are fully integrated into the practices of many teachers and tutors across the globe who might have problems adapting to newer and more student-friendly techniques. Despite this, we can focus on improving the academic environment before any more extensive sweeping changes arrive to foster friendly and creativity-rewarding places for children and young adults that have yet to find their role in the world.
Marjan Laal and Seyed Mohammad Ghodsi wrote a short article[7] focusing on collaboration in learning. By highlighting the positive outcomes of working together rather than competing or working individually, it is easy to see how such a model could help shift the focus from extrinsic motivation provided by rewards to fostering intrinsic interest in the subject reinforces between peers and friends. Opposed to the previously mentioned competitiveness that can improve the creativity of some whole lower it for others, working together should be far more effective in introducing social aspects based on positive interactions rather than negative ones.
While collaboration and working in teams is an already ongoing trend in higher education, such practices are often lacking in high schools or even elementary schools. However, reasons for this are numerous and beyond the scope of what we want to discuss here. But by introducing a more collaboration-based environment, we could help turn students away from hostile competitiveness and potentially even help more introverted students overcome social hurdles that pose a significant obstacle in the lives of nearly all teenagers. Moreover, these experiences should help them in the future, given how often it is necessary to work together with others once they are out of school and in a paying job.
However, collaboration is only one of many aspects that schools and teachers should keep in mind. As a research article focused on academic work in groups[8] states, some individuals might be dissatisfied with such work for various reasons. The question here becomes whether these negative feelings stem purely from a student’s personality or whether negative experiences from prior work are at fault. The author mentions, among other reasons, one of being unable to showcase one’s knowledge and abilities adequately because of the presence of other team members. Another reason could be the student’s feeling that the rest of the group is not trying nearly as hard as they should, thus dragging the student down. But could these perceptions disappear if we focus more on the learning and collaborative process rather than concentrating the students at the collective grade the group will receive at the end?
Another element that should be highlighted is teacher-student communication. This one might almost appear obvious, yet many teachers, especially those in elementary and high schools, can fall into a pattern of primarily focusing on lecturing rather than adequately communicating. Yet, according to findings of a study from the year 2000[9], a teacher’s ability to communicate with students is imperative. Whether a teacher, the person who is seen as an authority figure in these environments, can appropriately interact with the student body might determine the classroom atmosphere and the difficulty of a student’s learning process. Many students can surely attest to having had a teacher who was only interested in reciting what he was supposed to and then ending the class without further discussion or even paying attention to what the students were doing.
Finally, we would like to mention the inclusion of student choice here. Much like all of the previous points, adding options to individual subjects and classes can be extraordinarily difficult. Universities can have more leeway due to their more individual structures, but high schools often have rigorous sets of topics that the students must learn in specific classes. But, again, like the problem with grades themselves, this is part of a straightforward system meant to allow for objective testing of a student’s ability at the end of their study. Of course, not every subject will be attractive to all students, but they are all seen as necessary by those in charge, and letting students choose what parts of these classes they want and which they do not want can directly interfere with these plans. All we can suggest here is that teachers try to include as much freedom in their subjects as they can without going against the necessary curriculum.
Conclusion
With the current structure of our education system, it might be all but impossible to replace grades. However, there are many things that we can do to supplement them to shift the focus of students from seeing grades and titles as rewards. In addition, by adding additional feedback, comments, and discussions, teachers can more accurately point out the areas where the student might be lacking or positively reinforce what they have done correctly. Introducing discussions on both individual and class levels might also support student’s intrinsic motivation, rather than finding ways of motivating students extrinsically, which often ends in distractions with negative consequences.
During class, teachers should also encourage discussion among students and introduce more group-based activities to help the students familiarize themselves with one another. Tasks done in this environment will also help students gain greater insight into the problem at hand by actively reflecting the new knowledge through discussion with their peers, along with the option of clearing up any misunderstandings that might have occurred during the initial explanation of the material. It is essential to start including these activities early on to support social development in young students and get them used to work in teams, which will be highly valuable once their primary education is finished.
Lastly, teachers need to focus on finding ways of making their class enjoyable in itself, rather than creating external incentives such as grading student attendance or offering rewards for good grades/participation. This is important because students who remain motivated by rewards are prone to finding shortcuts, cheating, or even attempting to sabotage the results of others. Furthermore, such students will be far more self-centered, making the previous recommendation of collaborative tasks far more difficult to implement. However, we believe that if these tips are applied at wide enough scope, education can become less of a chore and more of an enjoyable experience for many students.
[1] LEE, Christine. What Is the History of Grading? Turnitin [online]. Turnitin, c2021, 2020 [cit. 2021–6–1]. Available from: https://www.turnitin.com/blog/what-is-the-history-of-grading
[2] JASCHIK, Scott. Imagining College Without Grades. Inside Higher Ed [online]. Washington, DC 20036: Inside Higher Ed, c2021, 2009 [cit. 2021–6–1]. Available from: https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2009/01/22/imagining-college-without-grades
[3] WOJTAS, Olga. Feedback? No, just give us the answers. Times Higher Education Supplement [online]. 1998, (1351), 6–6 [cit. 2021–6–1]. ISSN 00493929.
[4] ISA, Rosiatimah binti Mohd a Mohd Afiq bin AZERO. Assessment Feedback to Accounting Students. Procedia — Social and Behavioral Sciences [online]. 2013, 90, 651–659 [cit. 2021–6–1]. ISSN 18770428. Available from: doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2013.07.137
[5] AMABILE, Teresa M. Motivation and creativity: Effects of motivational orientation on creative writers. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology [online]. 1985, 48(2), 393–399 [cit. 2021–6–2]. ISSN 1939–1315. Available from: doi:10.1037/0022–3514.48.2.393
[6] LI, Fuli, Tingting CHEN a Xin LAI. How Does a Reward for Creativity Program Benefit or Frustrate Employee Creative Performance? The Perspective of Transactional Model of Stress and Coping. Group & Organization Management [online]. 2018, 43(1), 138–175 [cit. 2021–6–2]. ISSN 1059–6011. Available from: doi:10.1177/1059601116688612
[7] LAAL, Marjan a Seyed Mohammad GHODSI. Benefits of collaborative learning. Procedia — Social and Behavioral Sciences [online]. 2012, 31, 486–490 [cit. 2021–6–2]. ISSN 18770428. Available from: doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2011.12.091
[8] LAVY, Shiri. Who benefits from group work in higher education? An attachment theory perspective. Higher Education [online]. 2017, 73(2), 175–187 [cit. 2021–6–3]. ISSN 0018–1560. Available from: doi:10.1007/s10734–016–0006-z
[9] FRYMIER, Ann Bainbridge a Marian L. HOUSER. The teacher‐student relationship as an interpersonal relationship. Communication Education [online]. 2000, 49(3), 207–219 [cit. 2021–6–3]. ISSN 0363–4523. Available from: doi:10.1080/03634520009379209
