I chose to review this article because it tries to answer a fundamental grading question: if grades are supposed to motivate students, are they more motivated by lower or higher grades? The article describes past studies illustrating that a strict grading scale motivates students to put more effort into their coursework and learned more. However, it also points to studies where the opposite result was found; students pushed to work harder by a stricter grading scale were stressed emotionally and mentally and did not learn as much due to the stress they encountered. Additionally, it was found that while some individual students may work harder when exposed to a stricter grading scale, others may give up when faced with tougher standards, or be completely neutral to the situation (Elikai and Schuhmann 679). In general, past studies supported the belief that higher standards result in most students earning higher grades (682).
I found it interesting that the researchers noted that logically people will work harder if incentives are great enough (higher grades). Strangely, this did not hold true for classes where students were not required to take the course for their major. Therefore, for their study they chose an accounting class required for the major; if students dropped the course they would also need to change majors.
The results of the study showed that students evaluated with a stricter grading scale performed better and received higher grades. Contrary to previous studies, the researchers found that lower-achieving students earned higher grades on the strict scale. Also, fewer students dropped the class possibly because they were more invested in the coursework (690). On another note, the different grading standards did not affect the teacher’s performance reviews, which were almost the same for all classes.
When I began reading this article, I thought that lower-achieving students would surely be discouraged by the higher standards. However, it does make sense that students who do not normally go above and beyond would feel pressed to perform in a required course. It seems that the higher standards inspired a make-or-break mentality in students who might otherwise be lazy. I was not surprised that the study confirmed that normally high-achieving students will work hard in any environment.
To me, an aspiring literature teacher, this study implies that a stricter grading scale should be used in major courses to inspire students to work harder. However, in a survey course a stricter grading scale might result in low-achieving students giving up because they see a good grade as unattainable. Also, in a survey course students would be more likely to drop a course with higher standards. I believe concern that students will drop a course with higher standards can be resolved if expectations of superior performance are clear from the first day. This gives students who are not required to take the class and do not want to perform the chance to drop the course. Again, this would not work if a student must take the course. Basically, I would reserve a stricter grading scale for the environment where it will have a positive effect, upper-division major courses.
Work Cited
Elikai, Fara, and Peter W. Schuhmann. “An Examination of the Impact of Grading Policies on
Students’ Achievement.” Issues in Accounting Education 25.4 (2010): 677-693.
Professional Development Collection. Web. 2 Feb. 2011.
No comments:
Post a Comment