17 May 2022 2:27 pm
Vegas » 17 May 2022, 2:17 pm » wrote: ↑ True, but this has been a debate for decades. Nevada isn't the only school that is obsessed with testing. I played around with the idea of not even having grades. Students tend to be less motivated to learn or understand material when they have to reach a certain grade. They have more motivation and incentive to obtain a particular grade, then they do in just learning. It's easy to beat the system. It's not hard to get an A in a class, while not learning a thing. So, why not take out the variable that overshadows the learning? They would still get credit, but just not a grade. This way, they don't have the stress and pressure of obtaining a certain GPA. They are now free to learn.
No, Nevada is not the only one. However, we could be examples of how to actually have the students learn fundamentals and not just memorize a given set of ideas. Also, test scores are a way of comparing our state to another. Hence, why they are so beholden to them.
When I taught graduate courses in statistics... I had very few graded items. Not just laziness. It was to make the class less formulaic and predictable. It forced the students to really pay attention and not just coast through on autopilot