Jap,

“There is a need to make them think that learning is also important and not only grades.” You are 100% correct on this point. I believe that evaluation as a purely diagnostic measure can work, but only if the goals for a class are clearly stated, are justified, and clearly related to the student’s benefit. When that happens, then the students will engage more with their learning processes and not experience the alienation from their work that the current grading model perpetuates.

Negin,

Wow, that course experience sounds awesome! Any chance of this professor offering something for the social sciences? Asking for a friend. In all seriousness, though, I have a question if you don’t mind, if you were put in charge of such a course and asked to modify it for undergraduates, what changes do you think would need to be made?

I’m glad you gained so much from the readings, Shannon! If you don’t mind me asking, would you mind going into a bit more detail into how your homeschooling system operated? How were tests administered and by whom? Were you given extensive feedback on all assignments and activities, or did the educators offer more on some than others?

To those teachers I say that using the status quo as a justification for continuing a broken system is both a logical fallacy and morally repugnant. That said, I understand the fear that comes with change. In order to justify the qualitative system, noticeable and agreed upon improvements have to be well-documented and argued in relation to the interests of the educators, students, and industry decision makers. I think glupton’s descriptive evaluation suggestion probably represents the best stopgap measure available to educators right now in that it could be (relatively) easily integrated on a large scale and serve as a transitory step away from quantitative grading while giving skeptics a chance to assess the issues.

Definitely an interesting thought. And I agree: how can we create the content in a way that gives impact and meaning, even if it’s not in a subject they’d normally prefer. Thanks for the comment!

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I did have some friends who took the reinforced concrete design class in semesters after me and they did mention having a project related to the class as well! Many classes, especially in engineering, seem to be moving toward a project-based class. I think, though, when teaching the foundational material (like statics or fluid mechanics), some kind of simpler assessment is required to ensure that students understand the basics. Maybe classes could start shifting to a midterm and then a final project instead of a final exam.

Many civil engineering classes have projects included (I’m thinking specifically of my senior design course), but even those projects are assessed (and graded) based on a rubric, which some of the readings seem to frown upon.

Thanks for your comment! I certainly don’t think that “less things contributing to your final grade” is the best practice — it stresses lots of students out. I will also totally admit that I’m looking at this through the lens of a civil engineer; my opinion of the need for assessment has been shaped by that. I think of that AT&T commercial with the surgeon where they say “Just OK is not OK”, and it’s the same way for engineers. I wouldn’t want an engineer to say “I think the water is probably safe to drink.”

I do feel that the assessment mindset is different in the humanities and social sciences. There, the body of knowledge is pretty much infinite (you’ll never be able to cover “the basics” because “the basics” are different from all points of view). There, grading is more subjective and understanding of things can’t as easily be assessed with a traditional test.

Such an interesting post! Enjoyed watching the YouTube video. It seems to me that Finnish students are more multidimensional and happier than many other peers around the world. However, I’d argue what about their higher education? Does this system foster children so that they end up doing research in academia very well? I searched a little and found that according to Times Higher Education Ranking (2019) the best university in Finland, University of Helsinki, is ranked 99 globally. To me, this means Finnish educational system is more focused on the quality of life and happiness but with sacrificing scholar achievements. I’m wondering if there exists an alternative educational system with similar priorities, but more productive?

I remember having qualitative grades when I was in K-2. Teachers usually assessed skills associated with child development, such as the ones that glupton listed. Then after 2nd grade, teachers graded using a quantitative scale. I feel like many higher ed teachers and students would oppose a qualitative scale just because the quantitative scale is and has been the norm for most of modern education. How would a qualitative scale appeal to job recruiters and graduate education admissions?