With the spring term (and the academic year) coming to a close, the ever-looming spectre of grades has once again emerged, albeit with a slightly different twist. What exactly does it mean to assign grades in the midst of a pandemic? Answering that question, of course, implies that we already know what it means to assign grades in the first place, but if experience has taught us anything, it's that coming to clear consensus on this question is extremely challenging. Indeed, few topics in education are as emotionally-charged as grades.
That said, schools have been forced to reexamine their grading practices in the process of moving online in the wake of COVID-19. In a recently published report, Global Online Academy highlights the various ways in which schools have sought to address this sticky issue, along with some of the key values that are informing these decisions. For context, my own institution initially elected to adopt a Pass/Fail grading policy at the beginning of this term, which was later changed to "Credit/No Credit" (a topic for another post!). I wrote in a previous entry that these unique circumstances are intensely challenging, yet also present educators with a rare opportunity to experiment with long-standing structures that are historically difficult to shift or interrogate. When it comes to grades, a Credit/No Credit system is a radical departure from my institution's status quo, where grades are incredibly important to both students and teachers alike. With students and teachers suddenly thrust into this new paradigm, is there something to be learned? A Loss of Motivation Not surprisingly, many of my students have reported a loss of motivation when it comes to their learning this spring, for which there are many reasons: they are attempting to learn in new environments (both physical and social), in different schedules, and amidst a prevasive cultural anxiety that continues to bear down on all of us. Yet, I have been struck by the number of students that have self-attributed this lack of motivation to an absence of numerical grades. If there isn't going to be a number at the end of the term, why learn at all? As disheartening as this may seem, it should not come as a surprise. Numerous studies have shown extrinsic motivation is not an effective strategy when it comes to motivating authentic learning (Feldman 34-35; Pink 44-45; Kohn 26), encouraging students to do the bare minimum rather than faciliting high order or creative thinking skills. At the same time, schools do an excellent job of sociating students into an external rewards system, which often means that, when the carrot stick is gone, there is no reason to keep moving forward. Continued Motivation? On the flip side, some of my students have found ways to remain engaged and invested in their learning, despite all the changes to their education. Such a feat strikes me as truly remarkable, but it also strikes me as a real learning opportunity for us teachers: for those students that remain engaged, what is motivating them? As the term comes to a close, I've taken to asking some of my students to reflect on this question and the answers have been illuminating. Indeed, nearly every student cited prior relationships as one of the primary driving forces behind their engagement this spring, whether that be due to a feeling of recipricol responsibility (their teachers have worked hard, so they feel compelled to do the same in return), a desire to continue building a relationship that began in previous terms, or a feeling that the teacher and student were engaged in a joint-venture. Perhaps not surprisingly, shifting from a numeric grading system to a Credit/No Credit option has had little bearing on these factors. These reports are, of course, purely ancedotal, which limits what we can and can't say about the relationship between grades and motivation in our current context. And yet, I think there is some real wisdom here. Relationships have always mattered when it comes to student learning, perhaps now more than ever, so as we consider what our classroom look like in the years to come (which very likely will entail more online learning), ask yourself what it would mean to re-center student relationships in your teaching? The results may be worth it. Bibliography Feldman, Joe. Grading for Equity: What It Is, Why It Matters, and How It Can Transform Schools and Classrooms. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin, 2019. Kohn, J. Punished by rewards: The trouble with gold stars, incentive plans, A's, praise, and other bribes. Boston, MA: Houghton, Mifflin Harcourt, 1993. Pink, Daniel. Drive, the Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us. New York: Penguin, 2011.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorKurt Prescott is a Humanities Instructor at Maret School in Washington, D.C. Archives
November 2020
Categories
All
|