Student Expectations Seen as Causing Grade Disputes
… “Many students come in with the conviction that they’ve worked hard and deserve a higher mark,” Professor [Marshall] Grossman [of U of Maryland] said. “Some assert that they have never gotten a grade as low as this before.”
He attributes those complaints to his students’ sense of entitlement.
“I tell my classes that if they just do what they are supposed to do and meet the standard requirements, that they will earn a C,” he said. “That is the default grade. They see the default grade as an A.”
A recent study by researchers at the University of California, Irvine, found that a third of students surveyed said that they expected B’s just for attending lectures, and 40 percent said they deserved a B for completing the required reading.
“I noticed an increased sense of entitlement in my students and wanted to discover what was causing it” said Ellen Greenberger, the lead author of the study, called “Self-Entitled College Students: Contributions of Personality, Parenting, and Motivational Factors,” which appeared last year in The Journal of Youth and Adolescence.
…
James Hogge, associate dean of the Peabody School of Education at Vanderbilt University, said: “Students often confuse the level of effort with the quality of work. There is a mentality in students that ‘if I work hard, I deserve a high grade.’ “
In line with Dean Hogge’s observation are Professor Greenberger’s test results. Nearly two-thirds of the students surveyed said that if they explained to a professor that they were trying hard, that should be taken into account in their grade.
Jason Greenwood, a senior kinesiology major at the University of Maryland echoed that view.
“I think putting in a lot of effort should merit a high grade,” Mr. Greenwood said. “What else is there really than the effort that you put in?”
“If you put in all the effort you have and get a C, what is the point?” he added. “If someone goes to every class and reads every chapter in the book and does everything the teacher asks of them and more, then they should be getting an A like their effort deserves. If your maximum effort can only be average in a teacher’s mind, then something is wrong.”
Sarah Kinn, a junior English major at the University of Vermont, agreed, saying, “I feel that if I do all of the readings and attend class regularly that I should be able to achieve a grade of at least a B.”….
9 comments:
Students' expectations are already unduly raised by high schools which give them more-than-A's -- GPAs above 4.0 -- for passing their AP classes.
Grade inflation is a difficult thing to cure. My first non-grade-inflated class was a complete shock. Even after I got over it, I thought to myself, "What of all the students competing with me, who are still the recipients of grade inflation? Won't their lightly-obtained A's reign preeminent over my hard-won B?"
Students routinely inform me that, since they've attended "almost all of the classes," they should pass the course. When I explain that it doesn't work that way, they stare at me in disbelief. I give students 8 writing assignments and expect them to do them. When, based on test grades, a student is given a D or F, they sometimes tell me, "but I did all of the homework assignments." "Yeah," I say, "but you did not do them well and you simply do not understand the issues of this course." "Yeah, but I did all of the assignments!" they cry.
I am a re-entry student, nearly 50 years old, at CSUF, and a graduate of one of the fine institutions of SOCCCD. I bust my hump to maintain a high three-point-something GPA. I expect nothing except a grade that I deserve. So, kudos to you instructors/professors who stand by your guns and grade appropriately.
I may have lost track of the passage of time (horrifying though I know it has been) and the generations, but is this an outcome of the old self-esteem bullshit that held that all kids must be made to feel good about themselves (not just okay, but proud, I mean) even if that was based on no accomplishment or reason whatsoever?
How grotesque that our students don't even seem to know that there are such things as academic standards, and that not everyone is equally good at every skill. They would never think that way about athletics or business, but they carry that amazing assumption into college classrooms. Thanks a lot, K-12'ers who encouraged it.
MAH, Dunno, but I too was reminded of that silly "self-esteem" philosophy according to which students should hold themselves in high esteem whether or not they achieve or even try to achieve anything. I suspect that many of the students who insist they "do the homework" do not distinguish between doing it mindlessly and doing it attentively. In class, I often have to remind students that I am not a TV set, and so staring and drooling like zombies is somewhat inappropriate.
I agree, quality/accuracy is the only thing worth grading for. I also don't believe in bad teacher arguments either ("My teacher is SHIT") unless, of course, the grading is unfair (And yes, I mean the real meaning of the word unfair). I find that one can muster up enough information or resources on their own to learn something if they really want to.
Re: Self Esteem
Roy or Mad as Hell, could you clarify what you mean by this self-esteem philosophy?
I would argue that you have to have some sort of "belief in self" if you are going to attempt to learn something. Am I just misunderstanding something?
And MAH, I don't think you can compare physical abilities to mental ones. The brain has been shown to be an incredibly 'plastistic' little thing. NOT like the body. Sure, with age there may be some truth to what you are saying - but students shouldn't be told that they are never going to understand. Barring mental (i.e. brain problems) limitations.
Bohrstein, the Self-Esteem movement was/is a philosophy that holds that every child, from day one, must not just have "belief in self" or confidence (I agree that basic confidence in one's efficacy is crucial to mental health), but be proud and somehow regard oneself as being excellent, even (as Chunk put it) in the absence of any accomplishment or even effort--that is, even in the absence of excellence. That's a different thing from feeling loved, safe, secure, and confident--again, all good things--it seems to me.
The brain's plasticity is a wonderful thing; I've been reading up on that lately, and it's inspiring and heartening (especially for us who are drawing AARP's attention these days). And obviously, I would never, ever tell or otherwise give students the message that they are never going to understand. What I often do tell them is that Philosophy (or Physics or Math or Chemistry....) are difficult, and that not everyone masters them at an equal speed. I don't say it, but it seems eminently clear that not everyone can master them to the same level, either.
So I think you have a false dilemma going there. Also: my comparison was between students' ATTITUDES about athletics (they know very well that not everyone can be a star at soccer or hockey, even with great effort and persistence) and their assumptions about academics (where they think that everyone can excel simply by putting forth effort). The sad truth is that some students (whom I have loved and admired) try very, very hard--and I do give them some credit for that--but will never attain excellence at analytic philosophy.
Hope that's clearer.
It is much clearer now, thanks Mad-one.
Any time, Bohrstein. Thanks for inquiring.
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