Re: Michelle Webb (4/25)

Q:The question that I am asking you is, in school if there were no grading system, how would students be able to be graded and would it be a better alternative?

In response to your question(s) I do believe that grading within colleges can be biased in some situations. For example, in some classes the one who sucks up to the professor gets a better grade over the student who works harder but does not participate during class. This is just one little example on how grading can be extremely unfair and biased in some situations. Truly what is a grade? Does a grade reflect what type of person you are or does it portray your overall competency in the subject. I would have to say in most grading systems, your overall competency in the subject is what will earn you an excellent grade. Professors truly like to see the student that will work hard in order to achieve an excellent grade and even sometimes getting to know the professor at a personal level wont hurt at all. However there is a term that we are well aware of and that is the "teachers pet". For those who do not know who the teachers pet is, usually it is a person that will do anything the professor wants, in laments terms this would be known as "sucking up". However who is to tell you that you are a D+ writer or a C- mathematician? Just because a professor earned a doctoral degree (PhD), which in many cases is a research degree does not mean they have full competence in the subject. They may have competence through what they have experienced and researched but they do not have competence in everything (which some believe they do). Ever since my collegiate career began, I have not had any professors that were unfair to me. Each and every one of them has stated what they expect out of their students and how their grading system functions on the first day of classes. You know what to expect out of all of them on day 1 and if you do not like their teaching style, drop the class, or look on a professor ratings website (www.ratemyprofessors.com) to see how other students liked or disliked this professor. However I have experienced students that would purposely suck up to a professor, doing anything to please them. They would agree with them on everything even if they were wrong, they would ask the most ridiculous questions, and even try to have lunch with them in their office to know them at an ultra personal level. This for an example should not constitute on who receives the better grade because being the professors best friend shouldn't equate as anything that would affect the students grade. What should affect the students grade is if he or she completes all of the assigned work, studies hard for the tests, attends the class when it is scheduled, and participates in class (If it is part of the grade). If all of these expectations are met, then the student should receive an excellent grade being a B+,A-,or an A.

While on the other hand I do understand when you gave the scenario when students were appealing their grades in an attempt to receive one better than the present. One though crosses my mind when I think about this. First and foremost, why is this student appealing the grade? Was it because this individual was treated unfairly due to their gender, age, or race? Or was it because that they felt like they deserved the grade even though they did not? In my opinion, you should not be able to appeal a grade because the professors authority should be respected, thus not being challenged. In most cases the individual is either a lazy student or their "sucking up" tactic backfired on them. You earn the grade that you receive, the grade does not earn you. In my experience, I have met many people who believe that they should only receive straight A's because they are a straight A type of person. This is completely ridiculous because people only deserve the grade of an A if they work extremely hard for it. They are not given out like candy on Halloween to a special "trick or treater" and you cannot buy them by monetary means or other (stated above). Usually in most situations in the process of a grade appeal, the university or college is on the same side as the professor. They will defend them at any means possible, even if they are right or wrong. This is not a win-win situation but more of situation that cannot be won in most cases and should be abolished. I can understand about people that do receive grades based on biases and that is unfair. But shouldn't the university hire people who fit the universities criteria?

However you general question was that should we abolish the grading system. in this situation, I will say no. The reason why I would say no is because then the people who usually do nothing during class would recieve the same outcome as the person who worked their tail off in class. Also, what would be the criteria for admission into graduate schools and professional schools (law,medicine,pharmacy)? There frankly would be no type of criteria for admission because the grading system would be erased and with it being erased we would have nothing that would separate Person "A" from person "B".How could we deal with such a system and another more important question is how would this function in education at all levels? The grade you earn is the grade you should properly receive and there should be no debating over it. If anyone is disappointed with their previous grades then work harder the following semester.